NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Ashley Sanford will get another opportunity to live out her dream of driving a Top Fuel Dragster. You bet she’s excited. 

“I’m excited beyond belief right now,” said Sanford in the midst of packing up her suitcase to head to St. Louis.

Okay, so writing Sanford is excited is about as novel as writing the Rapisarda-backed Dragster she’ll drive in the stead of Wayne Newby at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals burns nitro. Excitement might be the defining characteristic of the rookie Top Fuel pilot. Sanford certainly left an impression after making her debut at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. 

She got the call at 2:49 p.m. Pacific Time, and if it surprises you she knew the precise time, you don’t know her very well yet. The Californian was tipped off by Dom and Bobby Lagana, who referred her to the Rapisarda team, this call might be coming. But like everything else in drag racing, there are no sure things. When she saw the Australian area code pop up on her phone, she lost it. 

“I knew something was up, they weren’t calling to just chat,” said Sanford. “The Rapisarda crew is great. I got to hang out and chat with them in Charlotte and it was such an awesome time. They chose me because we share those same family values of racing. We want to go out there and have fun and win — it’s all about family racing.” 

She hopes to leave St. Louis with at least her first round win under her belt. First, Sanford will have to qualify in what looks to be a tough field. There are 20 dragsters currently entered, making qualification no guarantee for Sanford. Still, this isn’t uncharted territory for the rookie, who qualified in an 18-car field in Indy. 

“In Indy we just wanted things to go smoothly,” Sanford said. “There was a lot of pressure at that one, but that monkey is off the back. This time we want to go rounds, we want to get that Wally. We want to go for it and we want to knock people out.”

The California native won’t be driving for Lagana in St. Louis, but she also won’t be too far off from the veteran she got her first taste of Nitro with. Lagana is driving the Nitro Ninja machine Sanford licensed in, while the rookie will get an opportunity to try her hand in a different dragster. 

“This is great seat time and great experience,” she said. “I’m totally open for learning and getting a learning curve. I don’t even care. I get to be in a Top Fuel dragster. There could be cardboard behind the seat and I’d be excited.”

Getting a referral from the Lagana brothers would be enough to get any driver excited. It doesn’t hurt that Sanford has plenty of history with Dom and Bobby. 

“The Lagana brothers are two of the most respected guys in drag racing,” she said. “For them to say my name first means the world to me. I’m still a rookie, I have a lot to learn, but they’ve seen my passion to want to learn every time I’m in the seat and we all relate on that level.”

Sanford said she hopes she gets to race Dom on Sunday. Then she paused, and thought better of it. 

“I hope I line up against him in qualifying, I mean,” she said. “I don’t want to race him until the final on Sunday.”

Nobody on the Rapisarda or Nitro Ninja teams would have a problem with that.