Photo courtesy of Costabile Productions
Las Vegas, NV. – Johnny Ahten went into the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with quiet confidence. He was sure of the ability of his car to run well, and he was right. In Friday’s lone qualifying session Ahten and his Island Renovations / Combust Filters dragster laid down a 5.306/269.03 pass that garnered the top spot. Not resting, Saturday saw Ahten go even quicker with a 5.260/265.17 blast to become the number one qualifier going into eliminations. All this was accomplished without two veteran crewmembers.
“We had some availability conflicts with two of our crewmembers, but we filled the gaps with an old friend and went number one,” said Ahten. “I want to thank Todd “Rocky” Rockwell for helping out. It was a thrash. The 5.30 run on Friday sure felt good out of the box. Saturday’s 5.26 pass was a monster. It might have even been quicker if we had all eight firing.”
Sunday eliminations saw a first round match up with Casey Grisel. It turned out to be a single as Grisel had issues getting the car to start. Ahten and the Stump Puller rocketed down the quarter-mile to a session-best 5.267/270.05. Second round brought former champ Duane Shields, who struck the tires and could only muster a 7.617/117.65 pass. Ahten had issues as well with his winning 5.430/270.81 time. It was on to the semifinals where it was first time opponent Ashley Sanford in the other lane. Sanford was out of the gate first, but immediately hazed the tires. Ahten battled tire shake and netted a 5.470/262.74 which would cost him lane choice in the finals. Waiting in the final round was blown alcohol juggernaut and CleanBoost Performance Oil teammate Joey Severance. Ahten brought his number one qualifying car to the final round, but he also brought some left over tire shake from the previous round. Severance took the win with a 5.260/271.19 to Ahten’s 5.449/254.23.
“We made our fourth final in nine races this year, which is not bad for a low budget team,” added Ahten. “We had some big time help. Our crewmember Chuck Costabile drove to Vegas just to help us out on Sunday, and it was great to have Rocky back. I really have to hand it to my dad Al Ahten, racing partner Howard Katano, and Bob Ahten for giving me a rocket ship. We will be back this weekend for Regional action at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We are looking to continue going fast and surprising a few folks. Vegas will do that every now and again,” added Ahten.
To stay informed visit: www.facebook.com/JohnnyAhtenRacing
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Johnny Ahten was born into a family of racers. Ahten Racing began in the late sixty’s with Johnny’s father and Uncle hitting the local strips of Southern California. In 1998, Johnny attended Frank Hawleys’s Drag Racing School. Early the next year Johnny competed in his first full season of Top Eliminator West. He captured the Rookie of the Year title and finished 2nd place in the points. He continued to hone his driving skills the next few years until 2004 when the team moved up to Top Alcohol Dragster. Johnny qualified at his first event immediately after upgrading his license earlier in the week. Johnny's first National event win came in 2013 when he captured the NHRA Pomona World finals Top Alcohol Dragster crown. When not racing, Johnny is a Captain in the Los Angeles County Fire Department, a husband, and father of two boys.
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