IHRA (MARTIN, MI) - Ashley carries Torco banner to No. 1 spot...

Mike Ashley, driver of the Torco Race Fuels Dodge Charger R/T, ran the tables at the Torco Race Fuels Northern Nationals at Knoll Gas Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, posting the quickest and fastest runs of every qualifying round to earn the undisputed No. 1 qualifying spot for Sunday's eliminations.

"I can't say enough about my team," Ashley said. "Really - these guys have all been working so hard for the past several weeks, and to come up here and spend another weekend and perform so well, it just shows how amazing these guys really are."

In the first round of qualifying, Ashley ran a class-best, record-setting 4.812/316.23 Friday night to claim the provisional pole, and held on to the top spot, running low ET of Saturday's two rounds with passes of 5.037/255.63 and 4.925/285.77. His low time for the weekend improved on his previous track ET record of 4.866, set last year, by more than five-hundredths of a second.

"I don't think there's any better brain trust than [crew chiefs] Brian Corradi, Mark Oswald and [car chief] Steve Boggs - these guys really know how to make a nitro Funny Car run. We came up to this race with the intent of working out the kinks in a new car, using the opportunity to test on a great track and compete with the IHRA drivers, and we've been able to compete the way we are all accustomed to and still get issues worked out. I am so impressed.

"I love racing up here at [Torco Race Fuels owner and team sponsor] Evan Knoll's race. He's the title sponsor of pretty much everything out here, and I'm proud to carry his flag into battle," Ashley said.

"Tomorrow, we'll come out and work as hard as we can to hand him an Iron Man [event trophy] from his own event, because he definitely deserves it. He has done so much for the sport of drag racing, and to be able to give him something like that, it'd really be an honor," he said.

Ashley will face Gary Densham in the first round of eliminations in the sixth of eleven events on the $19.5 million 2007 IHRA Knoll Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series. Elimination rounds are scheduled at 10:30 a.m., noon, 2, and 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 5 (all times EDT).