Winternationals - Day 1

Top Fuel driver Doug Herbert gets ready to make a pass down the Pomona Raceway quarterfinal during the first day of qualifying for the 48th Winternationals.

Noon: We visted the John Force Racing pit area to talk to rising star Ashley Force. The daughter of 14-time John Force finished a very respectable 10th in points last season and great things are expected in 2008. She proved to be very delightful and had some interesting things to say. Look for our video later tonight.

1:57 p.m.: And Johnny Gray officially kicks off the 2008 Powerade Series season by running a 6.77-second run. I'm not sure, but I don't think that will hold as the top-qualifying time.

2:18: Greg Anderson takes the top spot and nearly re-sets the track record with a 6.635.
I guess nothing changes.

2:29: Bob Tasca opens the Funny Car wars with a sluggish 5.277.

2:34: I guess if you're a driver, you're a driver. Melanie Troxel makes her first competitive pass in a nitro Funny Car and takes it right down the middle for a nice 4.90 run.

3:08: John Force makes his first competitive since last falls horrific class near Dallas.He still has some work to do after smoking the tires near halftrack.

3:10: Pro Stock stalwart Greg Anderson visits the media center after qualifying No. 1 with his 6.635.
"We love coming (to Pomona Raceway), whether it be the winter or the fall," Anderson said. "This track is always good to us.
"We had a good feeling coming in, but you never know what's going to happen out there. Judging by that first run, it looks, it looks like we're going to have a lot of contenders (for the championship). You're always nervous making that first run of the season, but I'm very happy."
3:35: Veteran Scott Kalitta visits the media center to talk about his wild ride that saw him qualify No. 1 in Funny Car, but ended with him going into the sand trap at the end of the circuit.
"I'm just happy it went down the race track," said Kalitta, who made a 4.818 pass. "It did what we told it do, finally. We had a big thrash before (qualifying), and I didn't have time to set the (parachute) handles.
"I knew there was potentially going to be a problem. I just said to myself, 'Well, if it's not running well, I just shut it down early. Then it was running OK, and I thought, 'It'll be OK. Well, it wasn't. It could have been a lot worse. We'll be OK."
4:45: Reigning world champion Tony Schumacher drops by the media center after stealing the Top Fuel No. 1 spot from Alan Bradshaw with a 4.513 pass on the final pass of the day.
"That was a very decent run on a very good race track," Schumacher said. "We've won in Pomona quite a bit, but not so much at the first race of the year. We've always won in the fall here. But we have a really good race car.
"(Crew chief Alan Johnson) could have gone after it, and maybe run a little quicker. But it was outstanding. We're still itching all on the changes, but I'm happy to drive the car."
Final tidbits: The first day of the season ends with some very solid race cars shaking their heads and wondering what happen.
The list includes Brandon Bernstein (No. 16 at 9.831), who most picked to win the Top Fuel title, and John Force (No. 14 at 6.726), Gary Scelzi (No. 17 at 7.442) and Robert Hight (No. 19 at 9.526) in Funny Car.