Brittany Force competing in the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona Dragstrip (Photo: NHRA Media)
POMONA, Calif. — The NHRA Winternationals at Pomona Dragstrip was slightly postponed on Saturday following a lengthy rainfall. Once track crews were able to thoroughly dry the racing surface, the Top Fuel dragsters hit the strip.
Qualifying session one for Top Fuel was not very pleasant. The drivers had persistent tire and engine issues throughout the session. Clay Millican’s engine blew up, spewing parts all over the track and flames from the engine area. Steve Torrence’s car was only running on seven cylinders, causing his engine to blow up and remain smoking after coming to a complete stop.
The Top Fuel class had a new contender in Jasmine Salinas. Salinas was filling in for her father, Mike, while he takes some time off for health reasons. Salinas was very excited to be filling her father’s shoes for a while and she performed well in the first qualifying round.
Before the second qualifying session took place, the 2Fast2Tasty Challenge for the top four finishers from the previous race had to be run. Shawn Langdon, Antron Brown, Billy Torrence and his son were all included in the challenge.
The first semifinal round was between Langdon and Brown. Both drivers smoked their tires, but Brown did so first, resulting in Langdon taking the win. Langdon had a reaction time of .040, an elapsed time of 4.038 seconds and a final speed of 226.85. Meanwhile, Brown had a reaction time of .053, an elapsed time of 5.508 seconds and a final speed of 128.05.
The next semifinal matchup consisted of father and son Torrence. Both lost traction on the strip and coasted to the finish line, but the younger Torrence took the victory with a reaction time of .066, an elapsed time of 4.098 seconds and a final speed of 207.02. His father, on the other hand, had a reaction time of .101, an elapsed time of 4.245 seconds and a final speed of 195.42.
Qualifying session two for Top Fuel started off with Justin Ashley and Josh Hart. Ashley crossed the line first and moved up 12 positions into third place with an elapsed time of 3.753 seconds and a final speed of 329.18. Hart moved up one spot into the 11th position with an elapsed time of 5.395 seconds and a final speed of 109.78.
The next matchup was between Doug Kalitta and Shawn Reed. Reed smoked his tires early on in the race, but Kalitta suffered a catastrophic engine failure, throwing parts everywhere. Despite this major setback, Kalitta ended up as the victor with an elapsed time of 3.785 seconds and a final speed of 303.30. Reed had an elapsed time of 4.755 seconds and a final speed of 169.40. This bumped Kalitta up eight positions to the number five spot and Reed up five positions into the number ten spot.
Rookie Tony Stewart raced against Krista Baldwin in the next round. Stewart won the match and become the number one qualifier with an elapsed time of 3.737 seconds and a final speed of 328.30. Baldwin had an elapsed time of 3.964 seconds and a final speed of 243.94. Baldwin moved up four positions into the tenth spot and Stewart moved up 11 spots.
Tony Stewart competing in the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona Dragstrip (Photo: NHRA Media)
The second to last round of the second qualifying session showcased the veteran of the class, Tony Schumacher, and newcomer Salinas. Schumacher won and took the first-place qualifying position away from Stewart, while Salinas dropped a cylinder. Schumacher had an elapsed time of 3.735 seconds and a final speed of 331.85 while Salinas finished with 4.033 seconds and 287.78, respectively.
Millican and Brittany Force made up the last battle of the day. Force seized the first-place qualifying position from Schumacher as Millican’s engine blew up yet again. Force advanced five positions while Millican stayed in tenth. Force had an elapsed time of 3.711 seconds and a final speed of 335.73. Millican ended with an elapsed time of 4.104 seconds and a final speed of 212.03.
At 7:00 p.m. EST, the Top Fuel dragsters take to the strip on FS1 to battle it out to see who will end the day on top. Tune in on your favorite device.
