February 2009 Archives

Tony Schumacher looks to rebound at Phoenix

Here's hoping the sun is out in the Arizona desert this weekend.
I want to do something for this season, and that's for every race come out with who I think we wind up in the winner's circle on Sunday night.
Here's what I think will happen:
TOP FUEL
Larry Dixon - Look for the Al-Anabi team, which didn't qualify during the only time trial at the rain-shortened Winternationals. Give Alan Johnson three, four qualifying runs and he's going to be near the top of the qualifying charts. And on race day, he's nearly unbeatable. No combine that with Dixon's prowess in the race car, and it's a pretty good combination.
Don't forget: Also expect Tony Schumacher to bounce back, and look out for the Budweiser team and Brando Bernstein, who has always fared well in Phoenix since his rookie season.
FUNNY CAR
Del Worsham - The Chino Hills resident, who grew up in Whittier, hasn't exactly performed well in the Arizona Desert, but that was when his former sponsor - Checker Schuks and Kragen - were the race sponsor, so he always felt that pressure to do well. He doesn't need to worry about that now, since he no longer is a driver/owner, just a pilot, so expect the Al-Anabi team to complete the sweep.
Don't forget: Tim Wilkerson missed the cut at the Winternationals, so look for him to bounce back, and I wouldn't be surprised with a Wilk-Worsham final.
PRO STOCK
Kurt Johnson - KJ got hurt by the cold track at Pomona. That won't happen this weekend, and he's always done well at Firebird. Expect more of the same this weekend.
Don't forget: Greg Anderson did everything at the Winternationals, but win. I'm sure he'll come back firing at Phoenix. I just like KJ.

Did Matt Kenseth really win the Daytona 500, or the Daytona 380?

As I was watching Matt Kenseth accepting the congratulations for winning the Daytona 380, I began wondering, 'Does the guy really want to win that way? Why can't they just comeback and complete the race Monday?'
You can bash the NHRA all you want for some of their decisions, but at least the winner in Top Fuel, Funny Car or Pro Stock still has to win four rounds to wind up in the victory circle, no matter how many days it takes. Can you imagine if the NHRA awarded a Wally after the semifinals, and said, 'Schumacher gets it based on his e.t. advantage in the semifinals.'
Just a thought.

No sports team or competitor has ever won as many consecutive titles at NHRA icon John Force, left, seen here in Pomona with son-in-law and teammate Robert Hight.

I was watching the pre-race show of Sunday's Daytona 500 and Mike Joy was talking about Jimmie Johnson's quest to win a fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Series Cup, saying that no NFL team has ever won three consecutive Super Bowls. He was throwing other comparisons from other sports, but never mentioned NHRA John Force. I guess he forgot that Force won 10 consecutive Funny Car titles between 1993-2002.
Remember him, Mike?

Here we go for Pro Stock elite 8. First up is Jeg Coughlin against Allen Johnson. I like Jeggie. Wow!!!!! Allen Johnson just drove his Dodge to the second-quickest run in history, going 6.549 and Jeg loses, despite running a 6.58...Jason Line takes away some of the luster from Johnson, besting him with 6.549 at 210.90 mph to easily beat Johnny Gray...Now it's Mike Edwards against Jim Yates. I have a feeling neither of these two will get to 6.54, but it should be good. Edwards gets by as Yates gets loose late. Edwards takes it with a 6.67...Now Greg Anderson is up against Vieri Gaines, and the question is not who will win, but how quick Anderson can go. And Anderson does it, making the quickest run in history, with a 6.52, and it should be a national record, backed up by his 6.56 run earlier.
Well, that's it for me today. I have som local events to cover, and will update with the finals and race winners a little later.

Now it's time for the floppers, and our first pair is a battle of the little guys...and Jim Head marches on through with a solid 4.10, while Densham smokes them on the hit...Now it's the big-guys turn, as Robert Hight squares off against Ron Capps in a Don Schumacher entry...Hight gets the advantage, but Capps trucks on by for the win and covers the 1,000-foot course in 4.05.
What a difference for Capps, who didn't get his first round win until Las Vegas last year, and now opens the season 3-0. I like him to make it 4-0 next round, but he'll have be at his best to beat Head, who has been steady in the first two rounds today, after catching a break against Tony Pedregon in his first-round victory on Sunday.

Here we go for the Top Fuel final four. First up is Brandon Bernstein and Antron Brown. I like Bernstein. Oh well, Bersntein is up in smoke by the 60-foot mark, while Brown marches down to one of the quickest passes of the week with a stout 4.77...Now it's Doug Kalitta, with his unsponsored dragster against Morgan Lucas, who hasn't made a final since 2005. Lucas' wait continues as he shakes on the hit and Kalitta goes right down the middle and wins it with a 3.82.

Last season, Tony Schumacher had the season to remember, winning 15 events and advancing to the finals 18 times. He
What a difference a year makes.
Schumacher, with former crew chief Alan Johnson off to form his own team, suffered his earliest exit in nearly a year when he lost to Brandon Bernstein in the second round today. Schumacher won or advanced to the finals at 11 of the final 12 events. He also advanced to the semifinals at the season-ending Auto Club Finals. The last time he failed to advance to the semifinals was in July, losing in the first round at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol., Tenn.
""We were side-by-side pretty much the whole way down the track," said Schumacher, whose time of 3.86 was nipped by Bernstein's 3.83. "Despite the loss, I'm proud of the way we performed today. We have no reason to be down at all."

First up, we have have Larry Morgan - no, not the one who works for the Tribune - against my old golfing partner (we were grouped in a pre-race tournament once) - Jeg Coughlin Jr. Morgan goes red, and Jeggie gets a little sideways, but he shuts it down and coasts to the win in 10.09...Next up is two champions - JIm Yates against Warren Johnson. Johnson leaves first, but he slides a bit down track, and Yates takes the win with a 6.60...Mike Edwards faces Greg Stanfield, and Edwards just trucks on down with a stout 6.59...Next up is former NBA player Tom Hammonds against Allen Johnson, a championship contender. Wow, both cars shake, rattle, but no roll, and the other AJ back pedals and wins with an 8.67. Hammons comes in at 8.92...This next one will go down to the Line - Jason Line, who runs a 6.67 to beat Ricky Jones...Why race the next pair, which pits juggernaut Greg Anderson against Ron Krisher...and Anderson shows why, running a stout 6.56 to advance to the next round.

Now it's time for the nitro coupes, and we start off with Ashley Force Hood against cagy veteran Jim Head...Head gets a huge jump at the start, and holds off Ashley, beating the second-generation Force despite running a slower 4.09 to Force Hood's 4.05. Head came close to the right retaining wall, but he stayed off it for the win...Next up AJR entry Del Worsham against vet Gary Densham. Densham does his burnout, but Worsham is having problems. His car won't wire as Densham is ready to stage. They finally get the Worsham's machine started, but he only has time for a quick, old-time snort...The battle of the 'Shams' is won by Densham, who runs a 4.12, easily beating Worsham's 4.27...Next up is a big-time battle between Jack Beckman and Force entry Robert Hight...and Beckman had too much coffee this morning, he goes red, giving the win to Hight, who advances with a steady 4.09....we're hearing now that Worsham's problem was crossed plug wires. I wonder if some crew member just lost his job...Well, back to racing and the final pair is Bob Tasca against Ron Capps. The pick has to be Capps, but never count out Tasca...It's Capps, who runs a good 4.08, while Tasca appeared to drop a cylinder on the hit and was down on power most of the way down, finishing with a 4.25...The semifinals will feature the big guys - Capps vs. Hight - and the little guys - Head vs. Densham.

It's 11:33 and we're ready to go...it's a single for Antron Brown, as Mike Strasburg has returned to Utah. Brown hits the throttle, shakes and coasts to the finish line in 15.89...Now we have a good one as La Habra's Cory McClenathan takes on Doug Kalitta. It's a pretty good drag race with Kalitta getting there first with solid 3.82. I can't say I'm surprised. Kalitta is running a limited schedule, but he uncle Connie Kalitta still has a full-time tune-up and he showed to best Cory Mac's 3.88. I don't know about you guys, I still can't get a hold of these e.t. numbers. It's going to take a bit running to 1,000 feet...Anyways, its time for the next pair with Morgan Lucas against Steve Chrisman. This is Chrisman's first trip to the quarterfinals. Lucas is looking for a solid starlimbt to the season. I'll take Lucas...Morgan has a nice 3.88 as Chrisman drops a cylinder on the launch and slows to a 5.15...Next up is a monster matchup as the Big Red with the Bud Prince - Brandon Bernstein, against the Sarge - six-time champion Tony Schumacher. Both have new crew chiefs. i think I will go out on the limb here and pick Schu...Wow!! It's the Bud Prince, who runs a solid 3.83, beating Schumacher's 3.86.. The semifinals will be Brown vs. Bernstein and Kalitta vs. Lucas, in a battle of yellow cars. Bring on the Funny Cars.

Well, we're back and we have clear blue skies. Do to another assignment I have, I'm not going to be here the entire day, but I will blog as much as I can. Hopefully, they run the final round before I have to leave at 2:50.
The first Top Fuelers just rolled through the water box. I will bog on each round of the pros.

NHRA just announced that it is calling it a day.
Racing will continue Monday with Stock at 10:30 a.m. Top Fuel will begin round 2 at 11, followed by Funny Car and the completion of Pro Stock round 1.
Spectators holding a ticket for today can use that ticket for Monday. If they decide not to compact, they can request a voucher of $26 toward another ticket for another event. Those who did not attend today, but want to come Monday can buy a ticket for $26, and any ticket from Thursday's and Friday's rained-out sessions can be used towards a ticket for Monday.
"To race and be focused, at least for me, it requires a special focus," said Worsham, one of 18 pro drivers to advance to the second round. "We were all ready to go, then rain. To get it delayed like that, I had to just act like the day was beginning over again. It was a let down."
The Funny Cars had a tough time as each of the winners had to back-pedal their entries at some point during the 1,000-foot runs. It was no different for Worsham, who slipped by Bob Bode with a steady 4.19.
"We get in these cool conditions, and you get more traction," Worsham said. "When the tires bite like that, then tend to want to shake. You just have to pedal it to get it down there. We just don't run in these conditions to get very good at it. When we get these conditions in testing, we turn around and go back."
It was all bad for Funny Car competitors. Ron Capps was all smiles afrter having the run of the day with a 4.125 and beat John Force, who ran a solid 4.141.
""What a dream start. We're in Southern California where drag racing was born and we're at night racing the first round of the Winternationals," Capps said. "That right there already had my blood pumped. And I actually thought I pedaled it too quick. I didn't think the tires would stick. But it hooked back up and hiked the front end up and I could hear his car next to me the whole way down and I thought come on, come on Ace (crew chief Ed McCullough), give me some power, and we got the win.
"I've said it before, and I kind of learned from hanging out with all the legends that I've gotten to work for out here. There's just something about drag racing. You just can't control what you can't control. That's the bottom line, You have to stand around and wait and the chance of rain at the Winternationals has been kind of up in the air. We knew it was going to be overcast. We figured the rain would be out of here and now we'll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow."
Capps will race Bob Tasca for a chance to meet Force entry Robert Hight or teammate Jack Beckman in the semifinals.

It looks like its going to be a tough round for factory hotrods. Vieri Gaines opens the session with the win, but he slips and slides his way down the track for a 6.89...Now it's Johnny Gray's turn, who also takes the win, again, slipping down the track to a less-than impressive 7.21. Kurt Johnson stops on the hit before finally coasting down the track with a 16.42, nearly losing a wheel in the process...and the wet stuff is back, so we're down again.

And at 4:21, we finally get to the first round of the floppers, but it's a good one as defending series champ Cruz Pedregon squares off against Jack Beckman in a Don Schumacher Racing nitro coupe...Cruz has to back pedal twice and watches Beckman take the win with a less-than-respectable 4.41. "That's not how we wanted to open the season, but we don't want a do-over," Beckman said. "When you get the lead on race day, you'll do whatever it takes to get the win light. It looks like we dropped some Valvoline, but we'll get it cleaned up." But we are down again, waisting dry weather for a some cleanup time...and at 4:38, we're back up...We have a nice matchup between Chino Hills Del Worsham, who is driving for the Alan Johnson Racing team, against Bob Bode...Nice driving job by Worsham, who back pedals, fish tails throughout the lane, but gets the win with a 4.193...Now we have a friendly rivalry between Mike Neff of John Force Racing and Bob Tasca, a family friend of Force...Tasca pulls the upset with a 4.12. Neff left early, then spun the tires hard and got sideways and could only watch Tasca take the easy win, so it's one for the little guys. "It totally messed up my concentration when he left early," Tasca said. "But then we just went 'A-B.' ...Ashley Force Hood gets a nice rebound for Team Force with a steady 4.33, which saw her back pedal early before easily getting the win over Matt Hagan, who smoked the tires on the hit. "Those are the moments," Force Hood said "You just have to act and react." ...Robert Hight, another Force entry, follows with a solid 4.15 to beat a tire-smoking Jerry Toliver....Now, we have a big-time matchup with John Force against vet Ron Capps... It's Capps, who straps a 4.12 on Force and nips his 4.14. Just a great drag race. "....Next up, Tony Pedregon against Jim Head, who is always good for a killer run...TPed gets the early lead, feels some tire shake, drifts towards the centerline and takes out the 330-foot cone, and his disqualified, despite easily beating Head to the finish line....Gary Densham is next up and takes on San Dimas' finest in Jeff Arend, driving for the Bounty Hunter, Connie Kalitta...And there's one for the school teacher, who back pedals to a 4.33, while Arend has too much tire shake and slows to a 4.73...So, we finally get to through one round of Funny Car, and the matchups will be Hight vs. Beckman; Capps vs. Tasca; Worsham vs. Densham and Ashley Force Hood against Head.

Well, it's 4:01 and La Habra's own Cory Mac is lined up to face Shawn Langdon....we hear the sounds of nitro engines coming to life...Cory rolls through the water box and hammers the throttle and does his burnout. Here we go...Cory has to pedal off the line and drives by Langdon for the win with a 3.934, beating Langdon's 4.22. "(The four-hour delay), that's a big deal," McClenathan said. "I went back sat and relaxed, signed a few autographs. I laid back and just relaxed." ...and we are down as Langdon dropped some fluid on the track...4:17, and we're back, and will see what Tony Schumacher can do against Del Cox. I'm picking Schu in this won (pun intended)...The U.S. Army car goes straight down the middle, running a nice .4.84, and advances to the next round, which lines up: Antron Brown vs. Mike Strasburg; Brandon Bernstein vs. Schumacher; Morgan Lucas vs. Steve Chrisman and Cory Mac vs. Doug Kalitta. "So far, so good," Schumacher said. "These new recruits did an outstanding job. That was a good run."

It's 2:03 and the sun is taking center stage. It's still cloudy, but no rain. Workers are attempting to dry the track, so we'll see what transpires. I would estimate that it would take at least two hours to dry the track, if the wet stays away.
I will update if and when we get close back to racing.

Here we go. It's a little dark, but we're about to go racing.
Our first matchup is Mike Strasburg against Don Prudhomme's new shoe, Spencer Massey....and it's Strasburg, who runs a 3.99 and beats Massey, who backpedaled and slowed to a 4.195....and we have another upset at Steve Chrisman drives down to a 4.08 and fan-favorite David Baca rattles the tires just past 200 feet and slumps across with a 7.63...so we had two races, two upsets...and we have upset No. 3 as Doug Kalitta rides a fire-ball to a 4.64, but it's quicker than Urs Erbacher's 4.76. Kalitta, who is running a limited schedule this year, got the jump off the starting line, but erupted into a fireball near the finish line and coasted across for the win...The Nos. 9, 11 and 10 qualifiers have first-round wins. "We were fortunate to get the win light," Kalitta said. "I'm just glad to race in the next round."...Driving the Geico Dragster is so easy, even Morgan Lucas can do it, and the No. 15 qualifier knocks off the No. 2 Joe Hartley, running a solid 4.84 to beat Harley's 3.95. "That was very special," Lucas said. "We're happy to move on, and race in the next round."...Top-qualifer Antron Brown breaks the upset jinx, backpedaling to a 4.22 to beat No. 16 Steve Faria, who slumped to a 5.09. "It's really tricky out there," Brown said. "It's cold out there, which is a surprise for Southern California. We had to back pedal and was able to get the Matco Tools dragster into the next round." ... Andy Carter battles Brandon Bernstein, beating the Bud Car with a 4.52 to 4.76, but Carter, who blew off some body panels, crossed the centerline, giving the win to Bernstein. "It's crazy. It rocked and rolled, you're on and off (the throttle) and look out and see him go past you and you say, 'Oh, man! That sucks!' Then you find out he crossed the centerline and you won. But we'll get it fixed. We wont't let it shake next round." ... It's raining, ever so slightly, but we have some wet stuff, so we are down. Now, it's coming down quite hard.I will continue this when we are racing again.

Good morning from Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
It rained this morning, but the wet stuff has stayed away for the last hour and it looks like we may hear the first of the nitro engines about 11:30 or so.
The conditions look ideal for some good performances, but we will have to see how the weather holds.

Here's some video interviews with Del Worsham, Larry Dixon, Tony Pedregon and Morgan Lucas.

We just got our visit from today's top qualifiers, which are Antron Brown in Top Fuel, Robert Hight in Funny Car and Greg Anderson in Pro Stock.
Here's some quotes from the trio:

Top Fuel top qualifier Antron Brown

TOP FUEL
ANTRON BROWN
"My main goal was just to get A-to-B. I just wanted to get qualified, because (in November) we didn't qualify here...I didn't know what to think (about crew chiefs Brian Coradi and Mark Schultz, two previous Funny Car crew chiefs who had never tuned a Top Fuel dragster). I was just thinking that we have 14 races before the Countdown starts, so we have that much time to get ready and make our tune-up consistent. I thought in testing, they were amazing. We went out on our first full pass and ran a 3.88. Then we went down the left lane, where nobody could get down, and we run a 3.87. It just builds that confidence. You can see it in our crew. I just put my head down and said, 'We're going to be OK.' I'm thinking if they can tune a Funny Car, a Top Fuel dragster is not, I don't want to say it's easier, but they can throw the screws at it."

Funny Car top qualifier Robert Hight
FUNNY CAR
ROBERT HIGHT
"It's a great start and takes off a lot of pressure, because with one session you worry whether you are going to qualify. (Crew chief) Jimmy Prock always shoots for the moon. We had issues in testing, so Jimmy Prock worked night and day and came here with a new setup. That's tough to do, because there's a huge learning curve, so to get the top spot, it's unbelievable. It's doesn't give you a lot of confidence going into tomorrow, because it takes 20 or more runs to know that this setup does that, or does this. Just because it did it one run...at least we're in. I saw the 4.03, and I was so happy. It's a great way to start, but tomorrow's going to be exciting."

Pro Stock top qualifier Greg Anderson
PRO STOCK
GREG ANDERSON
"It's not easy on us (the delay). We wanted to get on this track so much after the winter and see what you have. But I just had a great feeling about this weekend. We thought we brought a good product here, but you just never know until you get out there. I'm so thrilled to get out there and show what we had, and it looks
like we had some gains. I have a great hot rod. I don't think we're that much better than anyone else, they just had trouble dealing with the race track. It's green and we just did a better job, but it didn't hurt being the last pair out. It was a great run, and we know we have a hot rod we can play with and should have a good chance to win the race." ..."We got a break. We didn't get to run when the first group of cars ran in the morning before the rain. It was cold and a lot of cars didn't make it down. When we came back out, the sun came out and put some heat in the track. That was a stroke of luck and it played into our hands."

Here's some quotes from Larry Dixon, who failed to qualify for Sunday's race. Dixon ran a 6.32 after he suffered a mechanical failure just after he left the starting line.
"To say we're disappointed might be the biggest understatement ever. Sheik Khalid was here and we really wanted to pu on a good show for him. We cam to Pomona with the same high expectations as everyone else, but sometimes parks break. there's nothing we could have done differently, but NHRA awards the same number of points at Phoenix, and we'll be ready to go."

It's 4:07 p.m., and we have more rain....NHRA has just announced the fields are set, which gives Tim Wilkerson, who finished second in Funny Car last season, and Larry Dixon, who was second in Top Fuel and driving for the new Alan Johnson team, will be watching on Sunday. We will have quotes from the winners shortly.

Oh, oh. We have more rain, which not bode well for Tim Willkerson and Larry Dixon, who finished second in Funny Car and Top Fuel, respectively, last season. Both are on the outside looking in. Wilkerson in 17th in Funny Car, with Dixon 18th in Top Fuel....They may have some luck, as they are racing again Top Alcohol Funny Car.

The U.S. Army dragster and crew get ready before making their first run of the season.

Fan-favorite David Baca is back on the circuit and gives the crowd something to cheer about, driving to a steady 3.92. "This stuff gets in your blood," Baca said. "It's great to be back. We were hoping for a 3.88, but I can't complain." ...Wow!!!!! Little-known Joe Harley just made the run of the race, dropping the hammer for a 3.748 pass, which is the quickest pass in the sport since the move to 1,000 feet. "That's great," Hartley said. "We were expecting that. We were just trying, this being the first run, to get it down the track. But it's great, it's awesome."....Fan-favorite Melanie Troxel is not racing here this weekend, but she is at the track doing some analysis over the P.A. system. She did enlighten the crowd of her plans this year. "We're not running, unfortunately," Troxel said. "We are trying re-organize this team. We're working on some marketing efforts. It's a tought (economic) climent. We're hoping to be back mid-season. But it might be just a few weeks. You just never know." ... Morgan Lucas, with new sponsor Geico on board, slumps to a 4.54. He shook the tires early, back pedaled and blew the panels off near the finish line. "These one-shot deals are so tough. These types of deals you have to leg it out, no matter what happens." ..Antron Brown, just in his second season in Top Fuel, trumps Hartley, running a stout 3.70. These guys have come to play. "It's just unbelievable," Brown said. "To make a run like that right out of the box, that's what this team needs."...Now comes the matchup everybody's been waiting for - Larry Dixon, with former U.S. Army crew chief Alan Johnson his new team owner, vs. Johnson's former driver, Tony Schumacher. You know what they about being careful what you wish for...Dixon blows the tires off on the hit, and forgetting that this might be the only session, slumps to a 6.32. Schumacher is less than stellar, running a 3.89.

Funnies hit the track.

I've got a feeling Del Worsham is going to like this switch to Alan Johnson Racing. He just drove the Al-Anabi Funny Car to a stout 4.03, which is his quickest run since the move to a 1,000-foot race course.
"To come out here and do what they did, under that type of pressure, is great," Worsham said. "I'm fortunate to hook up with these guys." ...
John Force shows he's got the golden touch, driving his new Castrol Edge gold Ford Mustang to a solid 4.09, which is good enough for second on the chart...for now.
"I look like either Elton John or Elvis," Force said of his new gold look. "I'm excited about the run. It went A to B. But that hotel car, Al-Anabi whipped us all." ...
John just got bumped down a notch - by his daughter. Ashley Force Hood, racing Tony Pedregon, just pulled off a nice 4.06. Pedregon, who didn't make any pre-season test runs, made a solid 4.16.
"I was so pumped to finally make a run, after all the rain," Force Hood said. "It went right down the track." ....
Robert Hight tops them all, roaring to a 4.03.
"This Auto Club team did a terrific job, running like that after having a lot of parts we haven't tested." ...
Now its Cruz Pedregon's turn in the first run since winning his second Funny Car title last season...not so good, he slumps to a 4.20. He was opposite No. 2 Tim Wilkerson, who slumped to a 5.14.

....and then there was fuel racing.
It's 2:20 and the first Funny Cars roll through the water box. We have Terry Haddock against Matt Hagan - who has replaced Gary Scelzi in the Team Schumacher ride...he looks good out of the box with a respectable 4.345....Haddock slumped down track and may have dropped something, because the clean-up trucks are rolling down the track, which is not good when you're also racing the weather.

Greg Anderson, for the decade, has been king of the Pro Stock class, and he showed why during the first session of the season, roaring to a Auto Club Raceway track record elapsed time of 6.588 seconds at 209.59 mph. Interestingly enough, I mentioned seconds before to another member of the press here, 'Watch out, we're about to see a .59.' My bad, I was a little off.
Now it's time for those 'Funny' looking cars - the nitro coupes.

Pro Stock returns

It's 1:58 and the sun has broken clear with a few clouds. We have cars lined up, so it looks like we may get this thing done today. The plan is to complete this session, run the first elimination round of Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car and then a second and final qualifying round for the pro competitors, and again, weather permitting.....wow...Veteran Warren Johnson just ran a 6.62 to move to the top of the Pro Stock class. Let's see if that holds.

Crew members tow off a Pro Stock car back to the pits after the rain began to fall.

I don't see any evidence of the wet stuff, but the Pro Stock teams are putting on their car covers, so it looks like we're down....and now the teams have towed their cars back to the pits. Four pairs made trips down the track.

Here we go, the first Pro Stockers just rolled through the water box at 11:42 a.m.
David Beckley races Jerry Haas, and Beckley beats Haas and the NHRA Full Throttle season is officially underway.
We have more later

Tony Pedregon and crew warmup their Funny Car in hopes of getting some qualifying runs in today at the 49th Winternationals at Pomona Raceway.

Well, it's 11:06 a.m., about 24 minutes before the first Pro Stock cars hit the water box, and the rain hasn't hit the track just yet.
They just started the Top Alcohol Dragster session, so we shall see what transpires.
Earlier, crack videographer Raul Roa and I did the rounds in the pit area and spoke to two-time Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon, who is hoping to make it a third third this season. We also spoke to Top Fuel veteran Morgan Lucas, who discussed his recent competition in the Geoff Bodine NASCAR-NHRA Bobsled Challenge in January along with his prospects for a Top-5 finish this season.

I just got to Pomona Raceway and the sun is out with some clouds, and we do have some sportsman cars on the track. But weather reports indicate that the rains are coming, so we will see if we get this in today.

It's official: another rain out at the Winternationals.
NHRA officially called today's action. Two sessions are scheduled for Saturday, at 11:30 a.m., and 3:30 p.m.
"Man, what a day; I thought it never rained in Southern California," Top Fuel pilot Antron Brown joked. "It's rained harder here than I've ever seen in the Midwest and (New) Jersey. We had a great time this morning with my girl Gayle (Anderson) of KTLA channel 5 doing the morning show, but other than than we did a lot of standing around. We hope this weather front breaks tomorrow and we get some good old NHRA drag racing in here at Pomona."

Well, it's raining again, and rather hard. If I was a betting man, and I think I am, there will be no cars on the track today.
There's always tomorrow.

We're back here at Pomona Raceway for the 49th Winternationals, and so far it's cloudy, but dry. Notice the photo above, which shows workers using the jet dryer in an effort to dry the track. We'll see if the weather holds out and we can get some racing today.
Stay tuned....
I was over in the Alan Johnson Racing pit area today and talked with team drivers Larry Dixon and Del Worsham. We will have our video interviews up sometime later today.

Tony Schumacher was the most-dominant competitor in motor sports last season. We talked to him Thursday afternoon, and here's the video of interview, which covered last season's success, and what he is expecting from basically a new team, and new crew chief in 2009.

It's official. There will be no qualifying today at NHRA officially called off the opening session of the season due to rain.
Another session is scheduled for Friday with two slated for Saturday, barring clear skies.
But rain is forecast for Friday and Saturday, with a chance of dry weather on Sunday.
"It's a bummer, but our Matco Tools dragster is still the fastest car this year," Top Fuel competitor Antron Brown said. "We ran that great 3.78 at testing and we really want to try and duplicate that here at Pomona this weekend. The weather has been great here at Pomona all week, but this storm front rolled in and it doesn't look good. We're optimistic because we really want to race this weekend. Pomona is an awesome facility and the Winternationals is such a great event with all the new teams and paint schemes. It a great race for the fans, so we're hoping Mother Nature plays nice and let's us race."
There is a report circulating that NHRA has told the teams that if it rains both days, it will set the field by last season's points and race on Sunday.
NHRA officials have denied that claim.
But NHRA president Tom Compton addressed the issue somewhat earlier in the day.
"In our sport, it depends what rounds we lose, when we lose them," Compton said. "Every event we try to finish the event and move on to the next race. The first priority is to get the event in. The weather forecast for tomorrow doesn't look good, with Saturday a little better.
"We don't have to (have a minimum of two rounds of qualifying), but we'd like to."

It's still raining, and now we are just waiting for NHRA officials to call it a day.
NHRA president Tom Compton was in earlier to discuss the drag racing organization's new agreement with ESPN, but he also addressed the event of a rain out.
"We don't have to (have a minimum of two qualifying rounds), but we'd like to," Compton said. He also is against an idea to move up the show to avoid a pending storm.
"I don't think that would fair to the race fans," Compton said. "They have a right to expect that if we schedule qualifying for 2 p.m., we have it at that time. I learned to never predict the weather. If may look one way, but it can change."

It's still raining, and now we are just waiting for NHRA officials to call it a day.
NHRA president Tom Compton was in earlier to discuss the drag racing organization's new agreement with ESPN, but he also addressed the event of a rain out.
"We don't have to (have a minimum of two qualifying rounds), but we'd like to," Compton said. He also is against an idea to move up the show to avoid a pending storm.
"I don't think that would fair to the race fans," Compton said. "They have a right to expect that if we schedule qualifying for 2 p.m., we have it at that time. I learned to never predict the weather. If may look one way, but it can change."

Well, we have our first down time as sportsman driver sheared a wheel off on his launch and knocked down the 'Christmas Tree.' He was OK, but NHRA is now installing a new tree, so we are in delay. More on this later.

Well, were here at Pomona for the first day of the 49th Winnternationals.
We have a video interview with Top Fuel king Tony Schumacher planned for later, and which should be updated some time in the evening. Also, I will live blog during the qualifying session, along with any tidbits, I can find, and we will have remarks from the top qualifiers at the end of the day.

From far left, John Force, Robert Hight, Ashley Force Hood and Antron Brown talk to the media during Wednesday's Winternationals press luncheon.

Got a nitro fix?
The NHRA will satisfy your need, as the 2009 season officially kicks off around 2 p.m. when the first of the Pro Stock cars roll through the box at the 49th Kragen Winternationals.
And it comes none too soon for the competitors. I attended Wednesday's press luncheon, which included Top Fuel sophomore Antron Brown, and the John Force Racing trio of Ashley Force Hood (notice the new name, she's married now), Robert Hight and the king himself, John Force, who unveiled Castrol's new look that will include a gold Ford Mustang. And in typical Force pattern, he envoked Elton John and President Barack Obama.
Here's some of the quotes:
Antron Brown: I never met a guy like (new team owner Mike Ashley), but he's come in and boosted our spirits. It's going to be a great year and hopefully we can make a run at the championship. "
Ashley Force Hood: We had a great off-season. We had the wedding, but we still had racing on our brain. I think what's great for us is that we are a tight group and we have everybody back. It's going to be an advantage, and hopefully we can build on what we accomplished last year and pick up where we left off."
Robert Hight: It's exciting to begin the season. We're here at Pomona, and we've done very well here (in the past). Testing went nice and smooth. I think we have a shot at this championship and that's our goal - to put John Force Racing back where they belong."

John Force has the golden touch while he stands in front of his new Castrol Ford Mustang.

John Force: I'm back where I should be. I've got my weight back, and I'm in the fighting mode. But there's a lot of tough kids we have to beat. I'm just excited about my new colors. Castrol takes the credit, but they really came from Elton John, who I saw in Las Vegas. I met him, and he really talked about change. This is not an Obama plug, but you have to change if you want to adapt. Elton John always said, 'When the world gets at its lowest, at least you know where you stand.' It's like I say with (crew chief Austin Coil) when I ask him about the tune up, and he says, 'We're screwed.' He wonders why I'm happy, and I tell him, 'Well, at least I know where we stand.'"