Justin Ashley, Blake Alexander, Dallas Glenn win NHRA races at Brainerd’s Lucas Oil Nationals

Justin Ashley earned his third Top Fuel victory of 2024 by by beating Shawn Langdon in the final round of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Brainerd International Raceway.

Blake Alexander (Funny Car) and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) also won their events in the drag racing series’ annual visit to Minnesota.

Ashley went 3.745 seconds at 329.34 miles per hour in his Toyota dragster, handily beating Langdon for the 14th career of his career and first since April. All four of his runs during eliminations went between 3.74 and 3.76 seconds as he beat Billy Torrence, Tony Stewart and Josh Hart in the earlier rounds.

“This class is so difficult, it’s so tough,” Ashley said. “The margin of error is so small, so when you’re able to be consistent like that, it just increases your chances of winning. It’s one of those sports that any given Sunday, anything can happen. It’s so hard to run in such a tight window like that, but this team came through and got it done.”

The next event is in two weeks in Indianapolis before the Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin in September.

“Everything that we’ve done throughout the entire regular season so far has been done with intent and purpose,” Ashley said. “We want to win each and every race that we go to, but ultimately, it’s about positioning ourselves well for Indy and beyond.”

Langdon, in his sixth final round of the season, now trails teammate Doug Kalitta by 84 points atop the Top Fuel standings. Kalitta has 1,034, Langdon has 950 and Ashley 929.

Alexander, whose Ford Mustang exploded in the previous race July 28 in Sonoma, Calif., won in Funny Car for the first time this season, beating defending world champion Matt Hagan, who went red in the final round. Alexander posted a 3.927 at 324.67 mph.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I know that when I’m on, I’m one of the top guys out here,” Alexander said. “I know when I’m not on, just like anyone else, I can be a problem for my race team. So I’m trying to keep it tight, four straight runs every single time. Saying that is really easy to do, but doing that is really hard.”

In Pro Stock, Glenn repeated as Brainerd champion with his third victory of the season in his Chevrolet Camaro. He went 6.613 at 206.95 mph to beat Mason McGaha in the final round.

“People around here definitely show up for this race,” Glenn said. “They support it, and it’s really great seeing the stands packed and everybody up against the fence cheering every run you go up and down.”