MATT HARTFORD RACING PHOTO
Brittany Force, Prock and Anderson pick up No. 1 qualifiers at 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals
POMONA, Calif. (March 29, 2025) – Defending world champion Austin
Prock and his John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman dominated the
Funny Car ranks on Saturday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, as
Prock powered to the No. 1 qualifier position at the 65th annual Lucas
Oil NHRA Winternationals and Jack Beckman won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty
Challenge specialty race.
Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) also won the
Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, while Brittany Force (Top Fuel) and Greg
Anderson (Pro Stock) qualified No. 1 at the third of 20 races during the
2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Beckman went 3.831-seconds at 330.72 seconds in his 11,000-horsepower
PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS, defeating Paul Lee in the final round of the
Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and claiming his first win in the
specialty race.
“Paul Lee’s car is an A-level competitive car and when we went 3.83
in round one, we were feeling pretty spicy and then they go 3.82 and got
lane choice, but we knew it didn’t matter,” Beckman said.
“These conditions are A-plus-plus, as good as it gets out there. The
issue when the track gets as good as the crew chiefs don’t have much
data on this. We know what to do when the track gets good, but when the
track gets great, you can count on one hand, typically, the number of
runs a year you get when the track is phenomenal. In all likelihood, all
the runs tomorrow are going to be in those type of conditions.”
Prock, who clinched the world title in Pomona last season and set a
Funny Car record with 15 No. 1 qualifiers in 2024, went a blistering
3.816-seconds at 338.26 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools
Chevrolet Camaro SS to take the No. 1 position into raceday for the 20th
time in his career. Prock will open eliminations against Blake Alexander
as he looks for his first victory of 2025.
“Our race car hasn’t run bad all year long, it’s just things haven’t
been really going our way like they did last year,” Prock said.
“We’ve been trying to do that all weekend long and just been tickling
the thing. I’m really proud of how diligent everybody’s been working and
making progress each run and just getting it A to B.
“The boys were high-fiving before we even got in the water box, like
they knew, it was either going to be hero or zero, and we ended up on
the good end of it. I’m really proud of John Force Racing and John
Force is so proud right now of the whole team.”
Lee is qualified second with a 3.829 at 331.45 and Ron Capps is third
after going 3.830 at 328.94.
In Top Fuel, Shawn Langdon kept Kalitta Motorsports rolling and
continued his recent dominance as well, beating teammate Doug Kalitta in
the final round with a run of 3.662 at a near-record 338.68 in his
11,000-horsepower Kalitta Air Careers dragster. It denied Kalitta a
chance at a perfect weekend, but Langdon kept rolling along, capturing
his second straight Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory.
Langdon also won the event in Phoenix last weekend as the car continues
to perform at an extremely high level. The run in the Challenge final
was his best of the weekend and puts him third heading into
eliminations, while the speed marked the second-fastest run in Top Fuel
history. The points leader will now have a chance to double-up for the
second straight race in his red-hot early-season start.
“Honestly, it’s a great feeling to come back from the run and see
the smile on Connie’s [Kalitta] face and see the smiles on the team’s
faces. All their hard work, everything’s paying off,” Kalitta said.
“The cars are running good, which is great. They’re responding well to
what the crew chiefs have been doing.
“It’s obviously a great feeling when everything’s clicking, and the
biggest thing now is we got a good, fast, consistent race car. Now it’s
just a matter of maintaining it and trying to see if we can kick off a
couple wins along the way and get ready for the Countdown at the end of
the year.”
Brittany Force earned her first top qualifier of the year on the
strength of Friday’s 3.646 at 334.82 in her 11,000-horsepower Monster
Energy dragster. She’ll open eliminations against Steve Chrisman as
she looks for her first career Winternationals win. She added a 53rd
career No. 1 qualifier to her accomplishments on Saturday, but a victory
at her home track – and a chance for JFR double-up – would make the
weekend even better.
“We’ve had some really strong performance on track,” Force said.
“We earned a No. 1 qualifier. We went 3.64 twice, and then a 3.69
today. We want to turn on four win lights tomorrow. Looking at our
ladder, we could have a bye second round, which is awesome for us. I
love this place. It’s just home for me. I grew up out of here at this
racetrack and in the stands. You just have that good feeling coming out
here and we want to do well. My whole family’s out here, I’ve had all my
friends this weekend, popping in and out, and it’s just our home race
track, so we want to finish strong.”
Kalitta qualified second with a 3.657 at 335.15.
In Pro Stock, Matt Hartford defeated Greg Anderson in the final round of
the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, going 6.496 at 210.67 in his
GETTRX/Total Seal Camaro to get his second win in the specialty race.
The first came two years in Pomona as the veteran continued his strong
performance at the historic facility. Next up on Hartford’s list is an
event win, which would be his first since the 2023 campaign.
“This is as good a car as I’ve ever had. It’s hateful,” Hartford
said. “Over the winter, we made a very easy decision to make sure that
we continued in our older chassis and to try to reinvent the wheel every
run or make changes that we don’t know. Let’s use facts and work off
data.
“A win is the next thing for us, but you’ve got to get through first
round and take it one round at a time. When you look at the qualifying
sheet, I can promise you of the 16 cars, none of them you want to race
first round because they’re all good. The conditions tomorrow are going
to be hateful. If you think the runs that you’ve seen over the last four
runs were good, wait until tomorrow. The cars are all going to pick up
tomorrow.”
Anderson held on to his second No. 1 spot this season, improving to a
6.490 at 210.77 on Saturday in his HendrickCars.com Camaro, handing the
defending world champion his 134th career top qualifier. Anderson made
two more runs in the 6.40s on Saturday, which could bode well as he
seeks his second straight win and his 16th overall at In-N-Out Burger
Pomona Dragstrip.
“Running 6.40s seems to be the price of poker out here this
weekend,” Anderson said. “You better run 6.40 or you’re probably
going to go home. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of cars that can do it. I
think only two of them didn’t today, but there’s a lot of them that can
do it and you’re going to see more of it tomorrow. I’m looking forward
to it. It should be a hell of a race.
“You kind of need to have a lot of luck because there’s too many good
cars, too many good drivers and too many good race teams. You better not
only have a fast race car, but you also better have some luck.”
Hartford qualified second with a 6.490 at 210.67 and Deric Kramer is
third after going 6.511 at 210.80.
Eliminations for the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals begin at
11 a.m. PT on Sunday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
***
POMONA, Calif. — Sunday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the
65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip,
the third of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs
listed below pairings.
Top Fuel — 1. Brittany Force, 3.646 seconds, 338.34 mph vs. 14. Steven
Chrisman, 5.362, 131.05; 2. Doug Kalitta, 3.657, 335.15 vs. 13. Scott
Palmer, 3.818, 313.80; 3. Shawn Langdon, 3.662, 338.68 vs. 12. Ida
Zetterstrom, 3.741, 334.24; 4. Steve Torrence, 3.665, 337.50 vs. 11.
Jasmine Salinas, 3.700, 324.83; 5. Clay Millican, 3.674, 332.59 vs. 10.
Shawn Reed, 3.698, 333.91; 6. Josh Hart, 3.675, 332.34 vs. 9. Justin
Ashley, 3.695, 333.66; 7. Antron Brown, 3.695, 337.16 vs. 8. Tony
Stewart, 3.695, 329.75.
Funny Car — 1. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 3.816, 338.26 vs. 16. Blake
Alexander, Dodge Charger, 4.011, 324.98; 2. Paul Lee, Charger, 3.829,
331.45 vs. 15. Bobby Bode, Toyota GR Supra, 3.978, 323.12; 3. Ron Capps,
GR Supra, 3.830, 330.47 vs. 14. Spencer Hyde, Ford Mustang, 3.971,
271.08; 4. Jack Beckman, Camaro, 3.831, 332.59 vs. 13. Jeff Diehl,
Toyota Camry, 3.963, 296.70; 5. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.885, 331.77 vs.
12. Dave Richards, Mustang, 3.954, 320.97; 6. Cruz Pedregon, Charger,
3.886, 328.78 vs. 11. Steven Densham, Mustang, 3.942, 317.79; 7. J.R.
Todd, GR Supra, 3.896, 333.99 vs. 10. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.924,
324.28; 8. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.903, 328.78 vs. 9. Alexis DeJoria,
Charger, 3.921, 324.75.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Bob Tasca III, 4.057, 271.13; 18. Jason Rupert,
4.104, 253.80; 19. Buddy Hull, 4.340, 280.31.
Pro Stock — 1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.490, 211.26 vs. 16. Mason
McGaha, Camaro, 6.554, 209.79; 2. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.490, 210.67
vs. 15. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.553, 210.57; 3. Deric Kramer,
Camaro, 6.511, 210.80 vs. 14. Cody Coughlin, Camaro, 6.546, 210.34; 4.
Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.515, 210.80 vs. 13. Brandon Foster, Camaro,
6.538, 209.82; 5. Cory Reed, Camaro, 6.516, 210.93 vs. 12. Greg
Stanfield, Camaro, 6.537, 210.54; 6. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.517, 209.82
vs. 11. Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.537, 210.41; 7. Dallas Glenn, Camaro,
6.519, 211.10 vs. 10. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.532, 210.11; 8. Jeg
Coughlin, Camaro, 6.530, 210.97 vs. 9. Stephen Bell, Camaro, 6.531,
209.33.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Chris McGaha, 6.586, 208.91; 18. Kenny Delco,
6.594, 208.81; 19. Joey Grose, 6.652, 207.40.
-NHRA-