Sometimes what they don't know can be the biggest fear a drag racer can face. Three years ago, point leader Justin Ashley knew just enough about a Top Fuel dragster to make him dangerous, but not in the sense of his capabilities. He was a dangerous talent to the competition. 

As he sat in the burnout box moments before making his first run behind the wheel of a 12,000-horsepower dragster AT THE 2019 NHRA Carolina Nationals, Ashley had a moment of fear he had never shared with anyone until today. 

"I really hadn't made a full pull until my first lap in Charlotte at the event," Ashley admitted. "I think what worried me was the unknown. I didn't know what I didn't know at that point. Racing in front of a big crowd on a professional level was new to me. Understanding what it took to be a professional race car driver was new to me. So just an overall understanding of what was going on is really what worried me."

And just like he's done so many times in his career, Ashley never let them see him sweat. 

"At that point, we had tested and came out to Charlotte," Ashley said. "I think we thought we would have been a little further along at that point, but we weren't." 

Ashley made up for the lost testing time by driving his way to the semi-finals, losing to eventual series champion Steve Torrence. 

Ashley would score nine final rounds in 50 starts, with four rounds in the two years following, including a Rookie of the Year award. A genuine fear on the first day of his Top Fuel career was the fear of failure. 

"You're always taught not to have fear of failure," Ashley said. "It's never the right way to think, but especially in the beginning when you're first driving, it's a fear you don't want to let anyone down. I didn't want to let anyone down. We had sponsors that put their trust in us, that we were going to go out there and run well and do something special. And I had spent my whole life working to get to that point. 

"Naturally, having not actually done it before, yes, the fear of failure came into play like, 'Hey, I better be able to do this because I've worked my whole life to get to this point, now I better capitalize."

Ashley was raised on the mantra of expect to win. Even he was caught off guard by the semi-final finish in the debut. 

"I'd be lying to you if I wouldn't say that I was a bit taken back," Ashley said. "A bit humbled by that because, of course, that's the goal where I did expect to be there. But then to know that that would actually happen is a whole other story."

Given a chance to go back in time, knowing the experience he's gained today to talk to the rookie version of himself, Ashley does have sage advice he'd readily pass on. 

"Don't get too caught up in the moment," Ashley said. "There's a lot going on, on and off the racetrack, and it's very easy to get caught up in what's going on and not appreciate the present, not actually appreciate the moment and appreciate the fact that, you know what? I have the ability to live a dream that millions of people would love to do. 

"I would definitely tell that Justin Ashley to enjoy it, don't get too caught up in the moment, and make sure you race every race with everything you have and nothing to lose."