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The latest update as of August 17, 2021


Here we go with the first batch of Pomona photos from the Friday PRO qualifying session. Remember to click on the small images to see the larger versions.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - Qualifying Session #1

PSM - Joey Gladstone --- PSM - Angie Smith

(LEFT) The first session of Pro Stock Motorcycle saw Joey Gladstone make the first sub-6.90 pass of the day, a 6.889 - 195.73, that held onto the #1 spot until late in the session, as he dropped to the #3 spot at the end.

(RIGHT) Running nearly as quick as Gladstone, Angie Smith made a good start to her weekend, with a solid 6.901 - 195.42 to place #5 in the order.

PSM - Scotty Pollacheck --- PSM - Scotty Pollacheck

After contending for the points lead early in the season, Scotty Pollacheck was looking to rebound from three straight first-round losses, and made a good move in that direction, with a 6.865 - 196.64 pass that left him in the #2 spot at the end of the session.


FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #1

FC - Jeff Diehl --- FC - Jeff Diehl

Making his third appearance of the season, California's Jeff "The Surfer" Diehl put some big flames out of his "Real Deal-RATT" sponsored car and despite an early shutoff, clocked in at 4.259 - 272.23 to sit in the #8 position after the first round of qualifying

FC - Jim Campbell --- FC - Jim Campbell

Still out there racing after six decades in the sport, "Big" Jim Dunn's car sports the colours of one of his long-time sponsors, the iconic "MoonEyes" brand. With Jim Campbell behind the wheel, the car made a good early move but the candles went out early, stopping the clocks at 4.340 - 216.90, good enough for #9 on the qualifying sheet at the end of the day.

FC - Blake Alexander (left) vs Jim Campbell (right) --- FC - Blake Alexander (left) vs Jim Campbell (right)

Trying hard to chase down Blake Alexander as they headed to the top end, the Dunn Racing car was bathed in green light as it neared the 660' lights, while Alexander opened the gap on Jim Campbell. While Campbell shut off early to a 4.340, Alexander kept the pedal down for the first 3-second run of the weekend, a very good 3.961 - 318.44 that gave them the #1 qualifying spot for the day.

FC - Cruz Pedregon --- FC - Cruz Pedregon

Trying hard to match Alexander's great pass, Cruz Pedregon pushed the "Snap-On" Dodge to an almost as good 3.967 - 317.34 to slide into the #2 spot on the charts, as the team worked hard to rebound from consecutive first-round losses after their comeback victory at Norwalk in June. That was his first victory on the national tour in three years.

FC - Tim Wilkerson (near lane) vs Alexis DeJoria (far 
lane)

This was far from the quickest or fastest pair of the session, as Alexis DeJoria (far lane) smoked the tires right off the line and coasted to a 7-second clocking. Not having much better luck was Tim Wilkerson (near lane) as he lit 'em up shortly after this photo, and also coasted across the line with a 6-second timeslip.

FC - J.R. Todd (near lane) vs ARon Capps (far lane) --- FC - J.R. Todd (near lane) vs ARon Capps (far lane)

The next pair down both kept the throttle to the finish line, with Ron Capps (far lane) opening a gap on J.R. Todd (near lane) and stopping the clocks first with a very good 3.971 - 318.69, good for the #4 position, while Todd ran a bigger speed, but bigger e.t. too, timing in at 4.044 - 322.04 and landed in the #6 spot on the first session sheet.

FC - John Force (near lane) vs Robert Hight (far lane) --- FC - Robert Hight

(LEFT) Running almost side-by-side at this point, the CEO of JFR Racing (aka: The Boss), John Force in the near lane, kept pace with the JFR President, Robert Hight (far lane) until he gave up the fight after pedalling his way to a 4.552 - 283.67 timeslip.

(RIGHT) Running by himself after the Boss shut off, Robert Hight just missed - by one thousandth of a second - taking the top spot on the sheet with a very strong 3.962 - 327.11 pass that also took Top Speed honours for the session.

FC - Matt Hagan (near lane) vs Bob Tasca III (far lane) --- TF - Mike Salinas (near lane) vs Leah Pruett (far lane)

(LEFT) The last pair of Funny Cars didn't card 3-second passes, but it was a good side-by-side race until just past the 660' mark, when Matt Hagan (near lane) in the "DSR Dodge Hellcat" pulled away from Bob Tasca III (far lane), as the "Motorcraft" Mustang lost traction and shut off to a 4.226 - 225.56 clocking. Hagan narrowly missed dipping into the "3's" with a 4.009 - 312.13 that put him #5 on the qualifying list going into Saturday.

(RIGHT) Sporting the colours of the last sponsor ("Travers Tools") for the Johnson Brothers Top Fuel team of 1996, Mike Salinas (near lane) pushed the "Scrappers Racing" entry to a solid 3.840 - 308.35 time, good for #2 on the sheet behind the quicker and faster Leah Pruett (far lane), who stopped the clocks with the low e.t. of the night at 3.780 - 321.88 to take the top spot on the Top Fuel board.

In case you're wondering why there's only one Top Fuel picture from Friday night's lone qualifying session... there was the side-by-side 3-second pair shown above, then Buddy Hull (driving Terry Haddock's car) ran a 4.105 - 278.69.... then the next "quickest" car ran 5.158 at 136 mph. Does that answer the question of why there aren't more pictures. With our photographer down at about the 660 ft. mark, most of the cars were shut off and coasting well before then. Tomorrow has to be better. Stay tuned and find out.