Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals
Pomona, Calif.
(Nov. 7-10)
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38th annual |
| Sunday |
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victories at 2002 season finale |
Cory McClenathan capped his comeback season in style, winning in Top Fuel at the 2002 season-ending 38th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway. Cory Mac defeated Yuichi Oyama, who became the first Japanese national to make a Top Fuel final.
John Force capped his 12th championship season with his 106th career victory, besting Tommy Johnson Jr. in the Funny Car final while Kurt Johnson scored his first win in almost two years, defeating Rookie of the Year candidate Gene Wilson in the Pro Stock final. Matt Hines scored in Pro Stock Bike, defeating Geno Scali's Kawasaki for the title.
McClenathan closed his year and possibly his season-long partnership with Henkelman & Baca Racing with his 27th career Top Fuel win, this one against surprise finalist Yuichi Oyama. As he has throughout his career, McClenathan had to work hard to gain the win, using a .044-second starting line edge to hold off the quicker Oyama and win by two-hundredths of a second. The final numbers had McClenathan winning with a 4.756 at 302.01 mph ahead of Oyama's 4.739 at 305.36 mph.
 Cory McClenathan
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Cory Mac moved into a tie for fourth place with Doug Kalitta in the final points standings but will have to settle for fifth as Kalitta holds the head-to-head advantage this season.
Oyama is the first Japanese Top Fuel finalist in the sport's 51-year history and would have become just the second Japanese winner had he pulled it out against McClenathan. Kenji Okazaki won the Funny Car title at the 1997 Englishtown event. The part-time racer finished a respectable 14 in the POWERade standings.
"My driving finally came around this weekend," McClenathan said. "The guys did a great job. We had a great, consistent car. This is an awesome thing, especially with Berryman coming on board these last few races. That green monster on the side of our Berryman's car must have scared the other guys today.
"I've lost a few finals on holeshots this year and it was starting to get to me. It's very satisfying to get one back today. I could hear him next to me all the way down the track and my car blew up in the lights. I was just glad to get the win light and to find out we hadn't oiled the track down.
"We definitely ran this car on a lot les money then every other car in the top 10, I can guarantee you that. It felt like a do-or-die situation today. We don't know what our future is or even if I'll be racing next year. We need to sign some sponsors and hopefully this win will help."
McClenathan raced to his fourth final round of the season and the 42nd of his decorated career with a little luck and a pair of great passes. The good fortune came in Round 1 when John Smith red-lighted and McClenathan smoked his tires but won with a 9.17. Then his Berryman's team came to life with Cory Mac posting a 4.63 against Rhonda Hartman-Smith and a 4.64 opposite Andrew Cowin.
Oyama wasn't spectacular in his Harry's/Gava King dragster, with an average reaction time of just .529 seconds and elapsed times of 4.67, 4.91, and 4.80, but he did manage to take out three of the best drivers in the world on his way to his first career final with wins over retiring legend Kenny Bernstein, multiple event winner Doug Kalitta, and Sonoma victor Doug Herbert. Top Fuel results
Force punctuated the championship he clinched in the semifinals the same way the other three POWERade champions did when they clinched in Las Vegas, with a victory. Force left little on the table for final-round foe Tommy Johnson Jr., streaking out of the blocks with a .463 to .510-second head start. He then poured on the power and posted a slick 4.867 at 317.12 mph, well ahead of T.J.'s 4.906 at 313.80 mph.
 John Force
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Sunday's crown marks the 106th victory for the sport's all-time wins leader. His championship is the 12th of his career and 10th in a row. Johnson, who got into the field on an exemption after rain cancelled three of the four qualifying sessions, made the most of his good fortune with his fourth runner-up finish of the year. He finishes a career-high seventh in the standings.
"Tony was up for that semifinal race. We talked ahead of time and he has his strategy and I had mine, and we just got after it. He had a good light and his car was quicker than mine but it was just our day. Some times I think God actually likes me. Really, it was a win-win situation for me because I would have either won as a driver or won as a team owner. Either one would have been great.
"When the pressure got on me I thought about my kids and I got happy and just raced. That's how I got through the day. We all know luck's a big part of this and I had some luck today. [Crew chief Austin] Coil told me to get up for this race and I did. This old man can still get the job done."
Force's Castrol Ford Mustang was steady all day in carrying the new champ to his 163rd final-round appearance. He opened with a 4.86 against Scotty Cannon, posted a 4.94 opposite Cory Lee, and used a 4.95 to beat teammate Tony Pedregon on a holeshot to clinch the title.
Johnson made his final race with crew chief Rob Flynn a memorable one as the Skoal Racing driver carded a bevy of mid-4.9-second runs against Dean Skuza, Cruz Pedregon, and Tim Wilkerson. The victory of Wilkerson came courtesy of a mammoth .467 to .555-second holeshot. Funny Car results
Johnson won his first Pro Stock race of the year in style with a wire-to-wire job against the red-hot Wilson. The veteran driver schooled the leading Rookie of the Year candidate at the Christmas Tree with a .425 to .467-second headstart and never looked back, winning with a 6.801 at 202.88 mph against Wilson's competitive 6.843 at 201.79 mph.
 Kurt Johnson
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Wilson's runner-up finish moved him from 13th to ninth place in the final POWERade championship points standings, a remarkable finish considering he didn't start the year until Gainesville and had seven DNQ finishes. As usual, Johnson finished a strong sixth in the points, his 10th consecutive top-10 points finish.
"I love Pomona," said Johnson. "It's left us pretty pleased today, once again, and now we're really excited for the upcoming season. I ran three different cars this year and that really killed any hopes I had of getting after the championship. Now we have a great car that's been running strong for the last six races.
"I told the guys to load up the car, lock the doors, and park it in the corner of the lot. I don't want to change a thing. Let's go home, eat some turkey, celebrate New Year's, and come back here in February and pick up right where we left off."
ACDelco Cavalier driver Johnson finished the season strong with his second final-round appearance of the 2003 campaign. He had one of the quickest cars all day, posting a 6.81 against Mark Whisnant, a 6.82 versus Tom Lee, a 6.84 opposite a broken Greg Anderson, and the 6.80 in the final.
Wilson used a pair of holeshots in the first two rounds against Jamie Yates and new champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. and posted a 6.87 after a .404-second start against six-time champ Warren Johnson in the semifinals to put David Nickens' Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T into the final round for the third time this year. Ironically, a late light in the finals extinguished any chance he had of winning. Pro Stock results
Pro Stock Bike winner Hines locked up career victory No. 30 with a convincing final-round race against Scali. Aside from Scali's .438 to .463-second starting line edge, the final round was all Hines as he went on to a comfortable 7.185-second, 191.87-mph win ahead of Scali's 7.259 at 182.77 mph.
 Matt Hines
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The victory assures Hines of remaining the sport's winningest active Pro Stock Bike rider for at least one more winter break. After watching new champion Angelle Savoie draw to within one win of matching his lifetime record of 29 wins heading into this event, Hines gained a little breathing room by claiming the hardware today. He is now just three wins behind the late John Myers and 15 behind the late Dave Schultz, who is the all-time class leader.
"We need to be fast consistently to catch back up to Angelle [Savoie]," said Hines. "We slowed down for some unknown reason awhile back but we've all been working so hard and our Vance & Hines horsepower is back to where it needs to be. We had a really strong second half and I'm excited about starting a new year."
Earlier in the day, Hines rode his Eagle One Suzuki past Sean Conner, brother Andrew Hines, and Michael Phillips to reach his 47th career final round. On the other side of the ladder, Brainerd winner Scali downed Fred Camarena, Craig Treble, and low qualifier Shawn Gann to put his Lake Mortgage Kawasaki into the finals for the third time this year. Pro Stock Bike results
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