Photos by Ron Lewis and Zak Hawthorne
2/11/05

FUNNY CAR

On his first official lap of the 2005 NHRA season defending champ John Force (lead photo) powered his Austin Coil/Bernie Fedderly-tuned, Castrol-backed  Ford Mustang to a Pomona track record of 4.697 at 329.26 to set the pace in Funny Car and basically break the backs of the competition.

"We know this car knows how to run 4.60s," Force said. "We weren't really trying to do it that time, maybe just a low 4.70, but it just went down there. The new concrete (starting line) they poured is nice and smooth. It used to be that I'd always rattle the tires a little at the hit (of the throttle) but this time it didn't. I could see for the first time ever here. Whatever (Pomona Raceway) spent to fix it (the starting line) was worth it."

Incremental times

Robert Hight took the AAA of Southern California-backed Mustang down the track before he competes in his first national event.

Tony Pedregon driving his Q Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car started the season with a solid 4.797-second elapsed time at 302.82 mph that put him in the four hole on the provisional ladder. Tony's brother Cruz, driving the Advance Auto Parts Monte Carlo Nitro

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Funny Car, one upped his brother, posting the third quickest pass during the first round of qualifying with a 4.768-second elapsed time at 323.74 mph.

Cruz commented after the pass, "It's just a credit to Wes (Cerny) and this great team to be able to keep our test set up, adjust to the different weather conditions at an entirely different track and still make a great run is a very positive sign. It was dark and a little difficult to see, but we did what we had to do. This is when it's fun."