Team Summit drivers Greg Anderson and Jason Line ushered in the EFI Pro Stock era by meeting each other in the finals Sunday, with four-time champion Anderson capturing the first-ever fuel injected Pro Stock win in NHRA history.
Ron Capps in Funny Car, and Steve Torrence in Top Fuel, joined Anderson in the Winner’s Circle Sunday at the NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona—the first event of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Anderson beat Line on a holeshot in a photo-finish final round, finishing in 6.617 at 207.85 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro to take the win over Line, whose 6.609 at 209.82 in his Camaro wasn’t enough to make up for Anderson’s starting line advantage.
“I feel honored to be the first winner of the fuel injection era and get the first trophy,” said Anderson, who was the event’s #1 qualifier and advanced to the final with round wins over Matt Hartford, five-time champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. and last season’s top rookie Drew Skillman. With the win, he denied his teammate a third consecutive Winternationals trophy.
“I got a great light in the final and got it done,” Anderson said. “It was my day. I can’t tell you how proud I am of this Summit Racing team. It is getting better every run. That’s going to pay off down the road. Everybody out there is in a steep learning curve right now. The other competitors in our class are going to go home and work hard and they will do better at Phoenix. We are going to have to buckle down and find something better again. Hopefully we will be better again come Phoenix.”
Capps emerged the winner from a field of strong performers, defeating defending Funny Car champ Del Worsham in the finals to take his 46th career victory. He outran Jeff Diehl, Chad Head and Robert Hight in early rounds.
In the final, Capps used a quicker reaction time and covered the distance in 3.981 seconds at 324.28 miles per hour in his Dodge Charger to hold off the hard-charging Toyota Camry of Worsham, which posted a quicker, but losing performance of 3.962 at 324.36.
It was the third Winternationals win for the popular San Diego driver who calls the historic Southern California track a second home.
“This is the most fabled track we go to and it’s the birthplace of drag racing; it is unbelievable to win here,” Capps said. “I can’t wait to get this season going. You wonder if you are ever going to see one of these [trophies] again. I am racing Del Worsham in the final, who is one of the best. We threw down. What a race. Just to know we can get in the circle and get another Wally feels good.”
In Top Fuel, red-hot Torrence powered to his first Winternationals victory and his sixth career win by outrunning Doug Kalitta in the final round. Torrence’s dragster posted a 3.735 at 326.48 to edge Kalitta’s machine, which trailed with a 3.753 at 324.36.
Torrence, whose car has been running like a very consistent bracket dragster since pre-season testing last week in Phoenix, used a string of low 3.7-second runs to beat Steve Faria, Morgan Lucas, and Richie Crampton in the first three rounds. He saved his quickest run on Sunday for the final to beat Kalitta.
“[Tuning consultant] Alan [Johnson] and [crew chief] Richard [Hogan] have worked really well together,” said Torrence, who becomes the Top Fuel points leader for the first time in his career. “Alan is that thorn who keeps poking Richard to tune it just a little bit farther. My crew guys have done a great job. I am just the guy that sits in there and gets to drive it. It feels good. I wish the season was over already. We are going to do what we can to keep the momentum going and go on to Phoenix and try to write a story just like this one.”
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues Feb. 26-28 at the NHRA Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix.
Sunday’s race was the first of 24 scheduled for the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Pro Stock Championship Point Standings
1. Greg Anderson 125 2. Jason Line 105 3. Bo Butner 84 4. Drew Skillman 75 5. Vincent Nobile 54
Funny Car Championship Point Standings
1. Ron Capps 119 2. Del Worsham 97 3. Robert Hight 80 4. John Force 69 5. Jack Beckman 65
Top Fuel Championship Point Standings
1. Steve Torrence 106 2. Doug Kalitta 94 3. Richie Crampton 77 4. J.R. Todd 72 5. Clay Millican 57
The NHRA and Drag Race Central contributed to this report.
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