1986 Winternationals
Today is the kickoff of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season at the 56th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals. This week, we will take a look through the National Dragster photo files at what happened 30 years ago at the 1986 Winternationals. From dramatic accidents to the crowning of first-time champions, this race proved to be another exciting weekend of drag racing in Southern California.
Here’s an overall photo of what Auto Club Raceway at Pomona looked like 30 years ago at the Winternationals.
Gary Ormsby came out with a bang at the 1986 Winternationals, but it wasn’t exactly how he planned to show off his new Castrol Top Fuel dragster. No sooner had Ormsby touched the throttle coming out of the water box than everything on top of the motor blew.
Top Alcohol Funny Car champion Lou Gasparrelli collected his first NHRA win in 20 years of racing when he defeated reigning national champion Brad Anderson in a close final round. Gasparrelli gained momentum at midcourse to record the win at 6.37, 222.22 to Anderson’s 6.44, 215.82. He was photographed here in the pits working on his swift Ford Tempo.
Tim Grose’s Skoal Bandit Trans Am defeated John Force’s Coca-Cola Corvette in the final round of Funny Car. Grose ran a 5.69, 236.84 to Force’s 5.75, 254.95 to score his second NHRA Funny Car national event win. This was the sixth of nine races where Force was the runner-up before he collected his first victory at the 1987 Grandnational in Quebec.
Ed McCulloch lit up the Pomona dragstrip with the most impressive explosion of the race. The blast was due to a fuel-line malfunction, which exploded the blower and shredded the Funny Car’s body. McCulloch walked away from the accident with only minor burns to his hands despite his severely burned gloves.
Former NFL quarterback Dan Pastorini, left, was photographed in the pits. The Winternationals marked his first NHRA race, and several months later, he won his first event in Top Fuel at the Southern Nationals in Atlanta with less than a year’s worth of driving experience.
Darrell Gwynn began the 1986 season with his first win in Top Fuel by defeating Connie Kalitta in the final. Gwynn posted his fifth straight 5.4-second run, a 5.46, 257.87, to beat Kalitta’s 5.72, 209.79. His most important win of the event had to be his semifinal defeat of nemesis Don Garlits. Gwynn shot to a winning 5.45 while Garlits had the misfortune of breaking the throttle linkage, slowing to a 13.45, 60.08.
These two photos showed the aftermath of a nasty collision involving Dave Uyehara and Ron Correnti during Saturday’s first session of Funny Car qualifying. Uyehara’s Insanity Dodge Charger veered left after exploding the blower and crossed the centerline, slamming right into the back of Correnti in Bill Dunlap’s CCR Racing Thunderbird. The bodies of both cars were shredded as they locked together, finally separating 300 feet downcourse. Uyehara’s loss of control was later attributed to broken steering. Both drivers walked away from the incident unharmed.
Frank Iaconio came away the winner in Pro Stock for the first time since 1983. Iaconio’s Budweiser/Motorcraft Ford Thunderbird recorded a 7.56, 185.18 to defeat Warren Johnson’s 7.77, 181.45. Iaconio also posted his first eliminations clocking in the 7.5-second zone.