Hot Weather the Real Contender at Delayed 2021 NHRA Winternationals

Leah Pruett's winning pass at the 2021 Pomona NHRA Winternationals

The heat at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. was relentless over the weekend, when NHRA’s Camping World Drag Racing Series held its postponed 61st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by Pennzoil. While the Winternationals are customarily held under more moderate, February conditions, the July date was very, very different.

Friday qualifying began near sundown, and became cooler as the cars went down the track, rendering Leah Pruett fastest in Top Fuel with her Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) dragster, Blake Alexander quickest in Jim Head’s Funny Car Mustang, Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson led all with his KB Racing Camaro and Matt Smith’s Buell ruled in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Those were the most temperate conditions of the weekend.

By the time Saturday’s qualifying was complete, Brittany Force copped the quick TF time for John Force Racing, while Ron Capps earned his second No. 1 in a row with his DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. The two Pro Stock leaders remained the same after a mid-afternoon and sunset qualifying session.

Sunday, race day was held under the worst conditions we’d seen all weekend. Starting at 10am, with air temp at 80 degrees and track temp at 115, we could see this race meeting would separate those who can go down the track with those that can’t. The weather would dictate who would be around for the balance of the race meeting.

This was a race day that proved Steve Torrence and them CAPCO Boys are human. They didn’t earn a No. 1 in qualifying and were gone in the first round, when Torrence’s good buddy, Antron Brown stomped the loud pedal once the Christmas Tree ordered the duo, racing one another for the 50th time to get on with it, and Torrence pedaled to his first loss in 12 rounds of competition. Brown was the most recent racer to sweep the Western Swing; Torrence had his chance but was late off the tree, shook and shimmied in a losing performance.

Justin Ashley in action at Pomona Winternationals 2021
Justin Ashley in action at Pomona.

Justin Ashley, who would put three enviable rounds in his resume en route to the finals, shouldn’t have been the one to retire before the finals. The 26-year-old is in good condition and had a firm hand in defeating Buddy Hull, No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force and Brown. In every single instance, he was first off the line and brought in consistent runs to the 1,000-foot finish line.

Ashley’s inability to race in the finals relegated him to second place, obviously, but he could have been the winner as his RTs in every round of racing this past weekend was debilitating for his competitors. The New Yorker’s quickness off the line would have been very difficult for Leah Pruett to overcome; in all three of her early races on Sunday, she was the slower car off the line. Had Ashley made the bell, he most likely would have won.

But it’s still conjecture that he should have tried, because Justin Ashley and his team made the right call in removing him and his car from the start line. He didn’t have his head in it and nobody should race when they’re not completely physically fit. Pruett cut her best light in the first round against Steve Chrisman, at .082 sec. She had a bye in the quarters and posted an .087-sec light, while trailing Mike Salinas at the tree in the semifinals. Unfortunately we’ll never know the outcome of the intended final round, but again, as she did in the finals against Steve Torrence in Sonoma a week earlier, Pruett was slow off the line (.130 sec).

After this weekend, Ashley remains in seventh place, but the two final round results by Leah Pruett advanced her to fourth place in the standings, behind Torrence, Brown and Force. For Ashley, the disappointment was palpable for the 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year. “These race cars are too powerful to drive if you aren’t 100 percent,” Ashley said from his pits after the contest.

“I was drinking water throughout the day before the final round, I just didn’t feel right. I talked with my crew chief Mike Green and my father (Mike Ashley) and they encouraged me to do what was in my personal best interest. There will be more races and I take this as a learning experience. I congratulate Leah and look forward to racing her in a final very soon.”

Leah Pruett and her Wally at the 2021 Winternationals

The conditions weren’t great: the air temp was 89 degrees humidity only 28 percent, while the track surface came in at a sizzling 143 degrees. Ashley’s non-appearance was a surprise, considering his conditioning and youth. It shows anyone can get stung by excessive heat. “First and foremost, I hope Justin is doing well,” Leah Pruett said after the claiming her first win of 2021 and first since Brainerd in 2019. “He is an incredible competitor and I wanted nothing but to race against him.”

Heat was the story of these “Winternationals in July” and Justin Ashley’s failure to run in the Top Fuel finals made the conditions even more of an issue. Not many fans showed up – likely due to the heat – for final eliminations, but those that did got plenty of excitement in four rounds of racing.

Not only did they see Leah Pruett earn her first Wally in nearly two years, but watched Ron Capps’ new team within the Don Schumacher stables produce their first victory together after only 10 races. We now know there’s a new top gun in Pro Stock, Aaron Stanfield has a new, increasing Wally collection, and Matt Smith’s dominance in Pro Stock Motorcycle, despite having team owner and crew chief duties as well as riding like it’s just another Sunday, well, that’s quite an accomplishment.

Steve Torrence in Top Fuel, Greg Anderson in Pro Stock and Matt Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle are the only three drivers/riders who have punched their tickets in NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship. The balance of the four categories has three races to make their collective ways to a 2021 title: Topeka, Brainerd and Indy. Only the strong will survive.

About Anne Proffit 1232 Articles
Anne Proffit traces her love of racing - in particular drag racing - to her childhood days in Philadelphia, where Atco Dragway, Englishtown and Maple Grove Raceway were destinations just made for her. As a diversion, she was the first editor of IMSA’s Arrow newsletter, and now writes about and photographs sports cars, Indy cars, Formula 1, MotoGP, NASCAR, Formula Drift, Red Bull Global Rallycross - in addition to her first love of NHRA drag racing. A specialty is a particular admiration for the people that build and tune drag racing engines.

1 Comment on Hot Weather the Real Contender at Delayed 2021 NHRA Winternationals

  1. Summer-Swing routing convenience aside, somebuddy should’ve clued current NHRA mgt. that this has traditionally been THE worst time of year for motorsport attendance. Back when I did publicity fulltime for Orange Co. Int’l Raceway (1973-75), August events had historically proved so disastrous that it was the ONE month each year during which major promotions were avoided. Besides the midsummer heat, likely causes were determined to include the great number of out-of-area vacations planned before kids returned to school; disrupted family schedules in preparation for a new school year; and free competition from beaches and mountains at the peak of summer heat. Covid or not, this scheduling mistake should never be repeated.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


I agree to receive emails from RacingJunk.com. I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy