Photos by Jeff and Mike Burghardt

With post card perfect weather and a light Friday spectator crowd at historic Auto Club Pomona Raceway, the first round of funny car qualifying for the Auto Club NHRA Finals saw Ron Capps set a 1,000 foot track record with his #1 elapsed time of 3.951 seconds elapsed time at 322.04 miles per hour.

SoCal veteran Larry Dixon was the quickest qualifier in Top Fuel in round one running a 3.766 ET at 324.67 mph followed by Clay Millican’s 3.775 ET at 323.89 mph.  However in the late afternoon Friday qualifying session Billy Torrence would squeak by with a 3.726 elapsed time run as the sun set over the southwestern hills above nearby Bracket Airfield.
Most of the attention on the 2015 NHRA Funny Car world championship race is focused on Jack Beckman’s Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T of Don Schumacher Racing and points leader Del Worsham of Kalitta Motorsports in the DHL Toyota Camry funny car.

But another DSR team, Tommy Johnson Jr. (above) and the Make-A-Wish crew, made a big statement during Friday’s second qualifying session; that they also remain a force contending for the Championship title by blasting the track record with his career best time of 3.917 seconds at 324.67 mph heading to Saturday’s last two qualifying runs before eliminations on Sunday.  Many of the fuel cars, in both top fuel and nitro funny car, had trouble getting down Pomona Raceway in the afternoon session.

“We were trying to run that on the first run but the track wouldn’t hold it,” said Johnson, whose team led by crew chief John Collins earned three bonus points and trails Worsham by 94 points. “I’m really happy with our Make-A-Wish guys.

“We knew the performance of the car was there and the guys have done a good job of picking at it and getting better and better,” Johnson said. “You’ve gotta win the race. Points are great. We are a long shot. We need to try and win the race. We need to set the record and win the race and have a little luck where those guys have problems. We now have a back-up for the national record and things are going as planned.”

With the effort, Johnson gained two points on series leader Del Worsham. Meanwhile, Worsham, who qualified seventh in his DHL Toyota Camry, and Jack Beckman, who qualified fifth in his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge, are both in front of Johnson in the series standings, who now trails the leader by 94. Following the first session Beckman was able to trim Worsham’s lead by two and now trials by 36.

Defending world champ Matt Hagan (above) qualified second in his Mopar Charger with a 3.923 at a track record speed of 329.50, while two-time Pomona winner Ron Capps was third in his NAPA Charger with a 3.937 at 325.69.

In Top Fuel, Billy Torrence (above) moved into position to earn his first No. 1 qualifying position by powering to a career-best effort of 3.726 at 331.61 in his Capco Contractors dragster.

“The guys have been working hard to get both cars on the same page,” Torrence said. “I’ve been benefitting from getting the right set up. Both cars have been running real close. It’s great to be out here. I’ve got a lot of friends and a lot of folks who’ve been rooting for us here.”

Larry Dixon ended up second in his C&J Energy Services dragster with a 3.737 at 327.19 and Tony Schumacher is third in his U.S. Army dragster with a 3.745 at 324.59. Newly crowned Top Fuel world champ Antron Brown is fourth after two sessions, posting a 3.758 at 324.90 in his Matco Tools dragster.

Shane Gray (above) led Pro Stock with an effort of 6.509 at 212.79 in his Gray Manufacturing Chevy Camaro. Gray is trying to improve on his 10th place points position in the factory hot rod category.

“It would be awesome for team morale to go into the off-season with a No. 1, and even better to win the race,” Gray said. “With Erica Enders having already clinched the title, there is nothing to lose and so we can go for it. The more you can relax, the better you can be.”

Vincent Nobile qualified second with a 6.510 at 212.93 in his NAPA Auto Parts Camaro and was followed by rookie sensation Drew Skillman, who sits third in his Ray Skillman Chevrolet Camaro with a 6.512 at 213.06. Enders is fifth overall with a 6.516 at 210.05 in his Elite Motorsports Camaro.

Karen Stoffer, a two-time winner this season, led the two-wheel class with a performance of 6.823 seconds at 196.36 mph on her BIG St. Charles Motorsports Suzuki.

“We want to finish the season off strong,” Stoffer said. “We haven’t traditionally done that. It would be huge for us to do good at this final race and knock that gremlin off our back to finish strong here late in the season. We had a safe run on that first one to get down the track and make sure our brakes work well. We were able to do it on the second hit when we ran the full quarter-mile. I don’t think it will hold. This class is so competitive. The track stayed consistent. Tomorrow is going to be better.”

The three Pro Stock Motorcycle championship contenders all qualified in the top half of the field, with series leader Andrew Hines in fifth, second place Jerry Savoie fourth and third-place Eddie Krawiec eighth. Savoie, who earned one qualifying bonus point for his third-place effort in round one, trails Hines by 45 points. Krawiec is 83 back.

Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions at noon and 3 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m.

* * *

POMONA, Calif. — Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 51st annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, final of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.  Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.

Top Fuel — 1. Billy Torrence, 3.726 seconds, 331.61 mph; 2. Larry Dixon, 3.737, 327.19; 3. Tony Schumacher, 3.745, 324.59; 4. Antron Brown, 3.758, 324.90; 5. Dave Connolly, 3.764, 327.03; 6. Doug Kalitta, 3.771, 320.20; 7. Shawn Langdon, 3.774, 326.56; 8. Clay Millican, 3.775, 323.89; 9. Troy Buff, 3.829, 313.51; 10. J.R. Todd, 3.846, 273.77; 11. Brittany Force, 4.015, 279.09; 12. Morgan Lucas, 4.143, 210.05.  Not Qualified: 13. Richie Crampton, 4.633, 160.44; 14. Steve Torrence, 5.603, 114.77; 15. Cory McClenathan, 6.714, 88.07; 16. Terry McMillen, 6.895, 101.62; 17. Shawn Reed, 7.444, 88.27; 18. Steve Faria, 11.774, 69.87.

Funny Car — 1. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger, 3.917, 324.67; 2. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.923, 329.50; 3. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.937, 325.69; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 3.955, 318.09; 5. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.964, 319.29; 6. Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.965, 322.88; 7. Del Worsham, Camry, 3.974, 324.05; 8. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 3.987, 318.02; 9. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.023, 308.43; 10. Gary Densham, Charger, 4.052, 308.57; 11. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.128, 261.17; 12. John Force, Camaro, 4.343, 209.39.  Not Qualified: 13. John Hale, 4.431, 210.14; 14. Paul Lee, 4.503, 268.44; 15. Bob Bode, 4.684, 186.15; 16. Jeff Arend, 4.858, 175.48; 17. Tim Gibbons, 4.995, 161.07; 18. Chad Head, 5.805, 117.46; 19. Courtney Force, 7.833, 78.26; 20. Brandon Welch, 11.007, 60.71.

Pro Stock — 1. Shane Gray, Chevy Camaro, 6.509, 212.79; 2. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.510, 213.00; 3. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.512, 213.06; 4. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.513, 212.66; 5. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.516, 212.96; 6. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.521, 212.86; 7. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.523, 213.30; 8. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.526, 213.10; 9. Allen Johnson, Dodge Dart, 6.528, 212.06; 10. Larry Morgan, Camaro, 6.535, 212.63; 11. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.540, 211.79; 12. Jonathan Gray, Camaro, 6.551, 211.56.  Not Qualified: 13. Richie Stevens, 6.561, 211.00; 14. Kenny Delco, 6.579, 210.47; 15. Matt Hartford, 6.587, 210.31; 16. V. Gaines, 6.588, 210.44; 17. Alan Prusiensky, 6.631, 209.20; 18. Joey Grose, 6.656, 210.34.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.823, 196.36; 2. Chip Ellis, Buell, 6.830, 196.44; 3. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.833, 197.57; 4. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.836, 196.67; 5. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.837, 195.73; 6. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.853, 196.47; 7. Matt Smith, Victory, 6.855, 195.90; 8. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.858, 195.99; 9. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.878, 194.88; 10. Michael Ray, Buell, 6.915, 192.28; 11. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.917, 193.88; 12. Angie Smith, Victory, 6.919, 192.14.  Not Qualified: 13. Hector Arana, 6.926, 195.25; 14. Mike Berry, 6.951, 190.83; 15. Shawn Gann, 6.960, 192.41; 16. Jim Underdahl, 6.961, 194.55; 17. Freddie Camarena, 6.962, 194.80; 18. Kalle Lyren, 6.983, 191.02; 19. Joe DeSantis, 6.985, 192.11; 20. Redell Harris, 6.994, 190.57; 21. Katie Sullivan, 6.998, 190.22; 22. Robert Karlsson, 7.021, 191.95; 23. Luke Crowley, 7.027, 193.27; 24. Rhett Lougheed, 7.138, 187.94; 25. Eddie Reed, 7.229, 188.54; 26. Lance Bonham, 7.368, 183.92; 27. Bill Burkhart, 7.459, 179.25; 28. Melissa Surber, 18.068, 41.90.