NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The pits at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona will be packed with NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series teams for the 2022 season-opening Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com with full fields in the Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock classes, a sure sign that competition is strong and roaring as the new season kicks off.

Race fans attending the event will enjoy two days of qualifying to set the fields for Sunday’s final eliminations, and with more cars entered than spots allotted in the fields, the drama of qualifying will play out on Friday and Saturday.

TOP FUEL

The strong Top Fuel field will be led by three-time and reigning Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence and will include nine of last year’s Top 10 finishers; the lone exception is Torrence’s father, Billy, who is running a limited schedule this season.

Brittany Force, the 2018 Top Fuel world champ and perennial low qualifier, will begin her attempt to reclaim the throne at her hometrack, and Mike Salinas will hope to continue the momentum that carried him to a career-best No. 3 finish last.

There will be plenty of intrigue in the class with Kalitta Motorsports teammates Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon enjoying the services of the championship-tuning trio of Alan Johnson, Brian Husen, and Jason McCulloch. Last year’s Winternationals champ, Leah Pruett, will make her first start for the new Tony Stewart Racing team, and 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year Justin Ashley, runner-up to Pruett at last year’s Winternationals, will also be strong.

New team owner Antron Brown and Clay Millican will also begin their campaigns towards another return to the Countdown to the Championship playoffs while returning Top Fuel aces Tony Schumacher, the winningest driver in class history, and 2019 NHRA Rookie of the Year Austin Prock will saddle up for full seasons of competition. Josh Hart, last year’s runner-up for NHRA Rookie of the Year, also will kick off his first full-season campaign in Pomona.

The field is rounded out by a series of eager privateers, including the newly rejuvenated effort of Doug Foley and crew chief Aaron Brooks. Buddy Hull, who has launched his own team this year after racing with Terry Haddock last season; Scott Farley, a commercial cargo pilot who will take over the wheel of Haddock’s car; strong-running Arizonian Jim Maroney, and returning multiclass veteran Ron August Jr.

Top Fuel qualifying at the event is doubly important as the results of qualifying at the season’s first two events will help set the field for the lucrative Pep Boys All-Star Callout that will take place at the season’s third event, the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. As the defending world champ, Torrence is already pre-seeded into the eight-car field but the battle for the remaining seven spots should be intense.

FUNNY CAR

Last year’s Top 10 Funny Car finishers will all be burning nitro at the Winternationals, fronted by homestate favorite Ron Capps, who won the Winternationals last year en route to his second career championship. Like fellow former Don Schumacher Racing teammate Antron Brown, Capps also took on the role of team owner this year for his NAPA Auto Parts team and will be looking to make a statement at the season’s opening event.

Capps will have to fend off the challenge of three-time world champ Matt Hagan and the new Tony Stewart Racing team. Both drivers will hit the ground running as, despite their new alliances, each was able to retain their existing crew for the new season.

Bob Tasca III will again carry the hopes of the Ford faithful after a career-best third-place finish last season against a field that also includes red-hot Cruz Pedregon and the sport’s all-time winner, 16-time world champ John Force, and his teammate, three-time titlist Robert Hight.

Alexis DeJoria and J.R. Todd will draw a lot of interest, too, as both will be fielding the sleek, all-new TGR Toyota Supra body, and fan-favorites Tim Wilkerson and Jim Campbell, the latter representing Southern California nitro legend Jim Dunn, will continue to challenge the top runners.

As in Top Fuel, a strong cadre of independents will be on hand, including local favorites Gary Densham and Alex Miladinovich, Paul Lee, Terry Haddock, Chad Green, Jeff “the Surfer” Diehl, Jason Rupert, Bobby Bode III, and Tony Jurado.

Funny Cars also are trying to earn points towards their own Pep Boys All-Star Callout, which will take place in September at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals. Funny Car drivers have been accumulating points since last year’s U.S. Nationals.

PRO STOCK

The entire Top 10 from 2021’s Pro Stock championship battle will bring their factory hot rods to Pomona to kick off their seasons, led by world champ Greg Anderson and the HendrickCars.com Camaro. The event, the 900th to feature the class, gives Anderson, the class’ all-time wins leader, the ripe opportunity to also score his milestone 100th career win after grabbing No. 99 at the season-ending Auto Club NHA Finals in Pomona.

Winning will be no mean feat as that means he’ll have to survive the challenge of fleet-footed four-time world champ Erica Enders, hungry to get her crown back from Anderson, and a slew of young guns including two of his KB Racing teammates — 2021 NHRA Rookie of the Year Dallas Glenn and Kyle Koretsky — as well as doorslammer standouts Aaron Stanfield and Troy Coughlin Jr. and fast-rising Mason McGaha. 

Talented veterans Chris McGaha, Matt Hartford, and Deric Kramer will also have a say in who walks away as the 2022 season champ.

The 2022 season will also mark the return of former world champion Bo Butner, in his new alliance with Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage, and the debut of Camrie Caruso, who will become just the second woman to compete in a full season of Pro Stock competition, Caruso’s Camaro is tuned by two-time former Pro Stock champion Jim Yates. John Cerbone, a winner last season in the Factory Stock Showdown class, will also compete in Pro Stock in Pomona.

Also returning to Pro Stock at this event will be Texas terror Rodger Brogdon, who will get his engines from the KB Racing powerhouse this season, and Alex Laughlin, who switched to Top Fuel last season but will compete in Pomona and Phoenix in Pro Stock. Alan Prusiensky will again carry the hopes of Dodge fans with his Hemi-powered Dart.

Fernando Cuadra and sons Fernando Jr. and Cristian and West Coast competitor Steve Graham also round out the strong field of 20 entrants at the event.

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature one round at 4 p.m. PT on Friday, Feb. 18, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 12 and 4 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20. Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 10 p.m. ET on Friday, 7 a.m. ET on Sunday, and then eliminations action at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday.

To purchase tickets, call 800-884-NHRA (6472) or click here. Children 12 and under are admitted free in general-admissions areas with a paid adult.