POMONA, Calif. — Expected morning rain showers pushed the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals back two hours and 35 minutes Sunday, but when racing finally started at 12:35 the track was cool, overcast and fast enough for Justin Ashley to set the tone in Top Fuel.
Ashley cut the best reaction time of the year at.025, then backed it up with a.026 to beat Maddi Gordon 3.71 to 3.74 in the opening round. He also set up a matchup with Leah Pruett, who will get another shot after smoking the tires on her solo pass. In a class where thousandths decide everything, Ashley’s early lights mattered as much as the numbers on the scoreboard.
Clay Millican kept his Pomona run going with a 3.75 win over Shawn Reed, extending his streak at the track to five straight rounds. Reed’s day also carried a wider note for the Reed Trucking and Excavating team: he will hand the cockpit over to Ida Zetterström at the next event in Charlotte. The move gives Sunday’s result extra weight, because it was the last Pomona appearance in that seat before the switch.
Josh Hart reset low e.t. of the meet with a 3.698 run, a mark that reflected how much traction was available once the rain threat passed. But the day also had its rough edges. Cameron Ferre had to shut off the Freeman brothers' entry on the line after it was pouring raw fuel from one of the pipes after the burnout, a reminder that the same conditions making quick runs possible were also exposing mechanical trouble.
Shawn Langdon added a 4.00 pass after Tony Schumacher grenaded a rear end, and Schumacher’s failure was his second in as many days. The Safety Safari descended on the left lane after that breakage, underlining how quickly a strong start in Pomona could turn into a cleanup. Elsewhere, Doug Kalitta advanced on a bye run after Ron August Jr. could not make the call. Sunday’s first round at Pomona made the day’s shape plain: the fastest cars were sharp, the track was there, and the ones that missed paid for it immediately.
