Top Fuel points leader Justin Ashley has put the regular season behind him. It’s an understandable mentality, considering Ashley was in position to win his first Top Fuel championship last season, but dropped from first to fourth during the final two races of the Countdown. It is the largest points margin an NHRA driver has had entering the playoffs since the Countdown was introduced in 2007. “In a season where points are so critical, we’ll definitely take that bump,” Ashley said. The fourth-year Top Fuel driver entered the Countdown as the third seed last season, but a final-round appearance during the first of six playoffs races at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., pushed him to the lead.

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