SCAG Racing may be a place where dreams come true, literally and figuratively.
Owned by SCAG Power Equipment CEO Randy Gloede, the team has become a major presence in the NHRA nitro-burning scene ahead of the 2024 Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Over the offseason, SCAG acquired ownership in three smaller, previously-founded operations — Justin Ashley’s Top Fuel team and the Funny Car outfits of Daniel Wilkerson and Dave Richards.
The goal is to be one, big factory team, with each operation running individually under the greater SCAG umbrella. Collaboration among the group is encouraged when it comes to parts, pieces and personnel, though each will remain a separate entity.
SCAG’s major commitment to NHRA has impacted the trio of drivers — Wilkerson, Richards and Ashley — in numerous ways.
For two of them, Wilkerson and Richards, SCAG’s support has completely changed the trajectories of their careers. For Ashley, their involvement has pushed his ability to be a championship contender farther forward.
Let’s take it one by one.
After Years Of Disappointment, Daniel Wilkerson Arrives
Since 2009, Wilkerson has been an on-and-off Funny Car driver, racing only 14 national events. Over the last two years, he’s taken on a full-time role as crew chief for Chad Green.
While he enjoyed the work as a crew member, there was a part of him that struggled to come to terms with the idea he may never get a chance to run a full season as a driver.
“Every time I thought I was over (the idea of) driving, I’d make a run to keep my license and I’d be like, ‘Oh crap, that was awesome,’” Wilkerson said. “But it was also becoming a reality to me that it probably just wasn’t going to happen.”
In the meantime, his father and fan-favorite driver Tim Wilkerson kept racing. At the beginning of 2023, he boosted his privateer efforts with sponsorship from SCAG and partnership with Joe Maynard.
Keep in mind that, all this time, the Wilkerson duo hadn’t lost sight of their dream to compete together as father and son. However, nothing had come together, despite a handful of promises.
“We experienced year after year of, ‘We have a two-car team, there’s going to be a full-time ride for both of you guys.’ We did that for five years in a row, of just, ‘Sign here and it’s a done deal.’ And then it wasn’t,” Wilkerson said.
That changed when SCAG threw out the idea of forming their own team.
All at once, the door opened for Daniel Wilkerson to take over driving duties for his dad, with Tim Wilkerson transitioning to focus more on the driver-dealer-distributor-customer interaction that SCAG wanted to prioritize with its new NHRA effort.
“He (Tim) had mentioned a couple of times to me during the 2023 season, ‘This would be so much easier if you drove,’” the younger Wilkerson relayed. “It’s not that he’s over it, he’s just done it for a long time.”
This swap will allow Tim Wilkerson, who has competed regularly for 27 years, to devote his attention to the technical side of racing, which has always been one of his leading passions.
“We spend 15 hours a day at the race track. For 14 hours and 50 minutes, he’ll be doing the exact same thing he used to do. It’s just those 10 minutes that I get in and the thing runs that he’s standing behind it instead of sitting in it,” Daniel Wilkerson said.
Starting with the NHRA Gatornationals at Florida’s Gainesville Raceway on March 8-10, the 35-year-old will commence his campaign for NHRA’s Rookie of the Year title — an experience that feels like a too-good-to-be-true kind of moment for Wilkerson.
As a side note, he finds it ironic that motorsports legend Tony Stewart, who is making his Top Fuel debut this year, will also be competing for the rookie-of-the-year award.
Dave Richards’ Journey From Part-Time To Dream-Come-True
Next up in the SCAG family is Richards.
The Florida native has been a part-time driver since 2013. The most races he’s run during a single season is 11 — a feat he accomplished last year with sponsorship from SCAG’s sister company, VersaTran.
His crew members held full-time jobs and would take time off to go racing with Richards on the weekends.
But over the offseason, as talk of SCAG becoming a factory team unfolded, Richards was presented with the opportunity to run a full-time schedule for the first time.
“I’m learning fast how much more it’s taken in preparation to do the whole year,” Richards said.
Richards, in conjunction with his brother and longtime business partner Paul Richards, will continue to run their one-car operation with the same crew.
Nothing has changed structurally for the Richards brothers and their organization, other than the added support from SCAG and VersaTran that’s allowing them to become full-time contenders.
“As a driver, I’m excited about the consistency of being in the car, making lap after lap and building confidence in myself,” Dave Richards said. “Prior to this, I would race a couple times and then not get in the car for a couple months.”
Last season was the first time Richards raced three weekends in a row.
When it comes down to it, the only reason he hasn’t made a leap like this before is due to finances, or lack thereof. As he puts it, the two avenues to running full time in NHRA are personal wealth or corporate backing.
Well, now he has the latter.
And that influx of funding will affect his race weekend in several ways.
Mainly, rather than pinning his hopes on “getting lucky” for a round win, Richards holds the belief that the team’s equipment is on the same playing field as everyone else.
Though the idea of making it to the semifinals for the first time in his career has made him “a ball of nerves” ahead of the season opener, it’s also lifted his confidence.
“For now, until Gainesville, I’ll be all knotted up inside. But it’s a good thing,” Richards said. “I get to rub elbows with the best of the best…I honestly never thought I’d race full time.”
New Resources Increase Justin Ashley’s Title Hopes
Last in the SCAG lineup is Ashley.
Though he’s only in the fourth year of his Top Fuel career, Ashley has already made a name for himself in NHRA. He earned six wins last season and owns 11 Wallys — a few of which he proudly displays in the background of his Zoom calls.
There’s little doubt that Ashley is a winning driver, but his Achilles heel as of late has been the back half of the season. That’s translated into two consecutive fourth-place finishes in the standings after leading the points early in the year.
When asked about the late-season falloff, Ashley attributed part of the problem to parts and pieces issues the team experienced in 2022 and 2023.
“We have the resources now to be able to order some stuff in advance to put ourselves in a better position at the end of the year,” Ashley said.
The team will have a new car delivered around the fourth or fifth race of the season. In addition, it will have a true testing schedule throughout the year, rather than test every once in a while as it did in the past.
“(SCAG) has allowed us to have more resources to be able to compete. It’s not endless, but we have what we think we need to be successful,” Ashley said.
While his commitment as a full-time driver hasn’t changed, his role outside of the cockpit looks slightly different now that he’s a part of SCAG Racing.
For example, he’s no longer a team owner — rather that’s fallen into SCAG’s hands. Other than his name not being on the legal documents, along with the names of Dustin Davis and Jim Eppler who co-owned Justin Ashley Racing, the trio’s daily routine looks the same.
“It (SCAG’s partnership) allows us to be a little more laser-focused on our jobs,” Ashley added.
The New York native, who always considers the business aspect of the sport, also explained why the move made sense for SCAG, who has previously shown their investment in NHRA through various driver and team sponsorships.
“The reason they’ve really decided to move forward with this is for their dealers. They want this to be an appreciation tool, a way to thank their existing dealers and also entertain potential new customers,” Ashley said. “They want to take the business of NHRA to the next level.”
He’s on board with the long-term vision that SCAG has put forward.
So, while Ashley is ultra-focused on bringing home his first Top Fuel championship as a driver, he’s also working to make SCAG’s grander goal a reality.
“We want to make sure we build the SCAG Racing program. It’s got legs to go a really long time,” Ashley said. “They made a huge investment in our teams and in NHRA drag racing, and we don’t take that lightly.”