Pruett, Capps and Stanfield Race to Greatness in Pomona

Photo Courtesy of NHRA Media
Photo Courtesy of NHRA Media

Closing out the Western Swing with a wintertime race during the heat of the summer gave two drivers the opportunity to race their way back to the top, while giving a series rookie the chance to once again take down a series veteran for back-to-back victories. Although she was taken down by the King of Top Fuel last weekend at Sonoma Raceway, Leah Pruett, who began her racing career in Jr. Dragsters at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, returned to her winning ways at the track that gave birth to her dream. After defeating blower-banging Mike Salinas with a 3.92-second pass in Sunday’s semifinals race, Pruett got the shot at her ninth Top Fuel Wally after moving on to defeat Justin Ashley in Sunday’s final with a final pass of 4.021 in her Sparkling Ice Spiked dragster. Pruett wouldn’t be the only driver to earn her first victory of the season at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. Although he has held his own this season, Ron Capps made no secret that he wanted to walk away from his most grueling of Lucas Oil Winternationals with his first victory of the season. Thanks to taking down 2018 Funny Car world champion J.R. Todd with his third straight 4.15-second pass in Sunday’s final round, Capps won the Lucas Oil Winternationals for the fourth time and even became the newest Funny Car series points leader. While both Pruett and Capps would race to their first season victories at this weekend’s rescheduled Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, Pro Stock’s newest young hot shot Aaron Stanfield once again took down Greg Anderson thanks to a split second victory over the veteran who attempted to tie class icon Warren Johnson’s with a 97-win total with a victory in Pomona.

Top Fuel

Photo Courtesy of NHRA Media

To begin her victorious weekend, Pruett put her Todd Okuhara-wrenched dragster in the top qualifying spot on Friday but slipped to No. 2 on the charts by qualifying’s end. Despite a slight slip in qualifying, Pruett found herself back on top with a second-round bye on Sunday after defeating Steve Chrisman in round one with a 3.90-second pass. After a second-round break, Pruett would take down Mike Salinas in Sunday’s semifinal round with a 3.92-second pass to move on to Sunday’s final round with lane choice against Top Fuel rookie against Ashley.

Before taking on Pruett in Sunday’s final round, Ashley qualified his Mike Green-tuned Smart Sanitizer machine in the No. 7 spot and took down fire-spewing Buddy Hull in round one with a 3.90 and then upset low qualifier Brittany Force in the second frame with a 3.91 on a very hot racetrack to reach the semifinals for the first time since the season opener in Gainesville. Ashley then advanced to the final round after stopping three-time world champion Antron Brown with a 3.94-second pass.

Although Ashley put up one heck of a battle on Sunday, he would be forced to sit out of Sunday’s final round due to heat stroke, which would give Pruett the chance to race to her first victory of the season.

“This win feels great,” said Pruett. “I don’t think I’ve seen as any win lights in my life as I’ve seen here on this racetrack from the Jr. days to the number of times that we have won in the years previous. Of course, the most impressive part for me this weekend was seeing how our team has continued to persist and persevere and grow into the success region that we have right now. I also want to applaud Justin for doing what was best for his health. I think it shows how much to a degree of athletes that we are and how important it is to take care of our bodies and our mind and everything of that sort.”

Funny Car

Photo Courtesy of NHRA Media

Much like Pruett, Ron Capps and his entire NAPA Auto Parts Dodge drove his way back to the top after driving to the top qualifying spot. Thanks to this effort, Capps would earn a first elimination round bye. Thanks to the extra time Capps was able to take down Bob Tasca III in the second round and 16-time champ John Force in the semifinals with a pair of 4.15s on a tricky, 140-degree racetrack. This would give Capps the opportunity to repeat last year’s U.S. Nationals final round, and he certainly did with a repeat win over Todd with his third straight 4.15-second pass of the weekend.

“You can’t really put a price on winning Pomona on a COVID race in July at the Winternationals,” said Capps. “I mean, it doesn’t get any more special. So, when I go home it’s going be planted right in the middle of my trophy shelf.”

Along with a special trophy, Capps first victory of the season also put him in the Funny Car points lead going into Topeka, KS.

Pro Stock

Photo Courtesy of NHRA Media

Although Pruett and Capps would race to their first victories of the season, NHRA young gun Aaron Stanfield won for the second straight event in Pro Stock and again denied Greg Anderson the chance to tie class icon Warren Johnson’s 97-win total with his victory at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. Kicking off his weekend as the No. 7 qualifier, Stanfield defeated Kenny Delco with a 6.63-second pass and Matt Hartford with a 6.67. Before moving onto Sunday’s final against Greg Anderson, Stanfield would have to once again face off with his nemesis Erica Enders in a so-close semifinal match, leaving on her by just .006-second (.048 to .054) and outrunning her 6.684 to 6.866 for a true-win margin of .008, the exact same margin that Enders beat Aaron Strong the round before. Moving onto Sunday’s final Stanfield, who denied Anderson career win No. 97 not long ago in Norwalk, did it again in Pomona on a 6.65-second to a 6.66-second final-round count.

“Our job is definitely to keep him away from the 97th win as long as possible,” said Stanfield. “We are both driving for competitive teams, and it is just cool to be in the middle of this and have a chance to win.”

The 2021 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season kicks off its next round of racing Aug 13-15 at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, KS. Stay tuned to RacingJunk.com for all your NHRA coverage!

About Ellen Richardson 491 Articles
Ellen Richardson is the author of Behind The Wheel for RacingJunk.com. This automotive sports junkie has a passion for telling an athlete's story while also covering various racing activities. Find out more about her at ellennrichardson.wordpress.com or follow Ellen on Twitter at @ellennrich or Instagram at elnrich33.

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