Rancho Cucamonga, California -- Greetings from Casa McKenna (aka: Jill and Kevin McKenna from NHRA’s house)! The McKenna’s, along with their new dog Wiley, have been gracious enough to house me during my stay in California during the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Nationals at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. It’s always nice to be in a home setting when you’re used to living in numerous hotel rooms and chains throughout the season.
The weather hasn’t exactly cooperated with trying to get the racing completed. Only one run of qualifying was fulfilled to set the field for finals on Sunday. Once racing started on Sunday, only the first rounds of Top Fuel and Funny Car were completed, along with two pairs of Pro Stock cars. Finals were rescheduled for today but in the early afternoon NHRA officials were forced to postpone the remainder of finals until Tuesday. So needless to say, I don’t have any NHRA results to report on. I am hoping to have full results tomorrow evening.
One area where racing did get in this weekend was Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. The ARCA RE/MAX Series opened their season up with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200.
Both the winning and second place teams were Ringers’ supporting race teams. Veteran crew chief Mike Chaffee led the WinTron Racing-owned No. 32 Wolfpack Toyota to possibly the biggest victory of young James Buescher’s career. Despite having to start at the tail of the field for unapproved adjustments, Buescher and his No. 32 led the final 44 laps for the victory. Finishing right behind him was the No. 25 Venturini Motorsports-owned Toyota driven by Sprint Cup rookie Joey Logano.
Also on Saturday the Budweiser Shootout for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series took place at the famed 2.5-mile tri-oval. Two of the three Penske Racing drivers competed in the specialty race. Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge led the two drivers to the finish line in the ninth position, while David Stremme and his No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge was involved in an accident on lap 73 of the 78-lap event, finishing 16th.
Busch and third Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. will compete in the first Gatorade Duel on Thursday, while Stremme competes in the second.
Both Gatorade Duels will take place Thursday afternoon, with the “Great American Race” known as the Daytona 500 commencing on Sunday.
Hopefully tomorrow evening I will have full results from the first NHRA race of the year at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona!
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