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Another Good NHRA Racing Day At Pomona

Another Good NHRA Racing Day At Pomona

Anne Proffit

BIO

Anne Proffit has worked in the automotive field since - well, not telling you that. She's been a car salesperson (before it was popular to hire... More

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Morgan Lucas - Anne Proffit photo

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Two rounds of qualifying are in the books for the National Hot Rod Association's (NHRA) season-opening O'Reilly Auto Parts Winternationals on the Auto Club Raceway dragstrip in Pomona, CA.

The Top Fuel pacemaker thus far is Morgan Lucas, who was fastest on both Thursday and Friday qualifying time sheets, registering a 3.835-second pass at 316.38 mph on Friday to complement his GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster's Thursday romp down the 1000-foot dragstrip of 3.832/320.28. Both were quickest and fastest of their respective days, a surprise to the California native.

"I'm as shocked as anybody that we're still low with a 3.83," Lucas said. "Our run today was pretty similar to what we did yesterday, other than it dropped a cylinder down-track. I have to sing the praises of my guys - since Aaron (Brooks) and Rod (Centorbi - crew chief and assistant crew chief respectively) came over this winter, we adopted the motto - 'if it's not perfect, it's not right.' The way the car is running is a reward for the hard work and extra hours they put in."

Behind Lucas, the 12 qualified cars are Tony Schumacher, Khalid alBalooshi (who moved up from 7th), Bob Vandergriff (from 10th on Thursday), Shawn Langdon, Steve Torrence, Brandon Bernstein, Spencer Massey, Antron Brown (who had tire shake on Thursday), Clay Millican, Doug Kalitta and David Grubnic. There are 18 cars on the grounds; two will go home.

There was a change atop the Funny Car standings as Bob Tasca III raced to provisional No. 1 with his pass of 4.109 seconds at 309.34 mph in his MotorCraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang. If it holds, this would mark Tasca's third career No. 1.

Bob Tasca - Anne Proffit photo

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"Based on what everyone else ran, that 4.10 was pretty impressive," Tasca said. "I tell ya, it wasn't much of an off-season for us. We tested a week in December and another week-plus in January, so we probably have 50 runs (down the 1000-foot dragstrip) on that car. We were disappointed with how we finished last year, so we dug deep this off-season and made some great runs in testing. It's always nice to translate into a race-day tuneup."

Behind Tasca are Thursday leader Jack Beckman, Matt Hagan, Johnny Gray (this duo swapped spots), Gary Densham (who didn't run Thursday), John Force, Alexis DeJoria, Courtney Force, Tim Wilkerson (unqualified Thursday), Bob Bode, Tony Pedregon and brother Cruz Pedregon. There are 20 Funny Cars here this week.

Pro Stock continues to be Mike Edwards country. Nobody beat his Thursday time and speed of 6.545/211.86 in the Penhall/Interstate Batteries GXP. Looking for his 41st No. 1 Edwards said, "Our car made a hard move out of the groove right off the starting line in the right lane," on Friday. "The 60-foot time was about the same as yesterday, but leaving crooked scrubbed off some E.T. If the conditions are good for Saturday morning's first session, everyone should pick up - I think it's owing to take a 6.52 to end up with the No. 1 qualifying spot," he predicted.

Edwards paces Ronnie Humphrey, Allen Johnson, Jason Line, Greg Anderson, Vincent Nobile, Rodger Brogdon, Shane Gray, Kurt Johnson, Larry Morgan, Ron Krisher and Greg Stanfield. Jeg Coughlin, returning to Pro Stock after a one-year sabbatical, is 13th and not yet in the field. Nor are Erica Enders and Warren Johnson in the 18-car field.

While sunshine and warmth prevailed on Friday, cooler skies were the prediction for Saturday. Hardly anyone expected showers, which is what greeted the drag racing troops at dawn this morning. Will there be another opportunity to qualify? As Pomona sits against mountains, it's often the last area in the Los Angeles basin to clear up.