Drag Racing Online - Race Results

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3 for Pomona?

What about a third national event at the Fairplex? One of the most interesting rumors circulated during the Winternationals was that the NHRA is contemplating adding a summer event at Pomona either after Denver or after Sonoma. The motivation? Apparently, there has been increasing opposition to the increased number of weekend events at Pomona Raceway featuring, among other things, import cars. A third national event would reportedly be offered as a compromise for eliminating the other events.

— DD

By qualifying for the season-opening AutoZone Winternationals, Melanie Troxel became the 14th woman to compete in Top Fuel at the national event level, joining, among others, Rhonda Hartman-Smith, who was among the non-qualifiers for the 2000 season opener at the LA County Fairplex.

Of those 14 females, six won national events in Top Fuel: Hartman-Smith on the IHRA circuit, Shirley Muldowney, Lucille Lee, Lori Johns, Shelly Anderson and Cristen Powell on the NHRA side.

Powell, meanwhile, got off to another inauspicious start in her bid to become the first woman to win events in Top Fuel AND Funny Car. The one-time "World's Fastest Teenager" spent race day at the Winternationals providing color commentary on the public address system after failing to qualify Helen Hofmann's Ron Swearingen-tuned Pontiac for the 16-car show.

By the way, the story is that Troxel is racing this season on money provided by her Federal Mogul Dragster sponsor, In-N-Out Hamburgers, but without the In-N-Out logo as the company goes through a restructuring. No one's name was on the side panels at Pomona.

— DD

The MGM lion was prominently displayed at the Winternationals on the sides of both of Connie Kalitta's Top Fuel dragsters, one driven by son Scott; the other by nephew Doug. Both cars are dark green with gold trim. The elder Kalitta is identified on both machines as "pit boss."

— DD

Both Ron Krisher and Kurt Johnson escaped serious injury at the Winternationals when their Pro Stock cars were involved in a bizarre double accident during first round eliminations. Krisher lost control of his Eagle One Pontiac Firebird at halftrack and crossed over from the right lane to the left in front of Johnson's AC Delco Camaro. Krisher's car hit the left wall and barrel-rolled three times, landing upright in the left lane. Johnson, meanwhile, lost control while swerving to miss Krisher and his car wound up against the wall in the right lane.

"All of a sudden he was right in front of me," Kurt said. "I thought he’d ricochet off the wall. I closed my eyes at one point and ducked behind the steering wheel, because I knew it was going to be close. My car just nosed into the wall and got the right front suspension and frame rail."

Johnson’s crew hastily repaired the damage and Kurt brought his bandaged "Blue Tape Special" to the starting line for his second-round match with George Marnell. "We were able to patch the car together, but the frame was bent and the car wasn’t really driveable at high speed," Kurt explained after he staged and then drove slowly down the track and thereby collected first round winner points.

— DD & Judy Stropus

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