Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The Lucas Oil Winternationals
 


1. NEVER TOO EARLY TO THINK OF TITLE - Top Fuel winner Justin Ashley recognizes that the 2023 Top Fuel champion will be crowned here at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip – but not until November, not at this Winternationals appearance.
 
However, the class’ first two-time winner of the season said, “It is important to know the championship’s a long way (off), but it's important to start collecting points now, because you want to be in the best possible position once that Countdown starts. Goal No. 1 is to make the Countdown. Goal No. 2 is put yourself in a position to win the championship. And those points add up. The points that we accumulate now count just as much as the points that we accumulate in Indy before the Countdown starts. It's never too early to start thinking about the championship.
 
“Our focus is going to stay on one race at a time. After this win, it will shift to Las Vegas,” he said, referring to the Four-Wide Nationals in two weeks at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “But I think collecting those points is something that's always in the back of our minds.”
 
And Ashley isn’t one to peek past his blinders. He keeps a keen eye on the task at hand. And that went for Sunday’s final-round opponent Austin Prock – a driver he faced three times in four final rounds last year, and a young gun who’s about as sharp on the Christmas Tree as he is.
  
“He’s just another opponent in the other lane,” Ashley said following his ninth overall victory. “Obviously, I have a lot of respect for Austin. I think he does a great job on the starting line. He's a great driver, and I have a lot of respect for all the drivers out here, but I think I'd be doing my team a disservice if I was focused on what's going on in the other lane. So we're just focused on doing the very best that we can focus on our lane, doing everything I can to go A to B as straight and as quickly as possible. So that's really where the focus always is.
 
“I think I'm just focusing on the present moment and enjoying it,” he said. “I do think that last year, thanks to Philips Connect, we took a big step in the right direction. And this year, I think your focus was to take it to the next level. And I think you've seen that so far. In the first three races, especially these last two wins, and it's just a testament to the hard work that our team puts in. We're on an upward trajectory right now.”

The momentum, Ashley said, “is tremendous. It's nice to leave here with the points lead. It's a long season so we have plenty of time left, but the points that we accumulate now count just as much for the points that we accumulate later before the Countdown so to be able to stack those points on top of each other, including in the Mission Foods Challenge, really is very significant. You have to collect round wins. You're not always going to win the race. You know, these races are hard to win. But you have to do a good job of stacking round wins. I think we've done a good job of that. We have to find that next step to find that consistency. There was a period last year where we didn't win any races, but I think we went to five semifinals in a row. It's about maintaining that consistency, learning from each and every run, and I think that was an important step in our evolution as a team.”
 
2. FUNNY CAR WINNER MATT HAGAN TOPS CAPPS IN FINAL – On the 50th anniversary of Hall of Famer Don Schumacher’s 1973 Winternationals Funny Car victory, two of his most successful drivers – three-time champions Matt Hagan and Ron Capps – met in the class’ showdown.
 
In a powerhouse final in which Capps and Hagan have combined for 223 money-round appearances (Capps 142, Hagan 81), Hagan ruled from wire to wire for his 45th victory. He became the category’s first repeat winner as he improved his elimination-round record this season to 9-1 in the Haas Automation Dodge Charger Hellcat.
 
Racer Jack Beckman always said, “You have no friends out here between the burnout and the turnout.” And Hagan knew that Sunday. He was determined to record a second victory in the young season’s first three events for Tony Stewart Racing. So when he knew he would be facing close friend Ron Capps in the final round, Hagan said, “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I like the guy a lot, but we’ve got to put him on the trailer.” 
 
And he did. 
 
However, Hagan said, “As much as I’d like to beat on my chest and say we’ve won two races out of the three, we’re still working through some stuff with the combination on this car. 
 
Crew chief “Dickie Venables has been able to put his stamp on this deal with innovation on the chassis and different things,” Hagan said. “And we know we’re going to keep those things in-house. At DSR (Don Schumacher Racing), we had a bunch of teammates, so the knowledge got spread around. So you never really had that advantage. That being said, we still have a lot of things to work through on this car.”
 
Hagan said, “It’s a great day when you can go from 10th in qualifying and win the race. I woke up and knew we had a little bit of a hill to climb as a team, and it’s just one of those deals where as things progressed and the car goes down the track, you get more confident. Just to watch Dickie and what he does on the racetrack, there’s very few weekends where that guy doesn’t impress me.

“I’m glad to have him in our corner and I’m just super-proud of my guys. It’s pretty amazing to be able to put a car in the winners circle with a new sponsor,” he said. “Funny Car is tough, and it’s going to be a dogfight. And there’s just no room for error, because it’s so tough.”

Points leader Hagan has a 26-point edge on Capps as the Camping World Drag Racing Series heads in two weeks to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the first of two four-wide events. The following race, also in four-wide fashion, will be at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C.
 
3. GLENN MASTERS POMONA RACETRACK – Both Matt Hartford and Dallas Glenn were eager to capture a first In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip victory in the Pro Stock class. In the end, Glenn and his RAD Torque Chevy Camaro came away with bragging rights – by .0033 seconds, or about 12 inches – in his first final-round match-up with Hartford and the Total Seal Camaro.
 
The two, with KB Titan power under their hoods, had split eight previous meetings, but this time Glenn – who made the final here in his sportsman-racing days in the Stock class – tamed this track he said sometimes has been “brutal” to him.
 
After topping Chris McGaha, Bo Butner, and teammate Camrie Caruso, Glenn said it reinforced this weekend that “when you go in on the first run Friday, you cannot leave anything on the table” and that he “crossed my fingers as I ran through the gears” in the final.
 
The victory gave Glenn the points lead for the first time in his fresh career, and it marked the third different Pro Stock winner in three races. With it, Glenn has ensured he’ll have at least one victory in his first three years in the class.
 
“It was a great day and anytime I’m worn out at the end of the day, I’m happy,” he said.
 
“I’ve got an absolutely great car, and it’s been running really well. I’m comfortable in it, and I was just able to make a lot of clean runs. It’s really cool to be the points leader right now. I’ve never been able to get it done in Pomona before, and it’s been so frustrating. But I knew the car was going to be really good today, and I was just happy it all came together for us.”

4. #2FAST2TASTY WILL SEE NEW FACES AT JOLIET – Top Fuel’s Justin Ashley and Pro Stock’s Matt Hartford have a chance at the Route 66 Nationals at Joliet, Ill., in May to become the first back-to-back winners of the Mission Foods-sponsored bonus race that takes place during Saturday qualifying. (The program skips the two April four-wide events at Las Vegas and Charlotte.) New to the Top Fuel version of the $10,000-to-win race-within-a-race will be Brittany Force and Antron Brown. They’ll join Ashley and Austin Prock. In the Funny Car class, Terry Haddock and Bob Tasca III will get their first chances at the $10,000 prize and three Countdown-applied points, and Ron Capps and Matt Hagan also will compete. In the Pro Stock division, $7,500 and valuable bonus points are up for grabs among Camrie Caruso, Dallas Glenn, Aaron Stanfield, and this Saturday’s victor Hartford.
 
Chad Green signaled his arrival as a Funny Car championship contender with his $10,000, three-point victory Saturday, and Ashley used his Top Fuel #2Fast2Tasty victory Saturday to seize the No. 1 qualifying position for eliminations. For Hartford, Saturday’s win was a springboard to the No. 2 starting spot for Sunday’s runoffs and a return visit to the bonus event. 
 


5. J.R. TODD’S NO GOOD, HORRIBLE, ROTTEN, VERY BAD WEEKEND – J.R. Todd’s bid for a first victory since the March 2021 Gatornationals had one bright spot this weekend: He registered a 3.935-second elapsed time in the second qualifying session to earn a berth in the top half of Sunday’s starting line-up. But that’s about where his good luck ran out.
 
On that Q2 run, his chances and his DHL Toyota Supra chassis and body were collateral damage in John Force’s run-amok pass. Force’s crash started a string of misfortune for the Kalitta Motorsports driver and 2018 Funny Car champion. Force collected him in his own wild ride, crossing the center line after the finish stripe. Force barged into Todd’s lane behind Todd, zoomed up on Todd’s left between Todd and the guard wall, then passed in front of Todd and draped his parachutes over Todd’s car, dragging him toward the right wall. Force hit the wall and tore up the front of his Peak Chevy Camaro.
 
Todd said it was “just a normal run. I was trucking down through there pretty good, get the ’chutes out before the finish line like normal – like you’re pretty much taught as a young driver. And that time I feel like I paid the price for doing it. At first, I thought maybe he just got into my ’chutes or something, but next thing I know, I see him on my left side and we’re in the left lane. You’re not supposed to be there. After that, just sort of hanging on and steering away from him, steering away from the wall, and trying to get on the brake to get the thing stopped.
 
“But when the ’chutes are tangled up like that, you’re just along for the ride,” Todd said. “It’s a helpless feeling. You’re not really in control at that point when the other guy is wrapped in your ’chutes or his ’chutes are wrapped around your car. He [Force] was dragging us along for the ride. It sucks. I don’t like tearing up stuff, especially when it’s out of my control.”
  
Both drivers exited their cars on their own power, and neither was injured.
 
“It’s really unfortunate, because it was a brand new car for us, beautiful car and worked really well,” Todd said.” There’s nothing wrong with our car that we pulled out for Q3, but just new body and new car ... I hate creating extra work for the guys, especially something silly like that.”
 
That was perturbing enough. But after Todd’s team hauled out the back-up car for the final qualifying session, Tim Wilkerson in the opposite lane clipped the timing cone, and neither driver received an elapsed time. So Todd was fortunate enough to snag the No. 5 starting spot in the order.
 
Oh, but Todd had more trouble. With a safe lead against Alex Laughlin in Sunday’s opening round, Todd’s engine detonated, destroying the back-up body, damaging the chassis, and losing the round to Laughlin.
 
“If you knew a weekend like this was coming, you’d rather stay home,” Todd said Sunday. “More than anything, I just hate all the work that’s been created for all my guys – especially right before an off weekend. With all the work the DHL team’s been doing up to this point, my guys needed that off week badly. Now they have a ton more work to get done before we go to Las Vegas.
 
“The DHL Toyota Supra was running OK early, and I didn’t see Alex Laughlin next to me. The next thing I knew, after it got down the track quite a ways, it started spinning the tires. I learned in the Gainesville (Fla.) final that when it starts spinning like that, you've got to get out of the throttle as soon as possible. Sure enough, it happened in the first round today, and we saw what can happen. Nowadays, the way we run these things, as soon as it spins the tires, you’ve got to get off the throttle. I was too late doing that.”
 
Todd said, “Looking back on it, I wish I could go back and lift sooner. If you do that, you’ll lose the round, but we would have come back with a race car and body instead a lot of extra work for these guys.
 
“We’ll see where we are this week with cars and parts. If I need to go to the shop in Ypsilanti (Mich.) or Brownsburg (Ind.) to deliver parts and pieces, I’ll do whatever the DHL team needs. I just want to do anything I can to contribute on my end to get us ready for Las Vegas,” he said.
 
6. CINDERELLA MAN – Longtime Funny Car racer Terry Haddock, who last weekend at Phoenix started from the top half of the ladder for the first time in his career, reached his first semifinal Sunday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
 
“The first thing I’ve got to do is say thanks to God, because this is amazing,” Haddock said. “It’s amazing you can come out here and give all you’ve got for all these years and when you work hard and you don’t give up, you get your chance.”
 
He claimed a spot in the four-driver Funny Car Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge that will run next in May at the Joliet, Ill., race. He said the $10,000 jackpot is cool to pursue, “but just going rounds is amazing. Just getting to drive this car is amazing. We don’t have a lot but we keep going.”
 
Crew chief Johnny West called this weekend “a blessing” and said, “These guys work so hard. You can’t even fathom how much work goes into this when they get out here.”

7. SQUIRRELLY CAR TO BLAME FOR JOHN FORCE’S CRASH? – John Force’s qualifying accident and subsequent center-line-crossing incident Saturday were the buzz of the weekend.
 
But Force insisted, “I’m not doing anything different. This BlueDEF Chevy Camaro moved around a little bit and made a left, but I thought it would come back on me. But it didn’t come back. For some reason, I’m snake-bit right now.”
  
In his first Saturday qualifying attempt, Force’s car darted into Todd’s lane, swooped up on Todd’s left between the Kalitta Motorsports driver and the guard wall. Both cars were ruined in the mishap as Force’s parachutes wrapped around Todd’s Toyota.
 
On his second Saturday pass, Force shut off after being pulled to the left and hitting another pair of cones. That run also was disqualified. So Force was lucky to end up with the No. 16 position for the first time since this race last year, leaving Jeff Diehl and Steven Densham with DNQs. 
 
“It got squirrely up there,” Force said of his car, “but it’s been doing that since the beginning of the season, and we think we know why. Driving right, left, right, left, I can do that. I do that all the time, trying to keep it straight. When it hit the bump up there (toward the top end), though, it blew the tires off, and it made a left turn into the other lane. I thought I just got his header, J.R. Todd, but I’m glad he’s OK. Then it hit the wall hard. I have to re-evaluate it. I watched the video. Maybe I have to pull it back more. I’m OK, but more importantly, J.R. is OK.”

 
9. GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY – Top Fuel racer Tony Schumacher said he wasn’t aware of it, and it slipped dad Don Schumacher’s mind, as well. But this visit to Pomona marked the 50th anniversary of the elder Schumacher’s 1973 Winternationals victory.
 
The younger Schumacher said Saturday that his father seldom mentioned it: “Not much. Honestly, not much. And that's a big, big victory for him. Of the five NHRA races that he won, this one had to be a huge one. Indy was huge and Ohio. Each one of those was back in a different world where you ran much, much less races. Each one of those had to be an epic, epic accomplishment. So good for him.”
  
Don Schumacher said Sunday morning from Florida by phone, “I really try to live the present moment rather than the past.”
 
But his son said it would be special to bring home a victory for the organization that has seen Joe and Cathi Maynard assume majority ownership.
  
“Let’s see if we can't go out there 50 years later, do it again. I always love when someone would say, ‘Oh, by the way, if Schumacher wins this ...’ We always seem to win those,” he said.    
 
 He didn’t this time, losing to Shawn Langdon by .0147 of a second despite posting his quickest elapsed time of the weekend (3.738 seconds). 
 
Don Schumacher easily recalled details of that 1973 triumph.
  
“That was an amazing day. I raced (Kenny) Bernstein in the final,” he said. “The track was sketchy, so even though we had two speeds in the Funny Car, I ran high gear all day long. That’s what got me through it, versus what everybody else did. It was a fun day, to say the least.”
  
The Hall of Fame patriarch fielded a stable of drivers who produced 19 championships and 366 victories.
 
“It has been a remarkable career,” he said. “I never imagined any of this would ever have transpired.”
 
He said he’ll attend the four-wide race at Las Vegas in two weeks.