Force sets Top Fuel speed record in qualifying for Finals at Pomona

POMONA >> Brittany Force continued her record-setting ways during qualifying Friday at the three-day NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway.

Making her second Top Fuel qualifying run of the day long after sunset, Force covered the 1,000-foot Pomona strip in 3.641 seconds and broke the speed record for the class she set in St. Louis on Oct. 2, crossing the finish line at 338.94 miles per hour. Her former record was 338.43 mph. Her time Friday made her the top qualifier in Top Fuel for the Finals after day one.

“It was great coming back here and breaking the record,” said Force, from Yorba Linda. “This is the track I grew up on.”

Force, the points leader as she battles for her second national title (her first was in 2017), increased her lead over Justin Ashley from seven points to 13 under the point-and-a-half format for the Finals.

The top two qualifiers in Funny Car on Friday were Cruz Pedregon (3.840 seconds) and Matt Hagan (3.844). Both are in contention for the national title. Points leader Robert Hight had the fifth-fastest time (3.866).

Greg Anderson led qualifiers in Pro Stock. Erica Enders, who came into the Finals having already clinched her fifth national title, had the seventh-fastest time.

In Pro Stock Motorcycles, Matt Smith, who is closing in on his fifth national title, set a Pomona track record of 202.70 mph in qualifying, but the fastest time was turned in by Angelle Sampey. She covered the 1,320 yards (the distanced in her class) in 6.703 seconds, also a track record.

Top Alcohol dragster driver Eric Chesleigh of Claremont proposed to his girlfriend on the track after making a run that qualified him 12th in the class. The top qualifier was Madison Payne, also of Claremont. She is the daughter of former Top Fuel racer Shelly Anderson. Top Alcohol elimination rounds will continue today, beginning at 10:15 a.m.

There will be two more rounds of qualifying in each of the four major classes today, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Then comes the four elimination rounds in each major class on Sunday, beginning at 11 a.m.

Sunday will mark the last day of drag racing at Auto Club Raceway. The drag strip isn’t going anyway, it is just changing names.

As announced earlier this week, the legendary track will be known as the In-n-out Pomona Dragstrip beginning next year. Also, In-n-out will become the sponsor of the NHRA Finals. That announcement was made in conjunction with a new deal with property owner Fairplex that calls for drag racing to continue on the site until 2033.

What was behind In-n-out making such a big sponsorship deal? Certainly the company, headquartered in Irvine, isn’t in need of beefing up its burger business, which will be celebrating its 75th anniversary next year. The first In-n-out opened in Baldwin Park in 1948 and the company has flourished without doing a lot of advertising beyond billboards and, literally, by word of mouth. It is a rarity when there isn’t a long line of cars at any In-n-out.

Harry Snyder, who along with his wife Esther founded the company, was always a drag racing enthusiast. In 1971 he became half-owner of the old Irwindale Raceway. It closed in 1977, a year after Snyder died of lung cancer at age 63. His sons, Rich and Guy, who also had a fondness for drag racing, took over the business. Rich Snyder died in a plane crash in Santa Ana in 1993. Guy Snyder died in 1999 of congenital heart failure.

Guy Snyder’s daughter, Lynsi, now 40 and the president of the company since 2010, formerly raced a sportsman class car.

WILL LESTER — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Brittany Force, near lane, makes a qualifying pass against Justin Ashley during Friday’s session at the season-ending NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway.