The Los Angeles County Fair was a California sugar beet field in 1922 that originally featured chariot-style races. In 1952, it expanded to include a drag racing facility, established by Bud Coons, a local police officer. This city’s investment was intended to offer a safe space for drag racers, which has since become a holly spot for all drag racing enthusiasts.
The Pomona Dragstrip, now associated with In-N-Out Burger, continued its role as a historical site, and over the weekend hosted the 64th annual NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals.
The Fairplex was originally named after the 1922 Los Angeles County Fair. The popular facility attracts over 630,000 visitors annually to its 17-day fair concluding on Memorial Day and also houses the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum.
The Pomona drag strip, despite previous rumors of its closure last year, will continue to be the venue for NHRA championship events. This is significant for drag racing fans as Pomona has long been integral to the sport, most often hosting both the season's opening and closing rounds. A contract extension has been secured, prolonging the commitment from 2028 to 2033.
Ashley vs Schumacher in Top Fuel Final
With more rain in the forecast, Sunday’s elimination rounds were moved up an hour; but it stormed anyway. Brittany Force had powered to the top spot to close out qualifying on Saturday, earning her first No. 1 qualifier of the season at this year’s 64th annual Winternationals. She posted runs of 336.91 and 333.69 mph to reach the semifinal round in a matchup against Justin Ashley. Ashley had eliminated Shawn Reed and Steve Torrence in earlier rounds.
Billy Torrence returns for the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Series and this year expects to be full-time in the second CAPCO Contractors 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster. Torrence is teammates to his son Steve, who is a four-time NHRA Top Fuel World Champion. Torrence beat Josh Hart and Doug Kalitta before losing to Tony Schumacher’s 3.742 ET in semifinals. Schumacher ripped thru Terry Toten and Shawn Langdon and advanced with his win over Torrence.
With the winningest driver in NHRA Top Fuel history with 86 Wallys to his credit, Schumacher is not the driver you want to face considering his winless streak in 2023. On the other hand, nobody had a better year behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster last year than Justin Ashley. With the foul weather that produced rain and hail storms, race fans will have to wait for the conclusion of the Winternationals final round at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in two weeks.
Hagan vs Force in Funny Car Final
With a newly prepped racing surface at Pomona, the first round of qualifying proved to be a nightmare as everyone struggled to get grip and stay on their side of the centerline. Three-time NHRA Funny Car World Champion Ron Capps found success and posted a 3.893-seconds elapsed time to move to the top. But, on a solo and final pass, four-time world champion Matt Hagan matched Capps 3.893 ET to claim Number One qualifier with a slightly faster top speed.
Tony Stewart Racing kept Hagan’s Dodge Mopar Hemi stuck to the pavement as he carded a 3.909 ET to eliminate Buddy Hull, followed by a 3.899 ET to eliminate Jeff Diehl, and a 3.939 ET to send J.R. Todd’s packing. In the bottom bracket, Capps caught fire and eliminated Austin Prock with a 3.891 ET and Terry Haddock with a 3.935 ET before his matchup against the winningest driver in NHRA history. John Force lead from the tree to finish line posting his fastest pass at the Winternationals.
Inclement weather left the pavement at In-N-Out Pomona Raceway on Sunday afternoon covered with hail. So, the final shootout in Funny Car between the former NHRA world champions in Matt Hagan and Ron Capps was postponed until the next round of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series at Firebird Motorsports Park outside Phoenix for the NHRA Arizona Nationals on April 5-7.
Enders vs Glenn in Pro Stock Final
Defending Pro Stock winner Dallas Glenn scored his fifth career Number One qualifier with a 6.536-second ET at 209.75 mph. After struggling to find grip on Friday, the RAD Torque Systems team found the secret ingredients for Glenn’s Chevrolet Camaro. Six-time and defending NHRA Pro Stock World Champion Erica Enders had to settle for second with a 6.547 ET at a slightly faster 210.73 mph.
Glenn relied on quick reaction times on Sunday to eliminate Sienna Wildgust with .018 RT, David Cuadra with a .012 ET, and Mason McGaha with a .027 ET enroute to the Finals for the Winternationals. In the bottom bracket, Enders posted victories over Fernando Cuadra Jr. and Brandon Foster to set the stage for a great semifinal matchup with Greg Anderson. The veteran with 103 Pro Stock victories nailed the tree with a .009 RT but Enders ran him down to advance.
Defending event winner and six-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders will have to wait a couple of weeks to defend her title against the Number One qualifier at Pomona, Dallas Glenn. Instead of the threat of bad weather, it rolled over the San Gabriel mountains mid-afternoon on Sunday and dumped rain before the track was covered with ping-pong ball sized hailstones. The pair will take to the track to finish their round of the Winternationals in Arizona.
Artwork courtesy of NHRA
UP COMING:
NHRA Arizona Nationals
Both Nitro and Stock teams have two weeks to prepare for Round Two of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series at the NHRA Arizona Nationals on April 4-7 at Firebird Motorsports Park in Chandler, AZ. Race fans will once again have live side-by-side racing during Saturday’s qualifying with the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge.
In addition, the final pairings in Nitro and Stock from the Winternationals, which were postponed on Sunday at Pomona due to inclement weather, will be the final pair in each category of Saturday’s final qualifying sessions. Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock for the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals begins at 2 p.m. at Firebird Motorsports Park.
