When the National Hot Road Association, NHRA, Powerade drag racing series held its season debut, February 7th-10th, it was readily apparent that 2008 was going to be a highly competitive and very much the same level of quality that drag racing fans were treated to last year. The season opened with the long standing tradition of the Winter Nationals held at the Auto Club Dragway at Pomona.
When the NHRA's Top Fuel Division completed the weekend one thing was clearly evident: Tony Schumacher is going to be every bit as tough as he was last year. "The Sarge" as he is known in the sport along with his squadron of soldiers, sponsored by the U.S. Army, literally marched through the competition and served notice that they intended to take a series record sixth Top Fuel championship this year. In the final round Schumacher lined up against Cory McClenathan and his Fram dragster. "Sarge" was in a big hurry on this afternoon and ran the Pomona quarter mile at an elasped time, ET, of 4.499 seconds while clocking out at 331.28 MPH. It marked his second Winter Nationals win and sixth win at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. More importantly it also marked his 42nd NHRA win and moved him into second on the NHRA Top Fuel all time win list behind Joe Amato's 52 victories.
"The Sarge" is Army tough on the track but off the track Tony Schumacher is one hundred percent class. He dedicated the win to his long time competitor, and good friend, Doug Herbert and gave him the winner's trophy. Herbert was competing in the Winter Nationals but it was under the worst of circumstances. The drag racing veteran is still rubbed raw from the pain of losing his two young sons who were tragically killed in an automobile accident in North Carolina in late January. Commenting on the tragedy Schumacher said "we're all part of a family when something like that happens and I really wanted Doug to have the trophy. It was bittersweet having to race against him in the second round but we were able to go on and get the win so this trophy is going to Doug."
The NHRA Funny Car Division was equally dramatic because of the return of 14 time champion John Force. The drag racing icon was making his first appearance since last September when he was sidelined by a serious crash, in Fort Worth-Texas, that presented him with the pain of multiple broken bones as well as ligament and tendon damage. This was followed by surgery and many months of intense and painful rehabilitation. Despite still walking with a noticeable limp, Force was ready and happy to be back. Every time his famed Castrol GTX Ford approached the staging area the capacity crowd gave him a standing ovation.
However the Funny Car action was loaded with a highly dramatic moment that began when Force lined up against Tony Pedregon for a first round pass. Force, still getting used to his injured leg on the clutch pedal, made a rare mistake and red lighted his run meaning the car crossed the start line before the starting lights completed their sequence. It appeared that his day was going to end early. Pedregon was approximately halfway down the strip when all of a sudden there was this incredibly loud explosion. His motor blew up, the entire carbon fiber body of the car flew through the air in large pieces and the car turned into a giant ball of flame. Unable to see, Pedregon bounced off of the retaining wall three times before he could get the car to a complete stop and exit the destroyed car. His Impact, triple layer, fire suit was badly seared but performed admirably and saved him from serious injury. He was transported to a nearby hospital where he was treated for second degree burns on his right hand.
Pedregon later returned to the track and said he had no warning that the explosion was coming adding "in most cases when something happens to your car, such as dropping a cylinder, you feel it and you're able to react. It just blew up and all of a sudden I had instant flames in the car. It was like there was a flame thrower in my face. The scary part was I didn't know where I was on the track and I hit the wall very hard. I feel very lucky. In terms of safety to have a high speed wreck like that, blowing a motor and hitting a wall a couple of time at 300 MPH, proves a lot about the safety features we've added to these cars."
Because the Pedregon car failed to cross the finish line Force was declared the winner of the run and moved on to the semi finals. John Force Racing had three of the four cars in the semi run which included himself, his daughter Ashley Force and Robert Hight. Hight had the distinction of having to out run his boss in the third round to advance to the finals. In the finals his Auto Club Ford Mustang was paired off against Cruz Pedregon and his Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet. Hight turned in an ET of 4.861 seconds, 284.39 MPH, to claim his ninth series win and his second title at Pomona. Commenting on the Funny Car Division for 2008 the race winner said "it's going to be a tough year. There's an awful lot of good cars out there. It's going to be hard to win the championship this year, but it's going to be exciting."
In the NHRA Pro Stock Division Greg Anderson, driving the Summit Racing Pontiac, had his hands full in the final round after lining up against defending division champion Jeg Coughlin in the Jegs Dot Com Chevrolet. Anderson set a new division track record by recording an ET of 6.616 seconds while travelling the Pomona quarter mile at 209.23 MPH. After the winning run Anderson said "anytime you match up against Jeg you better bring everything you've got. I knew no matter what we ran, he'd be right there and he was. We're going to try to win every race this year, but it's going to be the toughest year in the class because these guys just aren't going to give an inch."
