Justin Ashburn, (born December 23, 1981 in Joelton, TN) is a part-time Nationwide Series driver. for Day Racing Enterprises. Before joining that series, Ashburn raced in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for a number of years for Day, with respectable results.
Nationwide Series career
Ashburn made his Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) debut in 2003, running a second Day Enterprises car. Driving the #61 Waterloo Tool Storage/31-W Insulation Chevy, Ashburn started 42nd and finished there at Darlington Speedway. Ashburn's season did not improve. Because his job was mainly start and park, Ashburn had eleven DNFs in thirteen starts for Day. He also did not qualify for a great deal of races. However, Ashburn did earn a respectable 20th place finish at Nashville Superspeedway in June 2003. Ashburn also made a one-off start for Bost Motorsports, finishing 41st at Michigan International Speedway.
Ashburn moved to Day's primary car, the #16 for 2004. However, the team struggled to qualify for races early and had to scale back to a limited schedule. As a result, Ashburn only qualified for eight races in 2004. Even worse, he did not finish six of them. His best finish was a 29th at Talladega Superspeedway, but on the bright side, did lead his first career lap under caution in the July race at Daytona International Speedway.
Ashburn only made one start in 2005 and it came at Talladega Superspeedway. However, it would prove to be his best career race. Avoiding a big wreck early, Ashburn hung onto the back of the draft and earned his career best finish of 14th. It also proved to be his first career lead lap finish.
Ashburn has made one start in 2006 to this point. He finished 42nd in the Day Racing Chevy at Talladega after his engine expired. Ashburn will likely be back at Daytona. However, if the team skips that race, it is unlikely that Ashburn will race again in 2006, as Chad Chaffin is driving the car for the majority of the season.
External Links
Ashburn's Career Stats at Racing-Reference
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