64th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals - In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip - Pomona, CA

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TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #2 (FINAL)

We start our Winternationals coverage with the second, and what ultimately became the final qualifying session for Top Alcohol Funny Car. With just eight cars entered, it didn't take too long to get through this session.

(LEFT) Making his first appearance in the Miner Brothers car, Alaska's Ray Martin was hoping to get a time on the board, after breaking on the burnout in the first session. He made good on his second try, ringing up a decent 5.609 - 263.46 to slot into the #6 spot on the ladder.

(RIGHT) In her national event debut, Madison (Maddi) Gordon wanted a much better result than her first run of the weekend, which saw the car get sideways early, and shut off to a 10-second clocking. She ran into more trouble on this run, as the car shook very hard on the launch, and she coasted down to a 8.815 - 100.03, that left her at the bottom of the field.

(LEFT) With a new look to the car, and new sponsorship, Shane Westerfield fielded the Jackson family race car. He backed up his first session 5.60 pass with a consistent 5.636 - 262.85 flashing up on the scoreboard. That left him in the #5 spot in the field.

(RIGHT) Coming into the session in the #1 position, young Hunter Jones went slightly "over-center" and shook the tires hard. He still hung on to the top spot with his earlier 5.539 - 262.90 effort.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER - Qualifying Session #2 (FINAL)

(LEFT) With 17 cars in the pits, but only 16 recording a time in the first session, Mitch Myers was sitting on the bump spot with a 20-second elapsed time. He "improved" on that time with a tire smoking 8.471 - 117.01 to hang on to bump spot. The big news was that left Shawn Cowie (not shown, in the far lane) out of the field with an 11-second clocking, as he smoked the tires on the launch.

(RIGHT) Sporting a new look with major sponsorship, Trevor Larkin puffed the tires on the launch, pedalled and slowed to a 5.659 - 266.48, two tenth slower than his earlier 5.459 - 265.38. That left him in the bottom half of the field in the #9 position.

(LEFT) The rookie Joe C. Maynard was up next, hoping to continue his winning streak after winning the "Baby Gators" and the Gatornationals. His first run was decent, but he was looking for a big improvement in this round of qualifying. It didn't happen though, as he shook the tires, pedalled, and stopped the clocks with a slower 5.646 - 237.21. He dropped one spot in the order, as his earlier 5.398 wasn't quick enough to stay in the fast half of the field.

(RIGHT) Following Maynard was veteran Joey Severance in his blown alky car, and he was looking for better numbers than his first session 5.378 e.t. He ' didn't improve, and slowed slightly to a decent 5.446 - 263.51 to hang on to the #8 spot on the laddedr.

We're not really sure why these two photos snuck into our coverage, but they show the Chris Demke crew adjusting the wheelie bar, then intently watching the car stage before he launched.

(LEFT)In the near lane, Chris Demke laid down a good 5.377 - 270.37 pass. It was half a tenth slower than his earlier effort, but he was solidly ensconced in the #4 position. In the far lane, Madison Payne in the Duane Shields entry, ran into traction trouble and was forced to shut off to a 6.20 - 165.82 to remain in the #7 spot in the field.

(RIGHT) Coming into the session at the top of the qualifying list with his first round 5.232 - 271.84 clocking, Mike Coughlin failed to improve. He launched well, but ran into traction problems before the 330' mark and slowed to an 8-second time. With a final qualifying session scheduled for Saturday morning, there was one last chance remaining for everyone to improve and change the 8.471 bump spot.

PRO STOCK - Qualifying Session #1

Leading off professional qualifying were the Pro Stock cars as there was no Pro Stock Bike class at this event. With 20 cars entered there was guaranteed to be at least a small amount of qualifying drama for drivers near - or below - the bump spot.

(LEFT) Leading off with Pro Stock cars, Mason McGaha was at the head of the staging lanes. He was looking for a big improvement over his season opening Gainesville race, where he, and his father, both failed to qualify. His weekend here didn't start well as seriously nasty tire shake forced him to pedal the car to get it under control and contributed to a mediocre 6.847 - 207.88 timeslip.

(RIGHT) Following his son in the right lane, Chris McGaha was hoping he wouldn't be following in the "basket-balled" tire tracks of Mason. Instead of another shaky run, he laid down a smooth and fairly quick 6.585 - 210.83 performance to grab the top rung on the ladder for at least a few minutes.

(LEFT) In a new car for the 2024 season, Camrie Caruso did not run well at the Gatornationals, but put down a solid 6.588 - 208.62 to slot into the #2 position behind Chris McGaha. A good start to the weekend following some testing between Gainesville and Pomona.

(RIGHT) Putting down a good smoky burnout, Jerry Don Tucker drove the "Outlaw" entry to a decent 6.670 - 209.01 that was only good for the #6 spot with 12 car remaining in the lanes. It was stgarting to look like an elapsed time in the 6.50's was going to be needed to qualify for the event.

(LEFT) The first of the "Corral Boots" team cars was Fernando Caudra Jr. who put down a solid 6.637 - 209.14 in the Camaro entry. The rest of the team is still using Ford Mustangs.

(RIGHT) Very recognizable with the big "JEGS" banner on the door, Troy Coughlin Jr. broke into the 6.50's with a strong 6.595 - 210.87, that was good enough for the #4 spot on the ladder and currently the top speed recorded.

(LEFT) The other Mustang-bodied entry from the Corral Boots team, with David Caudra driving put down a solid 6.606 - 209.88 to grab a temporary hold on the #6 spot, but with six strong runners still waiting to make a pass, it certainly wouldn't hold up for a top half position on the ladder.

(RIGHT) Running a full season in 2024 with SCAG Power Equipment backing, Jeg Coughlin Jr. started his weekend with a very strong 6.573 - 211.20 to grab the #2 spot and set top speed so far.

(LEFT) After a semifinal performance at Gainesville, Dallas Glenn was expecting to be near the top of the list, but ran a so-so 6.608 - 208.29 that was only good enough for the #12 position on the ladder.

(RIGHT) The final pair of the session featured the finalists from the Gatornationals, and this was no contest as the points leader, and defending series champion Erica Enders laid down the low e.t. and top speed of the round at 6.556 - 211.69. In the other lane (not shown), Cristian Caudra lost traction and shut off to a 9-second clocking.

After the first session, the field ranged from Enders at 6.556 to Jerry Tucker at 6.670. Of the 20 cars that attempted a pass, 18 carded a 6-second e.t. and only one (Deric Kramer) failed to generate a timeslip.

FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #1

After a quick track prep, the nitro cars made their first appearance, with the Funny Cars leading the way. The qualifying math was simple: 16 spots open in the field and 21 cars in the lanes. With a few part time runners in attendance, it was most likely going to be the "usual suspects" running in eliminations on Sunday. But with threatening weather in the weekend forecast, it was imperative that everyone made a solid run in the first session.

(LEFT) Making his first appearance in two years, after blowing up all his equipment at the 2022 Winternationals, So-Cal privateer Alex Miladinovich had the new "Hot 4 Teacher" flopper ready to rock but after rolling through the burnout box, lost fire before attempting his burnout.

(RIGHT) Another local-ish low-buck-ish racer, Chris Morel in the Reno-based "Little City Charger" got a little further than Miladinovich, by executing the burnout. But he had to be pushed back to the starting line, then was unable to move forward and was forced to shut off before staging. It was a tough start for Morel after sitting out two full seasons since his last appearance at the World Finals in 2021.

(LEFT) Another local racer, Jason Rupert in the "Bays & Rupert" tribute entry, came up and did manage to stage the car, leave... then go up in smoke. At least he got a timeslip, but a 7.608 - 90.68 was far from what they were expecting.

(RIGHT) Two more California cars paired up, with Jeff Diehl (near lane) blasting out near career bests at 4.050 - 306.81 to take the early, and very provisional, pole position. In the far lane, Steven Densham in the Densham family hot rod, and sporting a FOR SALE sign on the front fender, went up in smoke instantly and shut off to an 11-second time.

(LEFT) With some serious sponsorship behind them from "Versatrans", the Richards brothers, with Dave Richards driving and brother Paul tuning, are planning to run the entire Mission Foods Series in 2024. They had a tough time at the Gatornationals, not qualifying, but came into Pomona looking for much better results. After sitting at the starting line for quite a while after the ambers flashed, he launched and ran well to half track before shutting off to a 4.502 - 205.44 to grab a tenuous hold on the #2 spot on the ladder.

(RIGHT) The new season blues continued for Jim Campbell as the "Last Exit" car broke on the burnout and came to a locked up stop just past the Christmas tree. After he exited the car, the car in the other lane was able to make a run.

(LEFT) The "car in the other lane" was none other than the Jim Dunn-owned and tuned "Mooneyes" Special, with Buddy Hull behind the wheel. While Buddy has some experience in Top Fuel, this is his first season driving a short wheelbase ill-handing Funny Car. He lost traction early and shut off to a 6-second clocking.

(RIGHT) Two series regulars with lots of experience came up next, with Paul Lee in the far lane, and Cruz Pedregon in the "Snap-On" Dodge in the near lane. You might expect to see side-by-side 3-second, 300+ mph passes from them, but when the timers finally stopped, they read 6-second at barely 100 mph for each of them, as they went into syncronized tire smoke before the 330' timers.

(LEFT) With a well presented car and capable of running low 4.0 and high 3.9 elapsed times, Terry Haddock was looking for some solid performances in 2024. He ran a 3.989 at Gainesville and was looking for something similar here.

(RIGHT) Facing Haddock in the far lane was Daniel Wilkerson now taking over the driving chores in the Tim Wilkerson owned and tuned "SCAG" entry and he finally ousted Jeff Diehl from the top qualifying spot with a solid 4.014 - 314.31 pass. Haddock was right with him until about the 450' mark, before losing traction and banging the blower enroute to a 4.669 - 188.31 pass. With five pairs remaining in the lanes, that pass guaranteed Haddock a spot in the field after the first session.

(LEFT) With the heavy hitters coming on deck, it was almost certain that we'd see a side-by-side 3-second race between John Force (near lane) and Alexis DeJoria in the far lane. However, it wasn't to be as both drivers got out of shape, DeJoria early, and Force a little later.

(RIGHT) Here's the Sunoco vision view of the two cars as Force (left side) crosses the centerline at the 660' mark, while DeJorias looks like her car is under control and pointed in a reasonably straight direction. However, a little further down track, she tagged the wall and disqualified her run. With both drivers DQ'd, there was still no ' bump spot and only ten drivers had received an elapsed time.

(LEFT) Two more of the stronger cars in the field faced off next, with Ron Capps in the very familiar "NAPA" car in the near lane, and Matt Hagan in the "JHG" (Johnson's Horsepowered Garage) Dodge Charger Hellcat in the far lane. Both cars lost traction, but Capps did it first, and Hagan got to the finish line first with a slightly less than scintillating 4.454 - 195.59 to his credit.

(RIGHT) Another couple of Top Ten cars came up and while they both made it down the track without serious problems, neither was able to grab the top spot away from Dan Wilkerson. Chad Green (far lane) left second but finished first with a decent 4.110 - 302.96 for the #3 position, with Bob Tasca III (near lane) shut off early but still carded a 4.201 at only 247.93 for the #4 rung on the ladder.

And then there were too, with rookie Funny Car driver Austin Prock in the far lane, facing J.R. Todd in the near lane. They both smoked the tires and pedalled to a 4.615 - 272.56 for the #7 position for Todd, and a slower 4.758 - 229.31 for young Mr. Prock. That left him in the #7 position after the first session of qualifying.

Of the 21 cars that attempted a pass, only 18 made it down the track, only 16 got a timelsip and the bump spot ended up at 11.841 (Steven Densham). On top was Dan Wilkerson at 4.014, and very surprisingly Jeff Diehl was #2 at 4.050, as the only other car in the 4.0's in the session.

TOP FUEL - Qualifying Session #1

With only 15 cars entered, as long as the drivers could all light the stage bulbs and take the tree, they would be qualified for eliminations on Sunday. With the amount of freak breakage in the Funny Car session, it remained to be seen if the long skinny cars could live up their billing and put on a show for the fans that ventured out to In-N-Out Burger Dragstrip on Friday afternoon.

(LEFT) Making her national event debut in Top Fuel was Jasmine Salinas. While it was planned for her to run a second "Scrappers Racing" entry this season, her father Mike stepped out of the cockpit of his car to deal with some health problems, leaving young Jasmine to take over the driving chores, at least temporarily. With three seasons of experience in an A/Fuel car in Top Alcohol Dragster, she wasn't exactly a rookie, but there were some very big shoes to fill in her father's car. She ran hard to the 660' timers before clicking it off to a 4.270 -201.22 timeslip.

(RIGHT) With a new look and new sponsor on his car, Nebraska's Terry Totten (near lane) faced off against Krista Baldwin (far lane), in the new to her ex-Pat Dakin car. Neither driver got the result they were looking for as Totten was up in smoke right off the line and Baldwin followed suit soon after. A 5.608 for Baldwin and 6.636 for Totten were nothing to get excited about.

(LEFT) Two cars that usually run later in a qualifying session, but because they didn't do well at the Gators, ran early here, were Brittany Force in the near lane and Clay Millican in the far lane). They didn't disappoint, especially Ms. Force as she rocked the scoreboards with a great 3.783 - 330.39 to jump into the top qualifying spot. Staying with her until just past the 660's timing blocks, Millican broke into the 3's with a decent 3.902 at only 296.05 to slot in behind Force in the #2 spot. The bad news for Millican was a blown engine, a fireball and oil on the track - for the second time in two races - and a 10-point penalty.

(RIGHT) Top Fuel rookie Tony Stewart (near lane) faced off against Shawn Reed who is back on the tour on a full-time basis for 2024. Neither driver received the results they were looking for as Reed shut off early after puffing the tires early and stopped the timers at 6.656, while Stewart kept the tires hooked up for a little longer and broke into the 4's with a 4.839 - 148.95 set of times.

(LEFT) Another pair, and nothing to write home about. In the near lane Josh Hart was only able to card a 6-second time in the "R+L Carriers" car, while in the far lane, Tony Schumacher went a little further before the "Leatherwood Distilleries" car lost traction and shut off to a 4.829 clocking. After nine cars went down the track, only two ran in the 3-second zone, and only one, Brittany Force made a full pass.

(RIGHT) Unbeliveably, two of the most consistent cars of the 2023 season both failed to get down the increasingly perplexing Pomona dragstrip. World Champion Doug Kalitta (near lane) and Justin Ashley (far lane) both lit the tires, Ashley instantly on the green, enroute to a 10-second pass, and Kalitta almost to the 330' mark before lighting them up and coasting to a 5-second time.

(LEFT) With just two pairs left to run, and the shadows lengthening and the track cooling, everyone was hoping to see some seriously good side-by-side racing to close out the round. In the near lane, returning veteran Billy Torrence (back on the tour full time for the first time since 2021) made it look easy as he laid down a new low e.t. with a great 3.745 - 330.47 to set the top numbers for the category and take away the #1 qualifying spot from Brittany Force. Almost unnoticed in the far lane was Antron Brown who only fell back in the last few hundred feet before stopping the clocks with a very good 3.807 -322.11 for the #3 spot in the field.

(RIGHT) The final pair of the session tried hard but weren't able to bump "Captain CAPCO" (Billy Torrence) out of the top spot. Gainesville winner Shawn Langdon, in the near lane, ran hard until just before the finish line where he banged the blower and slowed to a 3.788 - 318.24 that landed him in the #4 spot. In the far lane, Steve Torrence kept it running on all cylinders right through the lights, with the scoreboard flashing up a 3.750 - 328.30 that placed him second on the ladder at the close of the session.

After a slow start to the session, four cars managed to drop into the 3.70's and two more landed in the 3-second zone. From there the e.t.'s plummeted all the way down to Justin Ashley's 10.560 for the 15th and final qualifying position. With a dire weather forecast on tap for Saturday it was looking like the numbers in this first session might be all we'd see until Sunday.

NOSTALGIA FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #2

With ten races on the schedule for the Legends Nitro Series, being run in conjunction with selected NHRA national events across the country, the Nitro Nostalgia Funny Cars have more than just the Hot Rod Heritage Series races to showcase their cars for the fans. With 11 cars entered at Pomona, the 8-car field promised to be a tight fit for the racers.

(LEFT) First up was a Hawaiian driver in a California car with Canadian tuning talent. How's that for a combination? The "Nitro Junkies" team, with Derrick Moreira driving, and ex-Top Alky drivers John Evanchuk and Ken Sitko tuning, made a hard launch but the tires started shaking at the 330' mark, forcing him to shut off to a 6.32 at 108 mph. Their first session 5.970 - 141.25 left them at the bottom of the qualifying sheet and in danger of missing out on eliminations as just one more qualifying session was scheduled for Saturday.

(RIGHT) Another international story was at play in the first pair of the session, with California's Ryan Horan, the third-generation driver of the Horan family car (near lane) facing Edmonton's Tim Boychuk in the Twig Zeigler-tuned "Happy Hour" Camaro in the far lane. Boychuk ran into trouble early, heading for the guardwall and shut off to an 8-second time. It wasn't all smooth sailing for Ryan Horan though, as the car moved around a lot and forced him to pedal his way to a 4.946 - 228.69 that moved him up to the #7 position in the field, while Boychuk fell to #10 and out of the show.

(LEFT) The next pair saw Don Knoblauch in the Washinton state "Atomic Punk" (near lane), who came into the session in the #9 spot and needed to improve, and Kamaka Pocock in Don Nelson's "California Hustler" who was just bumped down to the #8 spot. The cars were side-by-side to the 660' mark, before Knoblauch got off the throttle soon after and coasted to a non-qualifying 5.286 - 169.27. Pocock had trouble on the top end too, and clocked in at 5.157 - 196.30, leaving him on the bump spot.

(RIGHT) Two of the stronger runners came up with Washington state's Michael Peck Sr. (near lane) driving the "Instigator" against California's Geoff Monise in the "Quarter Pounder" of Keith Clark and Dale Van Gundy. After the first session they were sitting in the #3 (Peck) and #6 (Monise) positions, solidly in the qualified field. Despite gradually moving towards the guardwall, Peck blasted out a piston-burning 4.727 - 239.40 to jump into the top spot on the ladder, while setting top speed on the run. Not far behind was Monise as he pounded out a solid 4.860 - 231.95 that moved him up to the #5 position.

(LEFT) Two Division Six cars came up, with multi-time defending Hot Rod Heritage series champion Bobby Cottrell in Bucky Austin's "Bardahl - Northwest Hitter" running in the near lane, and Edmonton's Nathan Sitko in the Ron & Ryan Hodgson "Bubble-Up - Pacemaker" in the far lane. Cottrell left first by a full tenth but a slow 60' time cut the margin in half and Sitko took the lead by the 330' mark. From there to the finish line they stayed side-by-side and the scoreboards told the tale of Sitko jumping to the #1 spot on the ladder with a brilliant 4.653 - 237.38, albeit at the cost of a box of pistons, judging by the huge cloud of smoke at the 1000' finish line. Cottrell didn't improve on his first session 4.760 but ran a big speed of 4.770 - 239.06 and hung on to the #4 position.

(RIGHT) The first session leader, Jeff Arend in Eddie Knox's "Problem Child" (near lane), faced off against Jon Capps in Jim Broome's "Speed Sport Special" in the far lane. Both drivers sported much experience in a variety of nitro burning cars, and a knack for getting in an unfamiliar car and getting it down a track with little or no orientation required. Arend started smoking before the 660' clocks, then kept running clean to stop the clocks at 4.823 - 231.71 as Capps fell back and shut off to a 5.028 - 183.82 time. Neither driver improved and as the session ended, Arend held the #3 spot, while Capps was down in the #5 slot.

The dire weather forecast for Saturday proved only too true, and for the first NINE hours of the race day, nothing but Safety Safari equipment went up and down the hallowed lanes of Parker Avenue. With some very dark clouds hovering over the track, the call finally came out to bring out the Top Fuel and Funny Cars for their second - and final - qualifying session.

TOP FUEL Qualifying - Session #2 (FINAL)

(LEFT) When the track was finally open for business, Justin Ashley (near lane) launched hard and kept it hitting on eight all the way to the finish line to stop the clocks at 3.753 - 329.18 to catapult all the way to the #3 position. In the far lane, Josh Hart dropped a cylinder early and shut off to a 5.395 - 109.78, that was surprisingly quick enough to pick up one spot to #11 on the list.

(RIGHT) The next pair featured two racers who didn't run well on Friday. One of them, Doug Kalitta (far lane) was able to run much quicker, despite some dropped cylinders, turning a 3.785 at only 303.30 mph as he banged the blower at the finish line It was still good enough to grab a spot in the top half of the field at #5. In the near lane, Shawn Reed ran better than his first session 6.656 but his 4.755 was only good enough for #10, with quite a few good cars left waiting to run.

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FUNNY CAR Qualifying - Session #2 (FINAL)

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With a threatening weather forecast for the afternoon, NHRA decided to start eliminations an hour earlier than normal. Thankfully, our hard working photographer, BIG Bob Snyder set his alarm clock for the time change and was on hand to capture all the action until the rains started again just after the semi-final rounds were completed.

TOP FUEL - Eliminations Round ONE

With just two sessions to get their tuneups sorted, the 15 racers on hand were at least guaranteed a spot in eliminations, providing they were able to stage the car under power once. All the racers managed that requirement, but the final qualifying list showed only 10 cars in the 3-second zone, and only seven in the 3.70's.

(LEFT) Eliminations opened with the #8 and #9 qualifiers meeting in what is traditionally the most closely matched pair of the round. There was a gap of a full tenth of a second between their qualifying times, but when the ambers flashed it became a very tight race to the 1000' stripe. Antron Brown left first by a few thousandths, and posted a very good 3.743 - 329.18, but lost by just five thousandths of a second. Taking the win was Clay Millican (not shown), who put up a slightly better 3.730 - 332.34, but it came at a cost as the blower banged for the second run in a row. Besides a dead blower, the carbon fiber injector hat turned into some very expensive confetti.

(RIGHT) In the second pair out of the lanes, Krista Baldwin, in her newly acquired ex-Pat Dakin car, ran into early trouble with dropped cylinders. She kept on until the 660' mark before throwing in the towel and slowing to 4.370 - 193.82. In the other lane, Gatornationals winner Shawn Langdon (not shown), took full advantage of her plight, blasting out low e.t. of the meet with a brilliant 3.680 - 334.24 pass.

(LEFT) Langdon's teammate, Doug Kalitta, nearly matched his pace with a very quick 3.699 - 335.40 to advance to the second round. Not shown was his opponent, Jasmine Salinas, making her Top Fuel competition debut but had the throttle disconnect on the burnout, forcing the team to shut the engine down before staging.

(RIGHT) After a nearly four year absence, Shawn Reed is back with a new car and the financial backing to run the entire schedule in 2024. His Winternationals ended in a cloud of tire smoke and unburnt fuel as he lit the tires instantly and coasted to a 7.630 - 124.93. In the far lane, Justin Ashley (not shown) left strong but faded on the top end with a 3.831 - 317.87 clocking, the slowest winning time of the round to this point.

(LEFT) Taking the top spot in qualifying with a very good 3.711 - 335.73 earned Brittany Force a bye run in the first round. Seeing what the track could hold, crew chief David Grubnic nearly matched her qualifying e.t. with a great 3.714, coupled with a new top speed of the meet at 336.91 speed. The run also earned her lane choice over Clay Millican in the next round.

(RIGHT) Back for the full tour for the first time in a few years, "Captain Capco" Billy Torrence qualified strongly in the #3 position, and upped the ante a few hundredths with an excellent 3.716 - 335.98 to easily outrun Josh Hart (not shown). Hart left first by half a tenth, and held the lead until the 660' mark before a dropped cylinder slowed him, and crossed the finish line with a 3.903 - 274.61 pass.

Coming from the bottom (#15) of the field, Nebraska's Terry Totten launched solidly, but ran into trouble early and coasted to an 8-second e.t. at 60mph, while Tony Schumacher (not shown) blasted out a consistent 3.752 - 329.83 to advance to the next round against Shawn Langdon.

The final pair of the round featured multi-time world champion Steve Torrence (not shown), against the Top Fuel "rookie" Tony Stewart. After a good start in his debut at Gainesville with a 3.725 qualifying effort, Stewart was stuck in the 4's until he went up in instant smoke and slowed to an 8-second losing pass. Running away with the win, Torrence stopped the clocks at 3.695 - 336.65 to earn lane choice over Justin Ashley in the quarter-final round.

FUNNY CAR - Eliminations Round ONE

The Funny Car pits were full, with 21 cars vying for the 16 spots in eliminations. While the bump spot was a rather weak 4.823 (Buddy Hull), the first alternate was a real shock as Alexis DeJoria failed to make the cut. The other four cars that were left by the wayside all had low 4-second runs - or better - to their credit, but with tricky track and weather conditions and just two chances to make the show, weren't able to get the power to the track long enough to qualify.

(LEFT) In a departure from the norm, the #3 qualifier Bobby Bode, (not shown) elected to be in the first pairing, facing the Dave Richards machine. With serious backing, the Richards brothers are planning to run the entire circuit but they qualified near the bottom of the field with a mid 4-second effort. Things didn't get any better in eliminations, as he left late and ran into tire smoke early, clicking it off to a 8.35 - 92 mph clocking. Bode ran away for the win with his best pass of the event, a 3.964 - 291.51 that ended with lots of green flames and death smoke out of the pipes.

(RIGHT) Sporting a new Mustang-themed paint scheme, speed merchant Bob "Mr. 341" Tasca III didn't get out of the 4's in qualifying, and he didn't do any better here as, after a strong launch, the car dropped cylinders and slowed to a losing 4.307 - 217.88 pass. In the other lane, Paul Lee (not shown) improved on his qualifying time and carded a good 3.902 - 321.73 to move into the second round.

(LEFT) The Gainesville winner found himself all the way down in the #13 position in qualifying, but J.R. Todd launched well before the tires started spinning at half track and slowed him to a 4.278 - 216.17 pass. That should have been easy to beat for his opponent Cruz Pedregon (not shown), who left later and shut off a little earlier, losing with a 4.349 - 219.94 timeslip.

(RIGHT) A rather surprising first round match featured Gainesville runner-up Austin Prock (far lane), against former world champion Ron Capps, in the near lane. While Capps qualifying in the #2 position, Prock was all the way down in #15. It was a close race until just past the 660' mark, where Prock spun the tires and danced around in his lane before clicking it off to a 4.138 - 236.22. Capps pounded out low e.t. of the meet with a great 3.891 - 328.86 to move to the second round,

(LEFT) Wearing the JHG colours this weekend, defending world champion Matt Hagan didn't quite match his low qualifying e.t., but his 3.909 - 329.67 obliterated the Jim Dunn-owned MoonEyes car with flopper rookie Buddy Hull at the tiller. Hull remained in the high 4.70's at less than 200 mph, with the tires breaking loose before half track as he did during qualfiying.

(RIGHT) Facing the "GOAT" John Force (not shown), was part-timer Jim Campbell who slid into the field in the final qualifying session, but saw his luck run out early with tire shake, a pedal, then an early shutoff at 7.842 - 83.03. Improving on his qualifying time was Force as he blitzed the timers with a very good 3.959 - 324.12 to earn lane choice over young Mr. Bode in the next round.

(LEFT) Moving up from also-ran to a real threat, Terry Haddock qualified in the top half of the field (#7) for only the second time in his career, with a great 3.999 - 308.50 effort. He kept things going in the first round by matching strides with Chad Green (not shown), before Green lifted and shut off to a 5-second e.t. Haddock had the engine get unhappy a little further down track , so he clicked it to a slowing, but winning, 4.459 - 229.51 that wasn't nearly enough to take lane choice from his second round opponent, Ron Capps.

(RIGHT) Closing out the round was SoCal veteran Jeff "The Surfer" Diehl who qualified well, in the 9th spot, with a good 4.050 - 306.81 that gave him lane choice over Dan Wilkerson (not shown). Wilkerson left first by a couple of hundredths, but the car drove into instantaneous tire smoke, forcing him to coast down to an 10-second e.t. Leaving him far behind was Diehl as he made a slight improvement on his qualifying time, lighting up the scoreboards with a solid 4.044 - 303.30 clocking. However, it didn't come close to matching Ron Capps' 3.89 pass, giving Capps the choice of lanes in the second round.

PRO STOCK - Eliminations Round ONE

As always seems to be the case, the Pro Stock field was tightly bunched with the gap between #1 (Dallas Glenn) at 6.536 down to #16 (Sienna Wildgust) anchoring the field at 6.625, less than a tenth of a second. Three of the four alternates were usually on the qualified list, but as with the other categories, only two chances to get the setup right caught them out.

(LEFT) Making only his second start in Pro Stock, Brandon Foster, part of the KB-Titan conglomerate, left the starting line more than a tenth behind Chris McGaha (not shown). But when McGaha started heading for the wall at the 330' mark, Foster pedalled his tire shaking entry and stood on the throttle long enough to register a 7.263 - 206.23 and turn on the winlight.

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TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER - Eliminations Round ONE

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FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN - Eliminations Round ONE

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TOP FUEL - Eliminations Round TWO

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FUNNY CAR - Eliminations Round TWO

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PRO STOCK - Eliminations Round TWO

NOSTALGIA FUNNY CAR - Eliminations Round ONE

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TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR - Eliminations Round ONE

(LEFT) Eliminations for the 8-car field began with Annie Whiteley ripping off an excellent 5.491 - 265.80 to set low e.t. of the meet and be the first car into the 5.40's. She left with an unreal .007 reaction time and easily outran her opponent to advance to the semi-finals.

(RIGHT) The racer that Whiteley eliminated was former world champion Shane Westerfield in the late Rick Jackson-owned car. He made his best pass of the event with a strong 5.543 - 264.96, but Whiteley's psychic leave put him two car lengths behind at the finish line.

(LEFT) The second pair of the round featured championship contender Brian Hough and he turned on the winlight with a very quick 5.494 - 266.64 that set top speed of the meet. It turned into an automatic win when his opponent redlighted.

(RIGHT) In the other lane was Will Martin, and the former nostalgia funny car racer, and son of the nitro funny car racer John "Jam-Air" Martin, turned on the red-light when he brought the revs up on the "two-step" launch control. It was all academic as Hough ran away from him.

(LEFT) Making her national event debut in front of a large Southern California audience, third-generation funny car racer Madison 'Maddi' Gordon had nothing but trouble during qualifying, shaking or smoking the tires on both attempt to sit at the bottom of the field. It all came good for the Gordon family team when she cranked out low e.t. of the meet with a brilliant 5.479 - 266.11 in her first round race.

(RIGHT) As you can see by the scoreboard shot, Gordon's numbers on the right side of the picture were better than the left side stats. Unfortunately for Ms. Gordon, her great run was pipped by just .003 due to Hunter Jones slight holeshot and his very good 5.490 - 263.62 clockings. After a few years of working his way up the ladder, Mr. Jones not only qualified #1, but took out the defending world champion car in the first round of eliminations.

(LEFT) The final pairing of the round featured two veteran flopper pilots, with Mike Doushgounian making a small improvement over his qualifying effort, clocking in at 5.515 - 262.59, coupled with an incredible .006 reaction time to take an easy win and advance to the semifinals and a meeting with Brian Hough.

(RIGHT) Dropping the decision against Doushgounian was Alaska's Ray Martin, who's taken over the seat in the M7 Performance car from Jake Guadagnolo this season. As you can see in the photo, he was falling well behind Doushgounian, and had the front wheels in the air, eventually going across the centerline and taking out the 660' timing blocks for the automatic loss.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER - Eliminations Round TWO

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TOP FUEL - Eliminations Round THREE

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FUNNY CAR - Eliminations Round THREE

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