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News and notes from Friday at the 50th annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Compiled by the National DRAGSTER staff.

FRIDAY (Previous: Thursday)
Last update: 5:20 p.m. Pacific (click to latest)

TGIF (9:50 a.m.): Welcome to Friday, Day Two of the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals from sunny Pomona, Calif., where the only snow is on the mountains behind the track.

Right now, Super Stock eliminations are underway, which will be followed at 11 a.m. by the event’s final Comp qualifying session then the first of two alky sessions. The Pros take to PArker Avenues at 3 p.m.

Later today, aorund 3:30 p.m. local, just before today’s lone nitro session, we’ll unviled Winternationals Memorable Moment No. 5. Tomorrow we’ll reveal No. 4 and then Sunday we’ll have a hig-three countdown. With each announcement, we’ll post a story and photo of the revealed moment(s) on the Winternationals Web site.

Force play: Yesterday was a pretty stellar day for John Force Racing with Robert Hight taking the pole wth the second fastest 1,000-foot speed and Ashley Force Hood No. 3. Team boss John Force, with the addition of sidelined driver Mike Neff turning wrenches with Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly, hit a sour note with a disqualified time, NHRA issued statement the read, in part, “In review of the data, it was determined by Compulink Timing System representatives that Force’s Castrol GTX Ford Mustang left the starting line prior to the timing system activating. Once the timing system started Force’s car had advanced forward and the rear-wheel on his car was recognized by the beams at the starting line and initiated the elapsed time clock in his lane, thus resulting in the 3.800 second elapsed time.”

Hight’s speed on his 4.059 low-qualifying pass was 312.86, second only to Matt Hagan’s 313.88 last fall in Las Vegas. Hight, who owns the quickest 1,000-foot e.t. at 4.005, set in 2008 in Richmond, also has the third-fastest speed, 312.57, also set last year in Vegas. Del Worsham’s 312.35 from yesterday is the fourth fastest in 1,000 speeds.

Pro Stock, session two (3:20 p.m.): No surprise here — Mike Edwards was low in the second qualifying session, clicking the lone 6.5, a 6.599. Edwards stays No. 1 on the strength of his 6.58 from yesterday. Jeg Coughlin Jr. remains second, and Ron Krisher, who had the second-quickest run of this session, is third. Allen Johnson, who ranks fifth heading into tomorrow’s final two qualifiers, was the third-quickest driver.

WFO Radio live at Pomona (3:30 p.m.): WFO Radio’s Joe Castello has been broadcasting live from the event today at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. He just wrapped up a show that included Brandon Bernstein, Greg Anderson, Jason Line, Robert Hight, Larry Dixon, Del Worsham, and National DRAGSTER editor Phil Burgess. You can listen to an on-demand rebroadcast of the show here.

Tomorrow, Castello will have Ashley Force Hood, Ron Capps, Bob Tasca III, Jeg Coughlin, John Force, and Antron Brown on from 10 a.m. – noon Pacific (1 – 3 p.m. ET). If you miss it, that show also will be available for later listening.

WFO Radio with Joe Castello covers all forms of motorsports, and airs live every Monday – Thursday, 7 – 8 pm ET (4 – 5 pm PT).  Every show is available for download and listen within 15 minutes following the conclusion of each show. Tuesday is reserved for NHRA topics only.

Top Fuel session 2 (3:45 p.m.): The going as slow as we have back-to-back boomers in the right lane, first with Steve Chrisman and then with England’s Andy Carter. Carter has “Big Daddy” Don Garlits with him this weekend as a sponsor and consultant and, after his fiery ride, Carter probably is thanking Garlits for putting the cockpit ahead of the engine. We’re down for a big cleanup.

Top Fuel, session two (4:30 p.m.): Larry Dixon shot to the top of the sheets with a 3.795, the lone 3.7-second clocking of the weekend. That bumped Cory McClenathan, who was unable to improve his 3.809, down to second. Morgan Lucas jumped up to the third spot with a 3.823 that was second quickest of this sesssion. Tony Schumacher was the third best of the session with a 3.835 that seeds him fourth heading into tomorrow’s final two sessions. Troy Buff, who finished fourth yesterday, slipped to the No. 12 spot, and his 3.950 is the final time that transfers to Saturday.

A dream opportunity (5:05 p.m.): Having grown up in the sport, including many trips to the Winternationals, Top Fuel low qualifier Larry Dixon is ecstatic to be part of the golden anniversary of the fabled event. “As a kid growing up, my dad won this race, so being able to compete in it and race in it was almost realistic goals, said Dixon. “You had the Big Go in Indy and the Big Go West, and everybody who was somebody would come to this event. These races at Pomona and obviously at Indy, the races that have been on the tour 50-plus years now, they mean a lot, certainly to me. I’m 43 years old now, and I can honestly say every year of my life I have been to the Winternationals, and that’s cool. It’s a part of my life, so to be able to compete at the 50th and know that you have a chance to win the race now that you known that you’re qualified is an honor. I feel privileged to be able to do this.”

Funny Car, session two (5:20 p.m.): That was a tough session with many drivers struggling to make it downtrack, including polesitter Robert Hight. The lone exception was Hight’s boss, John Force, who clocked a 4.066 early in the session to move up to the third spot. The next-best run in the qualifyng round was the 4.167 by Ron Capps. Tony Pedregon was third quickest with a 4.189 that places him 12th, the final time that transfers to Saturday. Del Worsham remains No. 2.

Another round of qualifying in the Alcohol classes is next on the agenda, followed by a Super Comp time-trial session, then that will be a wrap for today.

source http://www.nhra.com