K&N Filters Winternationals
Pomona
(Feb. 7-10)
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42nd annual |
| Saturday |
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elimination fields of 2002 season |
Rising temperatures kept all three of yesterday's leaders atop their respective classes Saturday as qualifying for the 42nd annual K&N Filters Winternationals drew to a close at Pomona Raceway. But the crowded grandstands still witnessed plenty of stellar quarter-mile action as race teams fought for favored positions in the elimination brackets.
A few drivers came close to Top Fuel polesitter Andrew Cowin's track-record pass of 4.490 at 324.98 mph from Round 2 but the always-smiling Aussie managed to stay on top for his first-ever low qualifier honor. The bump spot also lowered dramatically to a respectable 4.842 at 252.80 mph, run by John Smith.
Funny Car followed a similar storyline with No. 1 qualifier John Force maintaining control of the class on the strength of his early 4.749 at 296.57 mph. Force teammate Gary Densham made a little history with a national speed record of 326.87 mph. The rest of the top 16 needed at least a 5.042, as carded by Tommy Johnson Jr., to play on Sunday.
The Pro Stock field tightened to less than five hundredths of a second, spanning from low qualifier Ron Krisher's 6.815 at 202.94 mph to George Marnell's 6.859 at 201.01 mph.
Cowin and his New York Yankees Top Fuel cohorts will now open their season against Smith and the Fram gang. The odds are with Cowin, as his 4.490 at 324.98 mph is a full .352-second quicker than Smith's 4.842 at 252.80 mph.
 Andrew Cowin
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"We just need to go one mile tomorrow and we'll be okay," Cowin said, referring to the four quarter-mile passes necessary for a team to win a race. "I sure don't want to get cocky about this. All we can say so far is that we had a really good qualifying session. Raceday is a whole new day and we know that very well.
"We actually left the same tune-up on the car today but it was a bit hotter. The track sweats like we do so we ended up losing traction there. I'm confident Todd [Smith, crew chief] will find a way to get us down there tomorrow.
"Darrell Gwynn's race cars always do well so I'm not overly surprised with our performance but I don't know if I expected to do this well straight away. We do have 22 more races this year and I expect we'll be in the mix at all of them."
Miller Lite's Larry Dixon made a run at Cowin with a fourth-round 4.509 at 326.87 mph. He draws defending event champion Darrell Russell in Sunday's first round. Tony Schumacher marched his U.S. Army rail to a third-best 4.533 at a track-record top speed of 330.88 mph. Reigning NHRA POWERade champion Kenny Bernstein is slotted fourth in his Budweiser hot rod after a 4.583 at 326.16 mph.
Smith waited until the last session to earn the final spot in the 16-car field. He managed to coax a 4.842 at 252.80 mph out of his Fram dragster despite the engine going away just past halftrack. Five drivers found themselves on the DNQ list. Top Fuel results
Force got plenty of company in the 4.7-second Funny Car club, but he saw many familiar faces. Aside from his pole-grabbing 4.749 at 296.57 mph in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, three other drivers managed to dip below the 4.8-second barrier, including his teammates, Tony Pedregon and Gary Densham. Matco Tools pro Whit Bazemore was the only party crasher, breaking up a Team Force sweep with a second-best 4.762 at 324.05 mph.
 John Force
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"Bazemore had the most low e.t.s last year and that's a mark we definitely want to take back so I'm real happy to be No. 1," Force said of his 107th career low qualifier honor. "All the low qualifiers I've had before and the 11 championships don't count now. We know that Bazemore and [his crew chief Lee] Beard have that go-for-the-throat attitude so we have to be ready for him at all times and we have been this weekend so far.
"Being the low qualifier always makes me nervous because it means the guy going against you is gonna take a shot. Not only that but we have Tommy and we all saw what that team can do when [Johnson teammate Ron] Capps just put up a 4.81. We just got to go up there, put some horsepower in there, and go for it. Believe me they can beat us easy."
Densham finished third with an improved 4.783 at 326.87 mph in his Auto Club of Southern California hot rod. The speed was the fastest ever recorded and officially reset the national record thanks to his previous run of 324.44 mph, which was fast enough to back-up the 326.87-mph run.
"This is the proudest day of my life," Densham said. "I've never held any kind of record in Funny Car. I think the last record I had was in A/Gas Supercharged back in 1969. It makes me very proud being a part of Team Force and getting that record back in our camp. Now we have both the e.t. and the mph record again."
Pedregon was relegated to fourth place in his Castrol Syntec Mustang but he was still happy to improve to a 4.792 at 303.57 mph.
Snake Racing's Tommy Johnson Jr. continues to struggle in his Skoal Racing Camaro but he did manage to improve enough to sneak into the field into the 16th and final position with a 5.042 at 296.37 mph. He'll square off against Force in the first round.
Craftsman's Dale Creasy led the unfortunate group of six that failed to qualify. Funny Car results
Krisher's Friday afternoon pass of 6.815 at 202.94 mph kept his Eagle One Cavalier safely on top of the Pro Stock class. Both of his marks were track records. The 53-year-old from Warren, Ohio, now has six career low qualifier honors to his credit.
 Ron Krisher
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"Our power is what's saving the day," Krisher said. "I'll tell you right now if you didn't find any horsepower over the winter you're in for a tough first half of the season. The thing is you have to spend a lot of money and be willing to go through a lot of parts. Plus, you have to find the talent to build the motors.
"We figured no one would touch our number today so we tried some different things, none of which worked. Now we'll go back to yesterday's tune-up and try to saw the tree down during eliminations. The field is close and I definitely want to maintain lane choice all day if possible."
Jim Yates stayed in second place with a 6.825 at 202.06 mph in his SplitFire/Peak Pontiac Grand Am. Mopar Parts pro Mark Osborne made a charge to the top with a final-round 6.828 at 201.13 mph while former NBA pro Tom Hammonds also came to life with a fourth-best 6.829 at 202.03 mph, which he posted in the early session.
It was a very interesting final round for two drivers. Darrell Alderman, who came into the final session unqualified, blasted to a 6.844 at 201.64 mph to earn the ninth position. But before he could celebrate his run Alderman found himself in the sand trap off the end of the racetrack after his parachutes failed to deploy.
Also putting on a show was Vinny Barone, who unintentionally did an impression of a Funny Car doing a long burnout when his motor blew and filled the air with a huge cloud of smoke. By the time Barone realized his engine was malfunctioning, his rear tires were coated with oil and he slid across the centerline and in front of a coasting Robert Patrick, who successfully managed to stop short of hitting Barone. In the end, Barone only slightly nosed into the wall causing minimal damage to his Neon.
Former Pro Stock champions Jeg Coughlin and Bob Glidden both failed to qualify for this event. Pro Stock results
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