Auto Club NHRA Finals
Event 24 of 24 (Pomona II)
NHRA Countdown, Event 6 of 6
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Pomona, California
November 9-11, 2018

DSR Pomona II Friday Highlights:

• Leah Pritchett (Top Fuel) and Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car) occupy the provisional No. 1 spots after day one of qualifying
• Pritchett and Johnson swept Friday qualifying, running low E.T. of both Q1 and Q2 in their respective categories
• Antron Brown holds the provisional No. 3 Top Fuel spot going into Saturday
• Jack Beckman (No. 2) and Ron Capps (No. 5) join Johnson in the top half of the Funny Car field

  DSR Dominates Friday Qualifying at Auto Club NHRA Finals

  POMONA, California (November 9, 2018) – Leah Pritchett (Top Fuel) and Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car) lead the nitro classes after day one of the 54th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. The Mopar-powered teammates swept Friday qualifying, launching to session-best passes during both sessions.

  (EXCERPT)

  In Funny Car, Johnson is seeking his fourth consecutive No. 1 qualifier of 2018 and is well on his way to accomplishing that goal after the John Collins/Rip Reynolds tuning duo dialed the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T to a 3.960 at 317.42-mph pass during round one, and then backed it up with a stout 3.881 at 328.54 to hold on to the top spot in round two.

  “We’ve had three No. 1’s in a row, and we come here, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t do that again,” said Johnson of his impeccably consistent Dodge Funny Car. “Tonight, I’m in the car and I’m listening to what the other teams ran before us and thought ‘okay we should be able to go 88’ and John said I’m going to try and get it to go 281 (mph) at half-track, that speed should get us to where we need to be. Sure enough, it ran 281 at half-track and went 3.88.”

  Johnson, who raced to the No. 1 qualifying position at Dallas, Charlotte II, and Las Vegas II, hopes to retain his top-of-the-pack standing going into Sunday as he attempts to capture the Auto Club NHRA Finals Wally for the third year in a row.

  “We came in here so confident,” said Johnson who captured the event win in 2016 and 2017 and finished as the runner-up in 2015. “When you’ve had that much success at one track, it’s hard to beat it because you’re not beating yourself. I feel comfortable here. I’ve been fortunate here; I wish more of them were like this.”