NHRA Pomona Winternationals 2011 Same Day Coverage

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It’s a beautiful Sunday here in Pomona as the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season gets underway with final eliminations. It may be early in the season, but as as the professional teams have found, every point counts and racers in all three categories are aiming to kick the 2011 campaign off with a bang. Keep it tuned here to DRAGZINE as we bring you all of the days events live.

Special thanks to our event coverage sponsor Mickey Thompson.  Check out their full line of tires and wheels at www.mickeythompsontires.com

Round One Eliminations

Top Fuel

In an outstanding drag race, Doug Kalitta edged the young Steve Torrence by a mere .005 at the stripe, each driver recording a 3.83 elapsed time.

Morgan Lucas experienced some familiar engine trouble on the top end as he defeated a tire-smoking Brandon Bernstein to advance into round two. Teammate Shawn Langdon used an off-pace 4.01 to best a slowing T.J. Zizzo. Del Worsham recorded his first round win in Top Fuel in nearly two decades by besting veteran Bob Vandergriff with an impressive 3.803 at 322.11.

Tony Schumacher used a stout 3.782 at a booming 327.03 MPH – the fastest lap in the 1000′ era –  to advance over Troy Buff, and teammate Antron Brown was right behind with a great 3.790 at 325.37 to send Mike Strasburg packing.

In his first race driving for Don Schumacher, Spencer Massey recorded low ET of the round - that was equaled by Tony Schumacher in the next pair - with a 3.782 at 324.83.

The opening round of Top Fuel went pretty well according to plan until the final pairing, matching top qualifier Larry Dixon with upstart Terry McMillen. In a huge upset, Strasburg and the Amalie Oil team sent Dixona and company packing as both cars had trouble navigating the Pomona quarter mile, a 4.18 at 207 besting a 4.48 at 223.

Funny Car

John Force kicked off his championship defense with an opening round win over Paul Lee in the Jim Dunn-owned machine, 4.115 to an off-pace 4.45.

In an upset, #15 qualifier Jeff Arend sent Johnny Gray packing in his first race back in a flopper, popping and banging his way to a 4.33 while Gray struck the tires and slowed to an 8.51.

Jim Head edged out Bob Bode in a great drag race, 4.21 to 4.26 as Bode blew it up near the finish line, depositing oil in the shutdown area as a small fire ensued. Mike Neff recorded his first round win since the season bookend in 2009, defeating Tim Wilkerson by a 41.145 301.47 to 4.381 count.

Brothers Cruz and Tony Pedregon certainly had no intentions of facing off in the first round of the opening race of the year, but thats just how the cards fell on this particular day. In a tire smoking affair, Cruz pulled out the win to advance with a 4.573 to Tony’s valiant 4.86 effort.

Robert Hight will match up with boss John Force in round two after advancing over fellow Ford runner Bob Tasca, 4.121 at 305.84 to 4.21 303.37. Force will earn lane choice with his quicker 4.11.

Matt Hagan blasted his way to low ET of the round with a stout 4.060 at 308 as veteran opponent Gary Densham slowed to a 4.98 at at just 158 MPH.

In a pairing of DSR teammates, Ron Capps and the NAPA machine bested Jack Beckman with a game 4.134 at 306 as Beckman struggled on the top end, slowing to just a 5.35.

Pro Stock

Warren Johnson took a shot at the tree in his first round matchup with Ronnie Humphrey and left the red bulb in his wake, handing over the win.

Jason Line hammered out the quickest run of the weekend thus far in a defeat of V. Gaines’ Dodge, 6.538 at 211.89. Greg Stanfield continued where he left off last season, advancing with a stout 6.566 to easily advance over rookie Buddy Perkinsons’ slowing 7.66.

Ron Krisher bettered Jason Line's low for the weekend lap with a great run of his own, going 6.538 at 211.89 to defeat Rodger Brogdon's game 6.57 effort.

In another big opening round upset, rookie Vincent Nobile, running J&J power under the hood, stole one right out of the gate with a .002 bulb and a 6.561 to edge the quicker-but-losing 6.559 by Allen Johnson.

Top qualifier Erica Enders, in her first race back under the Cagnazzi umbrella, advanced to round two with a great 6.545 at a booming 212.43 MPH – the second fast run in history – defeat of Richard Freeman’s slowing 8.08. Greg Anderson made a nice run of his own with a 6.540 at 211.86 to end Shane Gray’s weekend early, and Larry Morgan’s red light handed a round two ticket to Kurt Johnson and his 6.58 at 210.77 effort.

Eliminations Round Two

Top Fuel

Morgan Lucas moved on to the semifinals with a 3.858 at 317 MPH, while opponent Terry McMillen had a flash of fire and lost the blower belt just past half track, slowing to a 3.94 at just 266 MPH.

Antron Brown put down a stellar 8.828 a 320.46 to dispose of Doug Kalitta who blew it up near the finish line and did a little disposing of his own in the shut down area. We're down for a cleanup...

Del Worsham, the lone remaining Al-Anabi car, moves into a semifinal matchup with Morgan Lucas on the heels of a 3.801 322.11 defeat of Spencer Massey, who hazed the tires and slowed to just a 4.10 at 229. Meanwhile, Shawn Langdon upset the Schumacher juggernaut, running a 3.841 at 309.66, while Schumacher struck the tires in the other lane and could only watch as Langdon sailed into the semfinals.

Funny Car

Mike Neff earned one the hard way, besting Jim Head on a holeshot, 4.243 at 293.28 to a quicker but losing 4.231 at 284.93.

Boss John Force will have to watch in the semifinals, as teammate Robert Hight put him away with a 4.107 at 308 to John's all-over-the-track 4.12 at 307.

DSR teammates Ron Capps and Matt Hagan both earned their way into the semifinals; Capps besting Cruz Pedregon 4.11 to a slowing 5.22, while Hagan edged Jeff Arend in a good drag race, 4.106 to a 4.16. It’s a Force and Schumacher battle in the semfinals.

Pro Stock

Erica Enders’ great weekend came to an untimely end in the first pair out, her Chevy Cobalt breaking on the burnout and unable to back up to the starting line.  Her car was pushed over along the wall and Ronnie Humphrey took his break solo into the semifinals. To add insult to injury for Erica, Humphrey rattled the tires just past the christmas tree and he coasted on through to a 12-second lap.

Greg Anderson went low for the round with a 6.531 at 211 to down Kurt Johnson's 6.58.

Jason Line made the semifinals a Summit Racing 3-for-4 affair as he defeated Vincent Nobile’s Dodge, 6.53 to a 6.55. Line and Anderson will square off in the next round. Meanwhile, Greg Stanfield used an .016 bulb and a 6.561 at 210 MPH to punch his way into the semi’s where he’ll face Humphrey.

Semifinal Eliminations

Antron Brown had a sizeable lead over Shawn Langdon at half track, but blew up his Matco Tools mount bigtime, allowing Langdon to sail into the final round with a 4.033 at 313 MPH. Antron left a trail of fluid and the Safety Safari is rolling...

It’ll be an all Lucas Oil final round in Top Fuel, as Morgan Lucas bested Del Worsham to join his teammate in the final. Lucas and Worsham both damaged a lot of parts and the race was on to see who could coast across the finish line first. With that, Langdon will choose his lane for all the marbles.

Funny Car

In a great drag race, Robert Hight edged out Ron Capps with a 4.070 to 4.079 count. In the money round, Robert will face off with Matt Hagan in another epic Force versus Schumacher battle as Matt Hagan defeated Mike Neff on a holeshot, 4.138 to 4.122.

Pro Stock

Greg Stanfield, the lone remaining car not from the Ken Black stable in Pro Stock, used a sizable holeshot advantage and a stellar 6.538 to send Ronnie Humphrey's 6.561 packing. In the other pairing, Jason Line parlayed a killer .001 reaction time and a 6.532 to defeat Greg Anderson's 6.563 and earn lane choice in the final.

Final Round Eliminations

Pro Stock

With .001 and .002 lights already to Jason Line's credit today, Greg Stanfield knew he had to be on his game and that he was, taking an .020 to .041 edge out of the starting gate, but the Safety Sentry Pontiac fell nearly .06 off its semifinal pace and couldn't fend off Line's low ET of the weekend 6.529 effort for the win.

Funny Car

Robert Hight earned his money in a big final round matchup with Matt Hagan. Hight grabbed a big .060 to .105 edge out of the gate and Hagan made a valiant effort but couldn't run the AAA Mustang down, a 4.056 beating the quicker but losing 4.023 of Hagan.

Top Fuel

With a whole pile of broken parts, it certainly wasn't pretty, but morgan Lucas got the job done in dream fashion today as both of his cars reached the final round in Top Fuel. Shawn Langdon got the slight jump at the tree, .027 to .045, but Langdon has to pedal it about 200' out and that was all she wrote as Lucas sailed to the win with a 3.835 at 316.38 to Shawn's trailing 4.04.


About the author

Mark Gearhart

In 1995 Mark started photographing drag races at his once local track, Bradenton Motorsports Park. He became hooked and shot virtually every series at the track until 2007 until he moved to California and began working as a writer for Power Automedia. He was the founding editor for its first online magazines, and transitioned into the role of editorial director role in 2014. Retiring from the company in 2016, Mark continues to expand his career as a car builder, automotive enthusiast, and freelance journalist to provide featured content and technical expertise.
Read My Articles

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