Final round-by-round results from the 48th annual CARQUEST Auto
Parts Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the first of 24
events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

There’s been considerable confusion
regarding the new qualifying procedure which some believe “locks in”
the quickest 12 cars in each pro category at the conclusion of Friday’s
second session.  Many at the Winternationals were under the mistaken
impression that those 12 cars couldn’t be bumped from their respective
fields regardless of how they performed on Saturday, and this is not
the case.

The new procedure was really put into effect for races later in the
season, when an under-ideal-running-conditions-Friday evening followed
by a 20 degrees and 15 humidity percentage points higher Saturday could
effectively end all hopes of outsiders making the field.

Unquestionably this has been a major problem.  We can recall more than
one U.S. Nationals when there was but a single night session on Friday,
and if you didn’t make it into the show then you would be making
useless “demonstration runs” for the remainder of the weekend.  The
same situation has occurred at other venues, with this new plan
designed to enhance qualifying prospects for the competitors while at
the same time insuring the spectators of a better show.

The first round of Funny Car eliminations during the NHRA
Winternationals in Pomona, Ca., produced more excitement than one could
imagine as Tony Pedregon suffered a devastating explosion and John
Force ran off the end of the track.

Neither driver was apparently seriously injured in the accident, although Pedregon is being tended to by medical staff.

“I broke every rule you can break as a driver. It’s called brain fade,”
Force said. “I was worried about the reaction times because I was late
off of the line because of my foot.”

NASCAR
fans often refer to their favorites by their numbers rather than by
name or sponsors.  That’s never been the case in drag racing, where the
car numbers are almost downplayed. But, when Mike Ashley and Melanie
Troxel’s cars came to the starting line yesterday one couldn’t help but
notice the massive car numbers that were on display on the back of
everyone’s uniforms as well as on the leading edge of the two Dodge’s
roofs.  We caught up with Ashley to ask him about it.

“I’ve never been like a follow-the-leader guy.  I’ve always been like
the leader and then hoped people would follow me.  I like to do things
the way I see them.  I think our sport fell into these paradigms, these
habits that that’s the way it is.  You get these uniforms, and you go
up (to the starting line) with skulls or whatever’s on them and that’s
it.  I kind of felt like this is a sport and it takes a team to win or
lose these things.  If you look at other sports you see jerseys in
those sports, and I felt like I wanted to unite or people into a real
team.

BROWN ENTERS FIRST TOP FUEL RACE IN NO. 1 SPOT; WILKERSON, ANDERSON ALSO NO.1 AT CARQUEST AUTO PARTS WINTERNATIONALS

Antron Brown finished the day with a solid pass of 4.526 at 331.61 mph, resetting a career-best speed for the Indiana resident.

Former Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Antron Brown raced to his first No. 1
qualifying position Saturday at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA
Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Tim Wilkerson and Greg Anderson also were the No. 1 qualifiers in their
respective categories at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event,
the first of 24 events in the 2008 season.

Brown, who earned 11 No. 1 qualifying awards in nearly a decade of
racing on two wheels, was able to stay at the top of the field after a
competitive day of qualifying. His run of 4.495 at 330.07 from Friday
in his Matco Tools dragster was good enough to lead the 16 car field.

Top Fuel driver Clay Millican’s car is not in action at the
Winternationals, but the colorful Tennessee driver is on hand offering
succinct commentary alongside stellar announcer Bob Frey.  Millican’s
car is owned by Evan Knoll who, as everyone knows, has taken a leave of
absence from his drag racing endeavors because of health reasons. 
Since there are a lot of rumors circulating about the status of Knoll’s
teams, we sought out Millican for clarification of the situation.

“All of the guys who have been with me for years and years are still
with me.  The whole team is still intact.  Lance (Larsen) and Johnny
(West) are still working.  Our team is continuing to move forward. 
We’re putting new race cars together literally every day.  We just
signed the lease on a new shop that Even wanted us to move into, so
we’ve kinda spent the last few days as construction workers.  It’s
really going to be a cool shop. It’s got a paved Go Kart track behind
it.  My shins are sore because we’ve been out there crashin’ into each
other!

“The team’s fine.  I don’t know when we’re going to go racing, but
nobody’s frustrated yet.  The majority of those guys have been with me
for years and years, and that’s home for everybody.  We all live there,
and we’ve been as busy as normal.  Now, I don’t know what’ll happen a
few months from now.

Gary Densham could ill-afford a trip into the Pomona sand-trap he took on Friday during the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Ca.

“The levers were against the roof and we had both out of align,”
Densham said. “Obviously they didn’t open. Hey I screwed up, and this
may be our last race anyway, so if you’re going to screw it up I guess
this is the time to do it.”

BROWN LEADS TOP FUEL FIELD AFTER SECOND DAY OF QUALIFYING AT
WINTERNATIONALS; KALITTA AND ANDERSON STAY ON TOP AFTER TWO SESSIONS

Antron
Brown, who earned 16 victories in nearly a decade of racing on two
wheels, powered his Matco Tools dragster to a 4.495 seconds at 330.07
mph.

After months of preparation and weeks of testing runs
former Pro Stock motorcycle rider Antron Brown made his Top Fuel debut
with a huge smile on his face, and raced to the qualifying lead Friday
at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at
Pomona.

Scott Kalitta and Greg Anderson remained the qualifying leaders in
their respective categories at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
event, the first of 24 events in the 2008 season.

Brown, who earned 16 victories in nearly a decade of racing on two
wheels, powered his Matco Tools dragster to the best run of his early
Top Fuel career, posting a performance of 4.495 seconds at 330.07 mph.

NITRO PRICE INCREASE – AND THAT’S JUST THE BEGINNING

On Thursday morning there was a meeting between team owners, NHRA,
representatives of VP Racing Fuels, various and sundry attorneys
representing different parties, and individuals from the federal
government.
 
The stated purpose of the meeting was to discuss the dangers inherent
to the use and transportation of nitromethane, but our sources report
that the discussion ultimately covered numerous subjects, some of them
not directly related to nitro and drag racing.
 
New federal standards call for a maximum amount of nitro allowed in a
racer’s pit area at any given time to be limited to 398 lbs. total. 
That means that while 55 gallon drums continue to be used, they only
contain approximately 40 gallons when delivered by VP (the number of
gallons may vary slightly due to the percentage of nitro in the drum).
 
In order to transport nitro special licensing and documentation is now
required.  Two of the attorneys present, Mike Young and Donna Diamond
of Western & Benshost, showed the audience a large binder,
reportedly claiming that its extensive paperwork would have to be
filled out and approved before an individual would be allowed to
transport and store nitromethane.  However, one competitor reports that
he was able to quickly and easily fill out the same paperwork online,
and is anticipating receiving approval in short order.

Doug
Herbert said he’s a drag racer and that’s what he does when asked by a
member of the media why he didn’t just skip the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Ca., following the
death of his teenage sons, Jon, 17, and James, 12, two weekends ago.

Herbert said racing every race is conducive to winning a championship
and capturing the title is something he really wants to do in their
memory. Besides, he said, they loved racing too.

Herbert is on a mission outside of racing for the championship. He
wants to ensure the message of safe driving gets across to the teenage
driving community.