It’s Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY, here at the famed Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, host of the season-opening NHRA Mello Yello Winternationals since 1961. Driver introductions for Pro Stock, Funny Car, and Top Fuel happen at 10:00 am and the on-track action starts at 11:00 for the first round of eliminations. Who will leave Pomona with the early points lead? We’ll soon find out. Stay tuned as we bring you round by round coverage all day.
Here's the pairings for round one of eliminations in Top Fuel.In Top Fuel, Tony “Sarge” Schumacher powered his U. S. Army dragster to the 72nd No. 1 qualifying position of his career with his pass of 3.753 at 324.05. “It was a great to be the number one,” Schumacher said. “That was a phenomenal run. That’s a consistent race car and doing some great stuff. The conditions aren’t going to change at Pomona. We are running really good and assume the other cars are going to run good too. Great cars make you rise to the occasion and do a great job. Fans pay big money to see a good race.” In the opening round Schumacher will face Brazilian rookie Sidnei Frigo, who rounded out the quickest Top Fuel field in NHRA history. Brandon Bernstein took the second spot in his Protect the Harvest/MAVTV dragster with a performance of 3.761 at 325.22, while defending Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown qualified fourth in his Matco Tools dragster.A new era at John Force Racing also began with Brittany Force and the Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster qualifying number 15 in the quickest Top Fuel field in NHRA history. Her qualifying time of 8.845 seconds at 293.22 mph will set her up for a first round match-up with Brandon Bernstein. Brittany said, “One of my goals for this year was to qualify for every race. We came out to Pomona and did it with this Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster. I am definitely excited about racing tomorrow. We are going to have some fun. I am excited to be running Brandon. I have known him forever and I have been watching him forever. I am a rookie driver but I am going against one of these guys that has been out here forever.” When Brittany was asked if she thought her legendary dad, John Force, would place a side bet with Brandon’s legendary dad, Kenny Bernstein, she laughed and said, “I am not sure but I bet my dad might call Kenny.”
Funny Car round one pairings.Courtney Force blazed a new path to start her sophomore season on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, posting the quickest time in qualifying and leading the Funny Car field for just the third time in her young career with a 4.036 seconds at 318.24 mph. Will she or her dad John, or teammate Robert Hight, get a win today?Pro Stock round one.Leading the Pro Stock field is Mike Edwards, who took the top spot in the class for the 42nd time with a performance of 6.528 at 212.39. He will open eliminations against Chris McGaha at an event he has won one time in three final round attempts.Contrast this shot to the photo of the Sportsman pits earlier this weekend. Fingers in ears and tears streaming from eyes are commonplace when the Fuel cars fire up in the pits, with nitro in the cell. The cars will be in the staging lanes soon.
The first round of eliminations is in the books! Pro Stock saw some bigtime upsets, with Greg Stanfield and Shane Gray taking out both Summit Racing cars, those of Greg Anderson and Jason Line, respectively. Also advancing to the next round we number 16 qualifier Chris McGaha beating number one Mike Edwards, Vince Nobile (over Matt Hartford), V. Gaines (Deric Kramer), defending champ Allen Johnson (Roger Brogdon) Kurt Johnson (Erica Enders-Stevens), and Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Steve Kent).
In Funny Car, top qualifier Courtney Force advanced past Phil Burkhart, Matt Hagan took out Tim Wilkerson, Bob Tasca III sent Del Worsham to the trailer, and Johnny Gray beat Alexis DeJoria. The major upsets were Cruz Pedregon beating Robert Hight’s AAA car, Ron Capps sending Hight’s teammate and owner John Force home early, and Todd Lesenko’s Canadian maple leaf-emblazoned car beating defending champ Fast Jack Beckman.
Top Fuel saw rookie Sidnei Frigo’s day end early at the hands of Schumacher, Spencer Massey beaten by Steve Torrence, Antron Brown taking out Larry Dixon Jr., Dave Grubnic over Morgan Lucas, Brandon Bernstein sending rookie Brittany Force to the trailer, Shawn Langdon beating Clay Millican, Doug Kalitta beating Leah Pruett, and Khalid alBalooshi beating Bob Vandergriff.
In the first round of eliminations, Shane Gray's newly painted Camaro took out Jason Line's formidable Summit Racing Camaro in a big upset.Chris McGaha stunned the field when he beat a slowing Mike Edwards in the first round of eliminations.Erica lost early to Kurt Johnson. Johnson tree'd her by .019 and Erica's GK Motorsports ride slowed to a mid-8-second pass.Ron Capps beat the master, John Force, off the line (barely) and ran a quicker 4.108 to a 4.119 to advance to the second round.This was shot at about 660 feet down the track, showing Gary Densham (near lane) trailing Tony Pedregon. At this point, Densham was nearly sideways while Pedregon was pedaling, but Densham got it together enough to get to the 1000-foot finish line first.Todd Losenko, who blew the body sky high at the 2012 World Finals here in Pomona, beat Jack Beckman in an absolute pedal-fest. His 5.013 at 176 got there before Beckman's 5.457 at 149.Sidnei Frigo's (near lane) first Pomona was good in that he made the field, but bad in that he had to face the most successful Top Fuel racer of all time, Tony Schumacher. You can guess the result.Larry Dixon Jr. (far lane) lost to the champ, Antron Brown, in the first round. We spoke with Santo "Junior" Repisarda, the Australian team's head tuner, if they're going to try and contest the whole season. He said, "We're going to see how the first three races and go and then decide from there." Send 'em some luck.
And that’s it for the first round! Keep coming back for more as the day progresses! They’re about to run the second round as we type this, so stay tuned….
BIG CRASH! Defending champion Antron Brown won his race against Dave Grubnic, but then a massive engine explosion shredded the tires and sent the car across the track (he was in the right lane) and HARD into the wall. The car broke up and slid all the way to the sand. It was horrible to watch, but the Safety Safari was there before the car even stopped moving, and the driver's capsule did its job, keeping the flames off the driver. Antron got out and was obviously very woozy, but walked away and was interviewed shortly afterwards. Another stroke of good luck is that Grubnic avoided hitting the car as it crashed directly in front of him. You'll see this one on the nightly news tonight.
And the second round is in the books. Below are the round sheets with the results that show the following racers advancing to the semifinals: In Top Fuel, Antron won the race before he took the wild ride, beating Grubnic, but his car is destroyed. He could enter his backup car, but the crew thought it best to just give him the rest of the day off, meaning Tony Schumacher (who beat Steve Torrence) will get a bye to the final. On the other side of the ladder, Shawn Langdon will face Khaild alBalooshi after beating Brandon Bernstein and Doug Kalitta (respectively). In Funny Car, Courtney Force is still marching, taking out Matt Hagan to go up against Bob Tasca III, who beat Cruz Pedregon, and Ron Capps beat Gary Densham when the latter’s ‘chute deployed about 100 feet out, and slowed him to a 5.80. Capps will now face Johnny Gray, who beat Lesenko with a fantastic 4.038 to Lesenko’s 4.202. Finally, Pro Stock will see Vince Nobile (beat Shane Gray) and and Greg Stanfield (Chris McGaha) race each other, while on the other side of the ladder will be V. Gaines facing Jeg Jr.
Image/s missing.
And….the semis are done and the finals are set as the sun sets on Pomona. The track still seems sticky and the air is getting cold, so this should be fun. Here’s what happened.
Jeg Coughlin got a holeshot on V. Gaines with a .013 to a .079 and maintained just enough of a lead to stay out front, running a 6.574 to Gaines' 6.538.Greg Stanfield left on Vince Nobile, .020 to .031, but the black and white car of Nobile squeaked out a win, getting to the stripe in 6.575 seconds compared to Stanfield's 6.588. That sets a final round matchup of Coughlin and Nobile.Bob Tasca knew Courtney Force had him covered, and either she had to have a bad run or he needed to pull one out of you-know-where to go the final. Trying to tree the Force lady, he left too early and his -.086 light handed Courtney a visit to the final.Courtney will face Ron Capps for the money round. Capps and Johnny Gray had a nail-biter going with e.t.s of 4.036 and 4.056, respectively.
Tony Schumacher had a bye run in the semis thanks to Antron Brown’s crash. He lost the hook not far out of the gate, but who cares…he’s in the final.
The semifinal round showdown of the Al Anabi Top Fuel teams. This time, Shawn Langdon (near lane) took the win over Khalid alBalooshi with both a holeshot and a quicker e.t.
Shawn Langdon (far lane) bested his Al Anabi teammate Khalid alBalooshi for the final round win with a better holeshot (.011 to .042) and e.t. too, a 3.721 at 322 to alBalooshi's 3.747 at a faster 324. Langdon said he felt his car eat itself up in the lights, but he had enough to hold on for the win.Ron Capps(near lane) got the smallest of advantage on Courtney Force at the tree (.071 to her .076) but Courtney just had too much for him, and ran low e.t. of the meet with a 4.025 at 317.
Image/s missing.
Jeg Coughlin couldn't get the car to re-fire after the burnout prompting the crew members to explode into action. They got it fired, but Jeggy redlit with a brutal -.014, handing Vincent Nobile the win.
Here's the final, official results sheet.Vince Nobile, your 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Winternationals Pro Stock winner!Courtney Force gets another Wally.Shawn Langdon took the win tonight, years after he first visited Pomona, his home track.And with this shot of NHRA president Tom Compton (far right) and the representatives of Coke/Mello Yello congratulating the winners, we wrap up our coverage of the 2013 NHRA Winternationals from here at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona!
Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels. Visit their home on the web for all of your racing and high performance tire and wheel needs!
It’s another beautiful day here in Pomona, with that Southern California weather that folks in the midwest and northeast dream about. The racers love it too, since they don’t have to contend with rain and cold like sometimes happens. As we’re starting the coverage for the day, where we’ll see the last two rounds of qualifying for Pro Stock, Funny Car, and Top Fuel at noon and two, the Sportsman classes are running and the Pro Stockers are an hour away from entering the lanes. After the first round of all three classes we’ll be back with the photos and information of what’s happenin’ out here, so keep checking in during the day and into the early evening for the full report.
Cross your fingers that we don't see much of this today. Thursday and Friday's Fuel qualifying sessions were plagued by a bunch of issues that brought out the track cleaners and shut the action down. Here's hoping that everybody keeps their stuff together for the rest of the weekend!
Image/s missing.
After the first round today (third so far for the weekend), Top Fuel was just finishing and they called Pro Stock to the lanes. So that we can continue to shoot, below are the qualifying sheets and some info, and soon we’ll come back with a complete wrap for qualifying with the final qualifying order.
Pro Stock third round qualifying order.Third round of qualifying in Funny Car.Top Fuel third round of qualifying.Steve Torrence did his burnout then something went wrong so they back him off the starting line. The announcer said something about a blower belt shredding, but it looked fine to us. He'll be back for another hit but he's currently in the field, in 12th.Sidnei Frigo, from Brazil, is campaigning a Top Fueler. By the third round of qualifying, he hadn't made the field, sitting back in 18th with a best of 8.350. He's got one more shot to make the show.
Image/s missing.
John and Ashley Force (-Hood) are both here. Obviously, the legenday John is racing his Castrol Funny Car against his daughter Courtney, while Ashley's here cheering them both on as well as sister Brittany in the Top Fuel car. Ashley is now 30 and pregnant with her second child. She said she won't be back in a Funny Car for the 2014 season but is looking at a 2015 return....maybe. Of course, JFR has three Funny Car teams and one Top Fuel team, so adding a fifth team might be a little too much.
Pro Stock Final QualifyingMike Edwards put his Interstate Batteries/I Am Second Camaro at the top of the Pro Stock field with a 6.28 at 212 mph, one-hundredth of a second ahead of V. Gaines and two-hundreths in front of third place Erica Enders-Stevens.Mark Wolfe, from Marysville, WA couldn't pull it together today. He blamed "the nut behind the wheel." His 6.653 was four-tenths off the number 16 spot.
Image/s missing.
Two major names in Pro Stock that will be watching tomorrow are Warren Johnson and Larry Morgan. Neither one could put it together to make it on the ladder. Chris McGaha rounded out the ladder with a 6.612.
The final qualifying sheet in Funny Car. In both sessions today, the top 4 were, in order, Courtney Force, Jack Beckman, Gary Densham, and Del Worsham. Courtney's 4.036 at 318.24 (which she ran in the third session) were the quickest and fastest pass by a Funny Car so far this weekend.Shocker! Jeff Arend in Jim Dunn's Grime Boss Charger did not make the field. His best run was in the sixes, way off the pace.Alexis DeJoria is the other woman racer in Funny Car. She doesn't get quite the attention that Courtney Force does, but she's in the hunt with a 4.107 at 302 for the tenth spot on the ladder. She's still chasing her first NHRA win.
Phil Burkart (far lane) made the field in the last session today, running a 4.640 at 208. That was four-tenths off Todd Lesenko's number 15, but still better than either Arend or Terry Haddock.The Top Fuel final qualifying order. Defending champ Antron Brown got knocked from third to fourth in the last round by Doug Kalitta with a 3.763 at 328.06 to Brown's 3.768 at 328.14. This is the quickest field in Top Fuel history.He did it! Sidnei Frigo made his first NHRA Top Fuel field in the 16th spot, with a 3.858 at 299.20 mph.Larry Dixon's new ride with Rapisarda Racing made the field in the 13th spot.Bob Vandergriff qualified hisC&J Energy Services Fueler 11th with a 3.813 at a thumpin' 324 mph.
Image/s missing.
Not making the Top Fuel field are, clockwise from top left, T.J. Zizzo, Terry McMillen, Steve Faria, and Steve Chrisman.
It’s Friday, which means the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona is on its second day of racing, with two rounds of eliminations for some of the Sportsman classes and the second qualifying rounds in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Top Alcohol and Funny Car. Like Thursday, Friday is pretty quiet compared to Saturday and Sunday, which make Friday one of the best days to mill around the pits, talk to drivers and crews, and still see some action on the track.
The Sportsman cars started the day at 8:00 am, and while they were running we wandered the pits to see what’s shakin’. In a few minutes, the Pro Stock cars will begin making their way to the lanes, followed by the Funny Cars and then the big boys (and girls) of Top Fuel. Check back in later today for complete coverage of the Pro classes’ second qualifying shots. Who will move up on the ladder, who will drop a few spots, and who will have to wait until tomorrow to even make the show. The weather is killer here, so we should see some good runs!
The Army is heavily involved in drag racing with major sponsorships, most notably with Don Shumacher Racing's (DSR), Tony Schumacher-driven Top Fuel dragster. There's a slew of Army guys milling around, most of them gravitating to the Army car's pits.
Image/s missing.
Left: Top Fuel racer TJ Zizzo signs autographs for fans in the big boy pits, which are a little less populated on Friday. Right: The Sportsman pits, on the other hand, are a lonely place to be. These racers, arguably the most hardcore of anyone here, are out in the south 40 at national events, since the majority of the crowd comes to see the superstars of the pro cars.
Image/s missing.
You know you're a real racer when: Someone says you can have one vehicle, price is no object, and you pick a full-on Renegade toter home and stacker trailer for your race car. This is the rig and pit of Lynsi Torres, the young billionaire who owns the hugely popular In-N-Out Burger empire. Lynsi runs a 3rd gen Camaro in Super Gas.
Here's what happens when you run your Funny Car into the top-end sand trap. This is Gary Densham's Avenger body.Terry McMillen's car before the second round of qualifying. He was ninth on the ladder yesterday but dropped out of the field into 17th today. He has two more shots tomorrow.A Dodge musclecar in front of an '80s Plymouth Horizon is a good example of the diversity in the Stock classes.
Image/s missing.
At the far end of the pro pits was a cool car show with vintage Fuel diggers and some Altereds, as well as a ton of nice street rods and hot rods. There was also a Junior Dragster display meant to get future racers hooked on the way of life. It seemed to be working.
Defending Pro Stock champ Allen Johnson still hasn't found the combination yet, again making an aborted pass. He's at the bottom of the field, not yet on the ladder.The Johnson father/son duo lined up together again. Kurt (the son) is so far in the number 10 spot while his dad is in 14th.Matt Hartford dropped from 15th to 16th on the ladder in his "sign of the devil" numbered Avenger Pro Stocker. That's Mark Wolfe's Mustang in the opposite lane, which hasn't made the field yet.Larry Morgan's 6.61 was decent yesterday, but it puts him barely in the field. The bump spot is currently 6.627 while number one qualifier Mike Edwards sits at a 6.528.Erica Enders (now Enders-Stevens after her marriage to fellow racer Richie Stevens) moved up a spot to third with a 6.539 in her Cagnazzi Racing Chevy Cobalt.
When you watch the ESPN coverage of the race and see the close up on the right lane, this is the camera delivering you the shot. It's remote controlled from where we don't know.Shawn Langdon in the Al-Anabi Fueler (near lane) still hasn't made the field, while in the other lane you're seeing Brittany Force make her very first run in competition, qualifying 12th with a 3.85 at 293 mph.Steve Chrisman and his low dollar (compared to the big boys) team hasn't figured out the combination yet. This isn't his burnout, it's his second attempt to get in the field.Bob Vandergriff (near lane) sits in the 8th spot while Spencer Massey (far lane) is seven-hundredths off the number one spot but still sits in 13th.Connie Kalitta watches from the wall as his driver Dave Grubnic does his burnout. Grubnic moved up from 13th to 7th.Jimmy Prock (left, crew chief for 2009 Funny Car champion Robert Hight) confers with Rahn Tobler (right, Ron Capps' crew chief) on the track surface before their guys run.TJ Zizzo's Peak Antifreeze-sponsored Fueler sits on the bump spot going into Saturday's last qualifying sessions.Oops. Jeff Arend's GrimeBoss car dropped its laundry about 100 feet out, ending his pass. He sits in the number 15 spot.
Image/s missing.
Tony Pedregon blasted to a 4.225 yesterday to qualify 12th on the first day, but his engine let go today and blew the body sky high. Yes, the body-in-flight photo sucks, but it's all we got.
Image/s missing.
And here's the qualifying status as it sits after day two of qualifying. We're sorry this all got posted up a bit late, but there were computer, internet, and software issues that made today/tonight difficult. Stay tuned for the final three rounds of qualifying tomorrow, then eliminations on Sunday.
Drag racing fans have waited all winter for this moment, and it’s finally here! The Mello Yello Drag Racing Series era begins as the 24-race 2013 campaign gets underway at the very location it has every year since 1961 — the fabled Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, in the shadow of the stunning San Gabriel mountains. Following a thrilling 2012 campaign, the points are reset and every team enters the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals on the same page and with one thought on their minds: championship glory. Dragzine will be bringing you same day coverage of the opener all weekend long, including some of the hottest storylines of the off season, including Brittany Force’s rookie Top Fuel campaign and Del Worsham and Larry Dixon’s return to the drivers seat.
Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels. Visit their home on the web for all of your racing and high performance tire and wheel needs!
Roaming the pits prior to the first round of Pro class qualifying here at the Auto Club Raceway Pomona is a great time to get up close and personal with the drivers and crew members before the mad rush of the Saturday and Sunday crowds. Here are some tidbits from the pits to get your drag racing weekend started. The Pro classes (Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock — Pro Stock Motorcycle doesn’t make a pass today) are scheduled to run at 2:00 pm so check back sometime after that and we’ll give you complete first round coverage.
Image/s missing.
The 2013 Winternationals are witnessing the debut of two female rookies in the Top Fuel class. Brittany Force (right photo, middle) is driving her dad's Fuel digger while her younger sister Courtney is back for her second season in the Traxxas Funny Car. Also here is vintage fuel racer Leah Pruett (left photo) behind the butterfly wheel of the Dote Racing Top Fueler.
Image/s missing.
Last year it was Full Throttle energy drink as the main NHRA sponsor, but the 2013 season is now the Mello Yello series. Right: Del Worsham is now in Connie Kalitta's DHL Funny Car for the 2013 season.
Image/s missing.
Left: Dismissed from Don Schumacher's Top Fuel team after some awards banquet high-jinks last year, Spencer Massey and Team Schumacher made up over the winter and he's back in the car, as a teammate to Tony Schumacher. Right: Defending Top Fuel champ, and crowd favorite, Antron Brown is just about done signing autographs while the crew does final prep on his digger before the first round of qualifying.
Well, the first round of qualifying is in the books, and it took a little over two hours to run the top three classes. Many cars were searching for some traction that evaded them, especially in the left lane, there were a few oildowns that held up the action, and Gary Densham’s parachutes didn’t come out, sending him into the sandtrap at the end of the track (but thankfully not into the catch fence). There were a few good runs though, especially the 3.70s that took the top spots in Top Fuel (Brandon Bernstein, Tony Schumacher, and Clay Millican), Densham’s 4.053 at 307 in Funny Car (on his off-road pass), and V. Gaines’s 6.538 at 211 in Pro Stock.
Come back tomorrow for more action from Pomona!
Image/s missing.
Here's your qualifiers in the top three classes, after one today. Tomorrow also has one round, again at 2:00 pm, and things get hot and heavy during the last qualifying sessions. The first pair of Top Fuel cars was going to be the rookie lady show, with Brittany Force taking on Leah Pruett, but it was anticlimactic. Force rolled through the lights, DQing her for the day. Dejected, she climbed out of the car as Pruett blasted a 4.018 at 251 mph.
Image/s missing.
Clay Millican laid the smack down early with a 3.79 at 325, but Bernstein and Schumacher did him a couple hundredths quicker.
Image/s missing.
Right after he made the quickest lap, Gary Densham (right) ran off the end of the track. The car was dirty, but undamaged. It was Courtney Force and her Traxxas Mustang (left), however, that took the top speed so far with a 311.49 mph pass and a 4.071 for a second place qualifier.
