Written by Nate Van Wagnen
Photos courtesy of Ashley Sanford
When you picture the driver of a 270 mile per hour,
nitro-burning A/Fuel Dragster, you probably don't think of a 19 year-old
California girl. And when you think of a sponsor of such a car, you probably
wouldn't imagine a nail polish brand. When they make their trackside debut at
Las Vegas testing next week, it's safe to say that asphalt drag racing newcomer
Ashley Sanford and Gelish Soak-Off Gel Nail Polish will stand out.
Sanford is making the switch to A/Fuel after several years
driving a variety of sand dragsters, the most recent entry being a supercharged
Top Alcohol rail. She started at age 8, winning her first race in a kids quad
class. Super Comp sand rails came next, before moving up to the 3500 hp Top
Alcohol car at age 16. Ashley decided that the transition to a nitro-injected
A/Fuel car on the asphalt would be the next step in her racing career.
“It's always been something that I've wanted to do, it's
like a dream of mine. I was recently approached last year about it by a good
friend of ours, Keith Longerot, who had a friend who might have a car
available. Once I heard that, I was like, 'Okay, this is going to happen, I'm
going to make it happen.' Since then we've been full force with it. We got our
car and we're ready to go.”
The move to asphalt really got going after Ashley's father,
Shane, spoke with A/Fuel tuning legend Jerry Darien.
“I get my tire carcasses to make the paddle tires from
(Jerry) Darien. It's kind of a funny story; I bought my Top Alcohol Dragster
from Jerry, it was Gary Scelzi's In-N-Out car from the nineties. Around this
time last year, I called Jerry and told him that we were interested in getting
into asphalt racing. Well he called me last August, asking if we were still
interested. We started to make arrangements to get started with the licensing
procedures once the season ended. That deal ultimately didn't work out, but
then we got involved with Larry Miersch and ended up buying his car.” said
Shane, a former Top Alcohol sand rail champion.
It was mostly Ashley's desire to move to traditional drag
racing, but other factors helped the decision along.
“I started talking to my guys about the switch,” Shane
continued. “The sand drag scene has started to diminish over the last few
years; the economy has killed it, the television coverage was dropped, and it
was time to move on. We had a lot of fun with it. It's bittersweet to leave the awesome sand drag family. We hope to bring Ashley back with new sponsors for a few Top Fuel races in 2014. We decided, let's just do our own operation. We have
the truck and trailer and crew from the sand car, so it made more sense to do
our own operation than to pay someone.”
Shane says that 2012 Winternationals finalist Larry Miersch
and his crew will be helping for the first few races to get them accustomed to
the asphalt-pounding A/Fueler. After that, Shane and the team will operate on
the knowledge they acquired tuning the Top Alcohol and Top Fuel sand cars.
The dragster that Ashley drove previously runs on a 300 foot
sand strip, covering the course in under 2.5 seconds at 150 mph. One would
think it would be a hard transition to add 120 mph and another 1,020 feet of
racetrack. Sanford is looking forward to that challenge.
Sanford's blown alcohol sand dragster
“I'm really excited to get the full force of the car. I'm
only going 300 feet right now and it's trying to take off even at that point.
Besides that, I'm excited just to feel the smoothness, and the straight shot.
In the sand, you never know if you're going to hit a rut or a hole in the
ground,” said the Lucas Oil-sponsored driver.
Along with Lucas Oil, Sanford will receive primary sponsorship from Gelish, a popular brand of long-lasting gel nail polish. The D Las Vegas hotel and the Golden Gate Casino and Hotel will host the team when they're in Las Vegas. Heroes Bar & Grill and Roscoe's Famous Deli in downtown Fullerton, CA will also support the team.
Larry Miersch's Spitzer-built dragster has been adjusted to
fit its new driver by some of the best in the business. Working out of the
Worsham's shop, Dennis Taylor poured a new seat and made sure all of the safety
features were up to spec. Aside from pedal adjustments by Grant Downing and a
new steering wheel, there were few things that needed to be changed.
Sanford's new ride, pictured in 2011 w/ driver Blake Alexander
(Courtesy of Jeff Moore/One Seven West Photography)
Sanford and her Gelish/Lucas Oil team hope to get in enough
runs during the Las Vegas Pro Stock test session for her to earn her TAD
license. If all goes well, they plan to debut at the Winternationals in Pomona,
February 14-17. After that, Shane says the team will run a primarily west coast
schedule, but the U.S. Nationals will probably be on the schedule as well.
TAN Reader Question
Q. Who is the driver you look up to the most?
A. “I'd have to say Alexis DeJoria. Over the years I've been
going to races and meeting the drivers, and she was the very first person to
completely acknowledge me and give me good advice. She made me feel good about
my dream. She made it seem like I wasn't just some other little girl coming up
to her and saying, 'I want to do what you do.' She really made me feel good
about myself and what I was doing. I just admire that so much.”
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