Do or die for Mopar at Pomona
The second day of qualifying at the O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals brought some changes to the pecking order. V. Gaines got bumped from the top spot in Pro Stock and Jack Beckman roared back, jumping six spots to qualify first in Funny Car.
Pro Stock: For defending Pro Stock champion and Team Mopar driver Allen Johnson, it all comes down to getting not just a good run, but getting the Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Avenger to get a decent pass. In Friday’s single round of qualifying, Johnson was twisted coming out of the gate and had to push in on the clutch, taking another DNQ.
Team Mopar Teammate Jeg Coughlin got loose at the start but recovered to make a clean pass; it just wasn’t fast enough. Coughlin also needs a good run today to make the eliminations on Sunday.
Coughlin and Johnson come into today’s qualifying at the bottom of the list.
At the other end, V. Gaines dropped to second after an early move toward the centerline forced him to shut down. Mike Edwards beat Gaines’ Thursday time by 0.010 seconds and moved into the top qualifying spot. Vincent Nobile shaved a bit off his Thursday time but the improvement wasn’t enough to boost him out of fifth.
Deric Kramer delivered his career-best run and jumped five spots and wiped out a DNQ from yesterday. Kramer qualified 11th. Chris McGaha’s Avenger sprung a leak and he had to shut down but his Thursday time was still enough to keep him on the bump spot.
Matt Hartford bested his Thursday time and could qualify for the expanded field that will be set today.
| NHRA WINTERNATIONALS: FRIDAY PRO STOCK QUALIFYING | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psn | Driver | Sponsor & Car | ET | Speed |
| 1 | Mike Edwards | Interstate/Team Second Camaro | 6.528 | 212.39 |
| 2 | V. Gaines | Kendall Oil Avenger | 6.538 | 211.49 |
| 3 | Erica Enders-Stevens | Cagnazzi Racing Cobalt | 6.539 | 212.23 |
| 4 | Jason Line | Summit Racing Equipment Camaro | 6.541 | 212.43 |
| 5 | Vincent Nobile | Mountain View Tire Avenger | 6.567 | 210.67 |
| 6 | Greg Anderson | Summit Racing Equipment Camaro | 6.580 | 211.03 |
| 7 | Greg Stanfield | MAVTV/Lucas Oil Camaro | 6.585 | 209.82 |
| 8 | Rodger Brogdon | ProtectTheHarvest.com/Lucas Oil Camaro | 6.590 | 209.33 |
| 9 | Steve Kent | Kent Trucking GXP | 6.606 | 208.84 |
| 10 | Kurt Johnson | Mark Christopher Auto Center GXP | 6.607 | 209.65 |
| 11 | Deric Kramer | American Ethanol/Madcap/Novo Avenger | 6.611 | 209.01 |
| 12 | Chris McGaha | Harlow Sammons of Odessa Avenger | 6.612 | 209.04 |
| Did Not Qualify | ||||
| 13 | Shane Gray | Gray Motorsports Camaro | 6.614 | 209.75 |
| 14 | Warren Johnson | Johnson Racing GXP | 6.616 | 208.52 |
| 15 | Larry Morgan | Lucas Oil/MAVTV Mustang | 6.617 | 208.71 |
| 16 | Matt Hartford | Total Seal/Nickens/CIP 1 Avenger | 6.627 | 209.79 |
| 17 | Mark Wolfe | Wolfe Racing Mustang | 6.764 | 204.76 |
| 18 | Jeg Coughlin | JEGS.com/Mopar Avenger | 6.896 | 208.26 |
| 19 | Allen Johnson | Team Mopar/J&J Racing Avenger | 13.855 | 63.06 |
After qualifying seventh on Thursday, Jack Beckman posted the best time and speed of the session to take the no. 1 spot in the qualifying order. While not as dramatic as Beckman’s six-position jump, Ron Capps came through with a solid run, trimming more than a second off his first-round time and moving him up four spots to eighth in the order.
Gary Densham, Thursday’s top qualifier, didn’t run Friday but his Thursday time was good enough for second in the qualifying ranks.
Johnny Gray cut 0.002 seconds from his first-round time, but dropped to fourth as Beckman’s run pushed the order down.
Matt Hagen also got pushed down a spot. He smoked the tires yesterday and will bring his Thursday time into today’s match-ups.
Note: In the charts, Lesenko is now in 18th position, whereas he was 17th at the end of the first round. That’s because Terry Haddock ran his Acme Refining Impala on Friday, but not on Thursday.
| NHRA WINTERNATIONALS: FRIDAY FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psn | Driver | Sponsor & Car | ET | Speed |
| 1 | Jack Beckman | Valvoline/MTS Charger | 4.045 | 316.67 |
| 2 | Gary Densham | Densham Motorsports Charger | 4.053 | 307.09 |
| 3 | Courtney Force | Traxxas Mustang | 4.071 | 311.49 |
| 4 | Johnny Gray | Pitch Energy Charger | 4.085 | 308.78 |
| 5 | Cruz Pedregon | Snap-on Tools Camry | 4.093 | 296.44 |
| 6 | Matt Hagan | Mopar/Rocky Boots Charger | 4.097 | 304.46 |
| 7 | Del Worsham | DHL Camry | 4.101 | 306.26 |
| 8 | Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Parts Charger | 4.102 | 314.53 |
| 9 | Alexis DeJoria | Tequila Patron Camry | 4.107 | 302.69 |
| 10 | Bob Tasca III | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang | 4.190 | 305.08 |
| 11 | Tim Wilkerson | Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang | 4.221 | 283.25 |
| 12 | Tony Pedregon | American Racing Wheels Camry | 4.225 | 248.89 |
| Did Not Qualify | ||||
| 13 | Phil Burkart | Steve Pluger Racing Monte Carlo | 4.239 | 287.96 |
| 14 | John Force | Castrol GTX Mustang | 4.300 | 251.20 |
| 15 | Robert Hight | Auto Club Mustang | 6.658 | 103.52 |
| 16 | Jeff Arend | Grime Boss/Jim Dunn Racing Camaro | 7.107 | 95.17 |
| 17 | Terry Haddock | Acme Refining Impala | 7.901 | 73.67 |
| 18 | Todd Lesenko | Todd Lesenko Charger | 10.190 | 63.41 |
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