Defending champions Robert Hight and Mike Edwards picked up right where they left off with pace-setting runs on the first day of qualifying at the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline on Thursday.

Joining Hight (Funny Car) and Edwards (Pro Stock) was Top Fuel driver Cory McClenathan, who rounded out the provisional qualifying leaders through the first of four rounds of qualifying at the historic 50th running of the Winternationals.

The Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona is the first of 17 races in NHRA’s regular season, the Countdown to 10.

Whit Bazemore hasn't been behind the wheel of a Funny Car since 2007. It is difficult to believe a 20-time winner, including two U.S. Nationals titles still finds himself on the sidelines.

Fortunately, Whit takes the situation in stride. The time away hasn't dampened his love of the sport or his desire to see the sport grow even further beyond its humble beginnings. The helmet is ready, the heart is ready and so too is the frank manner which made Whit Bazemore a real fan favorite.
 
Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com took the time to listen to Bazemore's take on the current status of the sport of drag racing and the NHRA

Every season, since 2000, Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com has attempted to predict the champions in each professional division. While we’re not going to quit our day jobs to become psychics or anything, we do try to use logic in predicted those who we feel will be the champions for the upcoming season.

Last year we fell short of our mark in every category but a good break here and a good break there, and we could be bragging right now.

Charles Carpenter, King of the 1955 Chevy Pro Modifieds, has a new look for the 2010 season, and most importantly the 20th anniversary of Pro Modified, a class he helped to pioneer. Carpenter will compete in the ADRL's Pro Nitrous division this season.

Larry Dixon has been wondering about one thing for awhile. The two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion, and driver of the Al-Anabi Top Fuel dragster, wonders what it will be like to enter a season as a relaxed challenger.

Dixon entered the 2009 season, after a whirlwind off-season of leaving one team to join another, with a team scrambling to gather parts, pieces and personnel. For all their efforts, the team failed to make the cut in the first race of the season, an event marred by rain with limited qualifying.

The good thing for Dixon and the Al-Anabi team is that a season isn’t judged by how you start. It’s how you finish that matters most.

Jim Dunn Racing's Driver for 2010 Fulfills Life-Long Dream with Full-Time Ride in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car
When Funny Car driver Paul Lee straps into the CANIDAE Pet Foods/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy for the first time at this weekend's season-opening 50th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, there will probably be the requisite butterfly or two that any NHRA rookie racer might feel. Except the 52-year-old Lee with a degree from Wharton Business School and two graduate degrees from Rutgers isn't exactly your typical rookie. Nerves or not, the New Jersey native will see the life-long pursuit of a dream realized when the CANIDAE car is rolled to the line for the first round of qualifying at Pomona.

"I've been working towards this my whole life," said Lee. "Ever since I was 13 years old I knew what I wanted to do, and I've been drag racing ever since I was able to drive a car. It's taken me a long time, but now I'm finally there."

Technicoat Companies, a worldwide leader in industrial waterproofing and flooring and longtime associate sponsor with Kalitta Motorsports, will be the primary sponsor this weekend, Feb. 11-14, on the 8,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled Top Fuel dragster driven by Doug Kalitta for the 50th annual running of the famed NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.), just a few miles from Los Angeles.

Kalitta is the defending Top Fuel champion of the Winternationals.

In addition to Pomona, Kalitta will fly the primary colors for Technicoat Companies at the next Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event in Phoenix next weekend. Future NHRA events featuring the Technicoat Top Fueler will be announced soon.

Greg Anderson might seem cool, calm and collected when he rolls to the starting line at any of the NHRA’s 23-race Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events. If only race fans could see him in the days leading up to the first race of the season.

Admittedly, this has been a tough off-season for Anderson and his team.

“Our outlook is no different than any other season – we live in complete fear until we make that first run in Pomona,” said Anderson, who will compete at this weekend’s NHRA Winternationals.  “This KB Racing crew has had its distractions over the last few months, which made the off-season seem even shorter than it actually is. But through it all, we have stayed steady, working as hard we can. We’re certainly pleased with the results we saw with our new Summit Racing Pontiac in testing, and are confident we have a good hot rod and have moved our program forward.

Entering her third season behind the wheel of the BrandSource A Fuel Dragster Brittany Force has been an eager student. Sure the occasional butterflies start stirring before a run but the 23 year-old Cal State Fullerton graduate puts those feelings on the back burner before she makes a 275 mph pass. As the 2010 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series seasons starts Force will continue her education both on and off the track as a racer and a student teacher.

“I am excited to be back from a quick Winter Break and to start off the season at my home track in Pomona. It’s been a few months since climbing into my BrandSource A Fuel dragster and thinking about making my first pass of the year down the track puts butterflies in my stomach in a good, exciting way. Due to the rigorous schedule I am beginning for student teaching I won't get to make all the qualifying runs I would like but I hope the ones I do make will lock me into the show. I can't wait and hope for a great weekend for the Force team,” said Force.