THE SOGGY TEN: 2024 NHRA WINTERNATIONALS EDITION
 |
Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The Soggy Ten - NHRA Winternationals Edition
As the NHRA Super Comp class was taking to the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip and the Lucas Oil Winternationals crowd was anticipating the pro final rounds, rain returned to the Southern California event mid-Sunday afternoon. Scattered raindrops turned to a thunder-and-lightning rainstorm, complete with hail.
With no respite from the weather radar in sight, NHRA officials decided to finish this second of 21 races on the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series at the April 5-7 Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park, near Phoenix.
Schumacher, who last won at Seattle in 2022, will be looking to extend his class-best victory total to 87 in the Leatherwood Distillery Dragster. Ashley will be going for the 12th victory of his career and his third straight Winternationals victory.
WANT TO SEE "THE TEN" FROM QUALIFYING? - CLICK HERE
But the Texas tandem from Odessa showed up, and Mason McGaha, at least, was happy he did. He qualified 13th, not particularly impressive, but he saved his best for race day. The young Jr. Dragster graduate and third-year pro upset five-time class champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the first round Sunday and took out seasoned Matt Hartford in the second round – both on holeshots. McGaha lost to Dallas Glenn in the semifinal round but earned a berth in the next Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. He had been hoping to score his first victory in a third final-round appearance.
6 – MARQUEE MATCH-UP – Arguably, the Funny Car class’ marquee match-up in Round One was between No. 2 qualifier Ron Capps and Gatornationals runner-up Austin Prock, who has driven nothing like a class rookie. And it was a duel between crew chiefs Dean “Guido” Antonelli of Capps’ NAPA Toyota team and his former colleague Jimmy Prock of the John Force Racing team’s Auto Club Chevy. For Capps, this round-win against Austin Prock was a steppingstone in his quest for a fourth consecutive final-round appearance at this event. That would tie him with Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, the only other racer to make four straight trips to the final round here, from 1975 through 1978. For Prock, it was a chance to prove he was better this weekend than his No. 15 starting position – his lowest in either Top Fuel or Funny Car – might indicate. Capps won that pairing with low elapsed time of the meet (3.891 seconds).
Among his remarks was a compliment for his opponent Prock: “Austin, he’s a viper in that car.” Prock temporarily has taken over driving duties in the Auto Club Chevy while veteran Robert Hight is on a hiatus. “I miss Robert out here,” Capps said of one of his keenest rivals on the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour.
WANT TO SEE "THE TEN" FROM QUALIFYING? - CLICK HERE
7 – YAY FOR THE UNDERDOGS! – The first round of eliminations often produces a few surprises, and Sunday’s had a couple of back-to-back upsets in Funny Car competition.
Officially, Terry Haddock’s defeat of Chad Green was not an upset, for Haddock had lane choice as the No. 7 starter. But it was only the second time in his 162 starts that he has begun eliminations in the top half of the field, and it was just his 17th round-win. Green was the winner last November in the series’ most recent visit here.
Following the Haddock-Green match, Jeff Diehl, the No. 9 qualifier, won a round for the first time since 2019. It was his 10th elimination-round triumph in 101 races. Diehl beat Daniel Wilkerson, who was No. 8 on the grid and had taken the provisional top-qualifying spot Friday.
WANT TO SEE "THE TEN" FROM QUALIFYING? - CLICK HERE
9 – MILLICAN’S MISFORTUNE - Popular Top Fuel driver Clay Millican has had a rough start to the season. He lost in the opening round at the Gatornationals. And though he lasted one round longer at Sunday’s Winternationals, eliminating Antron Brown, the Parts Plus dragster driver struggled throughout the entire weekend.
In the first of only two qualifiers, Millican experienced a valvetrain-related malfunction Friday that resulted in a fireball and considerable damage to the injector, rear wing, and wingstand. Then in Saturday’s lone session, his car pushed out a head gasket.
Things didn’t go well Sunday, even when Millican won against Brown. He had a boomer at the finish line. The team brought the car to the finish line for Millican’s scheduled run against Brittany Force, but the crew pushed it from the starting line before even firing it up. Crew chief Jim Oberhofer said the team worked hard to fix everything again but during the warm-up discovered a problem with the oiling system. He apologized to the fans and explained that the Rick Ware Racing team didn’t want to damage the track and slow down the show, especially when impending rain showers were necessitating a hustle.
“I keep breaking things. It’s disheartening,” Millican said Sunday.
“There was a time when we needed help, and we know that places like United with Love and their volunteers are making a difference in people’s lives every day,” Brittanie Hart said. “The Race to Fill the Food Pantry is something we can do this month, but they need assistance and support every month. And we want to encourage everyone to get involved if they are able.”
 |
