41st Autozone Winternationals
Feb. 1-4th/2001 Pomona, CA
Notes| Results|
Photos
NATIONALS NOTEBOOK:
Former FMD driver Darrell Russell has incredible debut in Top Fuel as
driver for Joe Amato. Russell becomes only third driver ever to win
in a nitro category in his debut race -- joining K.C. Spurlock and Gary
Scelzi. Russell beats Mike Dunn in the NY Yankees car in the final round
when the Darrell Gwynn-owned machine smokes its tires. Russell speeds
to a winning 4.665 secs at 309.77 mph. Russell in fact came close to
doubling up at the Pomona event. On Saturday he lost in the final round
of the Budweiser Shootout event carried over from last year's NHRA Finals.
Russell grabs an early lead in that showdown and appears headed to victory
only to have a blower belt break. That hands the $100G first place cheque
to Gary Scelzi.
FC program is as an impressive field as they come. Despite the debut
of a numerous new race cars, class competitors still produce drag racing's
all time quickest qualified field -- 5.013 secs bump which betters the
5.022 secs mark set at Houston last year. FC qualifying sees 13 of 16
cars in the fours and is paced by Tommy Johnson Jr. who runs a career
best 4.838 secs first time out driving Don Prudhomme's Skoal "Blue
Car". Class racing features many upsets including John Force and
Jerry Toliver who both suffer first round losses. Bruce Sarver, driving
Alan Johnson's E-Moola.com Firebird, prevails over Tony Pedregon Castrol
GTX Mustang in the final round.
FMD field at Pomona is drag racing's quickest yet -- by a long shot.
No less then 29 class racers are entered and they produce a numbing
bump spot of 5.542 secs (!) which tops the previous all time quickest
field of 5.65 secs. David Baca's injected nitro car qualifies on the
pole with a 5.358 secs but then unloads a shocking 5.220 secs in round
two -- the quickest run in history by a huge margin. Baca however slows
from that pace and loses in semi final round. Ultimatley FMD class sees
the cream rise to the top as defending and 4-time NHRA World Champion
Rick Santos prevails again.
Competition eliminator includes for the first time in it's history
a taste of Pro Modified cars. Biggest noise is made by Kurt Kuhns who
wheels his supercharged '63 Corvette to the pole running a 6.301 secs
which was .749 under. Kuhns's index is then hit hard during eliminations
-- lowered from 7.05 secs to 6.85 secs -- the biggest single CIC adjustment
in NHRA history. That likely costs Kuhns the event victory as he loses
in round three but not before clearly establishing himself as a huge
fan favourite. Kuhns also runs 222.77 mph for top speed in the category.
Three other Pro Mod cars show for the Pomona event, West Coast Doorslammer
Association regulars Dan Rowe, Randy Hagerty and Dave Meziere. The injection
of Pro Mod cars is overall a big plus on the fan popularity meter.
Pro Stock racing features a large number of sleek new Pontiac Grand-Am
cars -- 8 in total. Bruce Allen qualifies on the pole with the Reher-Morrison
'01 Pontiac running a career best 6.828 secs. Allen goes to the semi
final round but loses to the new AC-Delco '01 Cavalier driven by Kurt
Johnson. Johnson then out duels the Hemi-powered Dodge R/T of Darrell
Alderman in the final round. Alderman has a slightly better light but
Johnson is quicker and faster to earn his 22nd career win. KJ has top
speed of the meet at 202.18 mph.
Nitro FC qualifying features a couple of pretty ferocious fires, which
sideline Phil Burkhart Jr., and also Bob Hallock. Both drivers emerge
uninjured from the Saturday afternoon incidents but their machines receive
extensive heat damage.
Brandon Bernstein, son to legendary TF driver Kenny Bernstein, makes
his NHRA national event debut driving in the FMD class. He is driving
a nitro-injected car owned by Jerry Darien and sponsored by Budweiser.
Brandon cracks the record quick field with a 5.416 secs but loses in
round one to Texan Joe Fuentes.
Pro Stock Truck racing is a super quick affair as the 7.544 secs bump
ties the all time quickest field mark set at Richmond, VA., last season.
Randy Daniels who did not qualify at the 2000 Winternationals, wins
this time out beating Greg Stanfield (who won the Pomona Finals last
November) in the championship round. Daniels also sets low ET at 7.461
secs. Defending NHRA World Champion Bob Panella rewrites the NHRA speed
record to 181.42 mph driving his Chevy S-10.
Doug Kalitta shows at Pomona armed with new sponsorship from Mac Tools.
Kalitta is the fastest car on the premises throughout qualifying and
his 4.576 secs holds up for low ET of the event. Kalitta's machine smokes
it's tires however in round two against eventual winner Darrell Russell.
TF field at Winternationals is the weakest in event history as only
16 cars show to do battle and the bump spot is a dismal 16+ seconds.
That car count is a concern to NHRA officials and a disturbing indicator
for the rest of the 2001 season. In contrast 25 machines are entered
in the record-setting quick nitro FC class.
