Clay Millican’s crew chief Jim Oberhofer gave his driver some unenviable options headed into the Top Fuel final round at the NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals hosted by In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip.
“He told me he had it loaded up, and a couple things were going to happen. He said we’re going to win, we’re going to blow up, and if we lose, we’re going to be a footnote in history,” Millican said. “Thank goodness we’re not a footnote in history. Tony Stewart is going to win one of these soon, but all I know is we won the Winternationals.
“Boy, that final round was forever. When you blow it up and – and we blew it up good – and you got a HANS (head restraint) device on, you’re stretching that HANS to its limits, trying to look over like, ‘Is he coming or not?’ I couldn’t get there quick enough. I promise I never let off the throttle, even though it wasn’t running no more. But I had that thing buried. I was stomping on the loud pedal harder than normal. What a day.
“Winning (the Winternationals) is one of the majors. It definitely is. We’ve won Indy and now we’ve won here, and that’s pretty dang cool. But to come out and win the way we did today, it was a total team effort. I pulled us out once, which rarely ever happens, and the team just stuck together.”
Millican’s victory was his first in Pomona, and he was joined by Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) at the third race of the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Millican posted a time of 4.273 seconds at 189.71 mph in his Mighty Fire Breaker/Parts Plus dragster before an engine explosion at the finish line. This victory is the eighth of Millican’s career, as he defeated Shawn Reed, Jasmine Salinas, and No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force on his way to the final.
Millican displayed strong performance on the starting line, clocking a .038 reaction time against Stewart. With this win, he moves to sixth in points and denied Stewart his first career Top Fuel victory.
In Funny Car, Beckman secured John Force Racing’s 300th victory, going 4.015 seconds at 302.88 mph in his PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS to defeat Daniel Wilkerson. This win is Beckman’s 38th career victory, and he dominated the weekend with multiple runs in the 3.80s during eliminations.
“The car was amazing all weekend. We qualified fourth, but we got qualifying points every single round and ran 3.80s every round of eliminations until the final when (a) part fell off a couple of hundred feet out and the car shook the tires and knocked them loose,” Beckman said. “That’s where, as a driver, you’ve got to be ready to give one back to the team because they’d given me everything all weekend long.
“It felt good to be able to pedal the thing and take it down there and have the car not blow up. It’s pretty cool when they hand you a trophy, your car still intact, and get John Force Racing its 300th Funny Car win.”
Wilkerson advanced to the final round for the second time in his career after besting J.R. Todd, Paul Lee, and rookie Spencer Hyde.
In Pro Stock, Anderson set a track record in the final round against teammate Dallas Glenn with a run of 6.476 at 210.90 mph in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. This victory marks his 16th career win in Pomona, the second-most in NHRA history.
“I love this place,” Anderson said. “These are proud days today, and just like three months ago … you want to give your best shot in the final round against the toughest competition.”
Anderson is now the second-winningest driver in NHRA history with 109 race wins, trailing only John Force. He came into the event tied with Frank “Ace” Manzo.
Anderson is the points leader and continues to excel in the season, having recently secured the GESi Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier award for the second consecutive race. Glenn advanced to his third straight final round after defeating Erica Enders, Matt Hartford, and Deric Kramer.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series will return to action April 11-13 at Las Vegas, Nevada.
