NHRA
The NHRA continues the celebration of its 75thanniversary year at Pomona’s In-N-Out
Burger raceway, and the Premier event at its home track, the “Winternationals”
The weather was kind of cool, but the racing was anything but!
The one thing you can say about drag-racing, is that as good as some of the top caliber
drivers may be, the word is unpredictability. I don’t care if the guy (or gal) has won five
straight events. Each run is a roll of the dice, and more than a few of them are “Loaded”.
And this year’s Winternationals were NOT the exception. So many of the top contenders,
well known racers, were out early. Antron Brown, a three-time World Champion, was a
good example. Oops, out in the first round of eliminations, losing to Multi-time IndyCar
and Nascar Champ, Tony Stewart. Tony has assumed the ride from the Lovely Leah Pruit,
AKA Mrs. Tony Stewart. Tony, a winer in almost anything he drives, put Antron on the
trailer, while he is coming to grips with his new Top Fuel Drive!
Another example is Brittany Force. Holder of most of the quickest and fastest runs ever
recorded in a top fuel car, and by any standards one of the most consistent Top Fuel Pilots
in history, is the #1 Low ET qualifier at 3.64 seconds, but loses to Doug Kalitta TWICE, and
doesn’t make it to the semi-finals.
It seems like the “Under-Dogs” were getting their 15 minutes (or 3.75 seconds, it is Top
Fuel after all) of fame, as weird and upset wins were the order of the day!
Stay tuned for the full results and story!
Richard T. Haight
Photos by Chuck Null and Richard T. Haight
