It took 5 days to complete, but the Winternationals at
the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona finally was completed
a day late. Of course, the Pros finished the finals on Sunday,
for ESPN2, but Sportsman Finals were put off until the
following day.
Fortunately for me and co-writer, Diana Luna, we were
able to have sit-down conversations with Antron Brown
and Matt Hagen the previous day.
That learned in the sit-down conversation was a bit more
about Matt Hagen, the # 12 qualifier and DSR driver of the
Aaron/Mopar, and of course it carried the # 1 into the
field this weekend. Being from Christansburg, VA, just having
this informal conversation was a good learning process.
The fact that he had a number of experiences in the roundy
round circuit, he chose to dedicate his abilities in the field
of driving a funny car for DSR.
I gained a new respect for that which Matt brings to the sport,
as well as he as an individual. Of course, that respect did
not help much on the track in that the winner, John Force,
was one who has been there so many times. I’ve had many
conversations with Force, in that my involvement began in the
sport began when he started using that phrase, “I’m just a truck driver”
has given many opportunities to sit with him. So much so,
I was not surprised to see the John Force Grandstands
in place.
Antron Brown is a piece of work; excellent conversationalist,
well read and a great communicator. When he qualified in
the #2 spot, it was felt he could get around the field and back
to the winners circle, but as Antron said, these races are won
by a hundredth of a second, and so it was in nearly every round.
When experiencing Top Fuel, it’s like a volcanic eruption.
He did make it to the finals;
Rnd 1
W) Antron Brown (Matco Tools/Aaron's Dragster)
0.054 3.801et 325.92 mph
(L) Cory McClenathan (Rapisarda Racing Dragster)
0.086 5.902 et 108.47 mph
Rnd 2
W) Antron Brown (Matco Tools/Aaron's Dragster)
0.037 3.771et 323.35 mph
(L) Brandon Bernstein (MAV TV/Lucas Oil Dragster)
0.061 10.000 et 75.56 mph
Rnd 3
(W) Antron Brown (Matco Tools/Aaron's Dragster)
0.058- 3.819 et 320.28 mph
(L) Morgan Lucas (GEICO/Lucas Oil Dragster)
0.037 - 4.430 et 178.57 mph
Rnd 4
(W) Spencer Massey (FRAM/Prestone Dragster)
0.049 3.750 et 325.77 mph
(L) Antron Brown (Matco Tools/Aaron's Dragster)
0.036 3.794 et 320.43 mph
Fuel Funny Car
Of course, these cars are so unpredictable;
the dominating car last year of Matt’s went
out in first round of eliminations, losing to Ron Capps.
(W) Ron Capps (NAPA Auto Parts Charger)
0.059 4.093 et 312.06 mph
(L) Matt Hagan (Aaron's/Mopar Charger)
0.062 4.298 et 269.73 mph
There was a lot of action between first round and finals.
However, between the rain and cold, we were only able
to see/experience a small portion of eliminations.
This is final round results.
(W) John Force (Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang
0.067 4.080 et 315.64 mph
(L) Mike Neff (Castrol GTX Mustang)
0.175 4.036 et 316.82 mph
As you can see, the Force won this at the tree!Wonder how that happened over his teammate?
The weather was so cold, the air temp 63 degrees and
the track temp 69 degrees. My body temp seemed to be
at 20 and my mind told me to go inside the motor home
for a while.
Pro Stock
At the start of this process of eliminations, one wonders
when the Pontiac emblem will finally be retired. The
only real way to tell the difference between the teams was
the paint or in today’s world, wraps on the cars. Engines
are the same and except for a few red-lights, the win margins
were + or - .05 seconds at 210 mph or there about.
Then came the final round which Greg Anderson worked
his way through the field for the win over Jeg Coughlin;
6.549 @ 210.87 to Jeg’s 6.586 @ 209.62. Very small margin
for the win, but then that’s normal in this very competitive field.
Maybe next year the variety will be better.
Most enjoyment was in the far off pit area for the
Sportsman competitors which eliminations carried
over until Monday, another cold day.
We will venture into the Sportsman Field and
Final results in the next post.
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