The truth is Justin Ashley isn’t the only one with a chance to win three races in one weekend. He’s just the only one to pull off the feat. 

Hoping to join Ashley from the exclusive club are Top Fuel’s winningest driver, Tony Schumacher, 16-time champion John Force,  multi-time champion Erica Enders, and past NHRA Rookie of the Year recipient Dallas Glenn. 

The aforementioned drivers will first compete in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge as a reward for reaching the semi-finals in Pomona. Then, they will stage the final round battles on Saturday to conclude the rain-delayed NHRA Winternationals. On Sunday, they will battle for the championship of the NHRA Arizona Nationals. 

The driver who would like to unseat Ashley the most was the driver who started the ball rolling for him last June in Bristol, Tenn. Schumacher lost the finals of the rain-delayed New England Nationals to Ashley, the first of Ashley’s three finals. 

Schumacher rates an edge, as he is 5-3 against Ashley in eliminations. He is after his first win since 2022, but for Ashley, he’s after a third straight Winternationals crown.

“I’m the most jacked I’ve been in a long, long time,” Schumacher said. “The car is running right; the team is in a great mood. We earned our way into the finals. I’ve done this before, finishing a race during a race weekend. I finished the Charlotte race in Dallas, and last year, I raced in the Epping finals in Bristol. It doesn’t happen very often, but it’s so exciting when it does. Phoenix is a track that has been good to me in the past, so hopefully, we’ll have some more of that Firebird success this weekend. There is so much potential at this race, and we’re pumped up and ready to go.” 

As if there’s a measure of drag racing history the storied Force hasn’t achieved. There’s a chance for it this weekend. 

Sure, Force has won 17 Funny Car championships (one of those a forgotten ADRA title) and 155 national events, but he’s never won three races in one weekend. 

“Like anybody, I want to win it all,” Force said. “So, I’m going after it with everything I’ve got. We’re excited to race Hagan. He’s a great champion, and he wants to win, just like I do. There’s basically three races to be won and I’m ready for it. We’re just going to do the best we can. I’m fired up.”

Titanic matchup hardly describes what the Force versus Hagan match presents. Force is 28-22 in 50 prior meetings, though Hagan holds a 6-3 advantage over Force in final rounds, including most recently in Dallas last year.

If Hagan wins on Saturday, he will pick up his 50th career win.

“The Phoenix weekend is going to be very busy during qualifying,” Hagan said. “It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. At the end of the day, we really just want to put on a good show for the fans. You couldn’t ask for more than to have the opportunity to win two Wallys in one weekend. I think it’ll be a challenging weekend for crew chiefs and drivers, but we’re ready for the challenge. If anyone can do it, TSR can. We’ll have to have the mentality that when you show up for each run, it’s game time.”

Just like Force, when it comes to accomplishments, there’s not much left for Erica Enders, the winningest female driver in motorsports, to achieve. 
She is the defending and six-time champion in the category, seeking her 50th career national event win.

Enders races Dallas Glenn, where she is 11-4 in head-to-head competition and holds a 3-1 advantage in the final round. 

“I’m really looking forward to this weekend in Phoenix. When we roll off the trailer, every pass is an elimination round! I’m really excited about having an opportunity to win two Wallys in one weekend. To have a chance to score our 50th and 51st win, in the same weekend, is pretty substantial! 

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“We have a really fast racecar right now, and I have the best guys in the business. I’m the final piece to that trifecta and I love what we are able to do together.”

“There’s a lot of opportunities to win this weekend in Phoenix between the Mission (Challenge), running the finals of Pomona, and the actual Phoenix race, and we’re participating in all three of them,” Glenn added. “We were ready for that Pomona final a few weeks ago, but it will be something new to run it on Saturday in Phoenix. I don’t care what day or what track we run it at – I just want that win.”

The NHRA’s plans for the concluding events of the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge will begin during the NHRA Arizona Nationals Friday qualifying session kicks off with the first round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at 4 p.m. PT, with the bonus event finals following on Saturday during the second round of qualifying at 11:30 a.m. PT.

Saturday’s action intensifies with final rounds in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock as part of the Arizona final qualifying starting at 2 p.m. The postponed final rounds from Pomona will run at the end category in the final session. 

The NHRA Arizona Nationals’ eliminations are slated for 11 a.m. PT on Sunday, April 7, with televised coverage available on FS1.