NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

With more cars entered than spots in the field, the final two qualifying sessions of the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com will be packed with drama as only the quickest 16 in each class will qualify for Sunday’s final eliminations at the season opener.

A lot of drivers made satisfying runs in Friday’s lone qualifying session, runs that almost assured them spots in the field. Tops on that list were Top Fuel frontrunner Justin Ashley, whose career-best 3.676 in his Phillips Connect entry has him positioned to collect his first No. 1 qualifying berth at the start of his third season in the class.

The next three cars were last year’s top three in inverted order, with Mike Salinas, championship runner-up Brittany Force, and four-time and reigning champ Steve Torrence. Ashley and Salinas own a nearly five-hundredths of a second edge over their closest pursuers.

The bump spot is a spot 8.42 held by defending event champ Leah Pruett and the new Tony Stewart Racing Dodge Power Brokers dragster and it’s a good bet that all the drivers currently qualified between 10th and 17th will improve and shake up the final outcome.

Local hero Robert Hight’s Funny Car field-leading 3.882 likely won’t hold for the No. 1 spot through Saturday’s two sessions as cool weather and a freshly manicured Pomona track should be ripe for improvements across the board. Hight’s lead over fellow three-time world champ Matt Hagan is a slim .004-second and with both having enjoyed great success at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona over the years tat battle is just beginning.

Six Funny Car teams made three-second passes Friday and that number is sure to grow in the remaining two passes as there are eight other drivers who have ventured into the threes in previous events and several with 4.0s to their credit, but they all struggled on their first passes. There are 21 Funny Cars entered trying to make the 16-car field.

Erica Enders made a statement run to lead Pro Stock, outrunning championship rival Greg Anderson is a head-to-head run, 6.521 to 6.536 but, typical of Pro Stock, the field is packed as Anderson’s run is fourth, with Aaron Stanfield (6.527) and Kyle Koretsky (6.528) sandwiched between them.

With 20 cars entered, and just over a tenth of a second covering the field from Enders’ pole to bump sitter John Cerbone’s 6.647, all four cars currently outside the field fully capable of cracking that bump spot, the action should be fast and furious.

You can catch the action all weekend on FOX Sports 1 and NHRA.tv.

You can follow NHRA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to get a closer look at the action.

2021 EVENT WINNERS: 
Leah Pruett, Top Fuel; Ron Capps, Funny Car; Aaron Stanfield, Pro Stock

MOST EVENT VICTORIES: 
Don Garlits, 6, TF; John Force, 7, FC; Bob Glidden, 7, PS.

TRACK RECORDS: 
Top Fuel
3.628 seconds by Clay Millican, Feb. '18; 336.23 mph by Brittany Force, Feb., ‘20.

Funny Car
3.822 seconds by Matt Hagan, Feb. '17; 336.99 mph by Robert Hight, Feb. '18.

Pro Stock
6.480 seconds by Erica Enders, Nov. '14; 213.84 mph by Drew Skillman, Nov. '15

EVENT SCHEDULE:
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series qualifying will conclude today with two rounds of qualifying, at 12 and 4 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20. 

TELEVISION SCHEDULE:
Qualifying: Sunday – 7-8 a.m. ET on FS1
Eliminations / Sunday – 10 p.m.-1 a.m. ET on FS1