NHRA Pomona Winternationals 2013 Results & Same Day Coverage

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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!

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.

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 Qualifying

Mike 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.

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.