Lucas Wins All-Toyota Top Fuel Final At Pomona

Morgan Lucas

Toyota

Morgan Lucas, Robert Hight and Jason Line topped the NHRA Full Throttle Series’ season-opening 51st Annual Kragen O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif. to kick off the NHRA’s 60th Anniversary season.

Coming into Sunday’s final elimination in ninth looking for his first Pomona victory, Lucas knocked off Brandon Bernstein, Terry McMillen and Del Worsham to face his teammate Shawn Langdon for their first ever final-round meeting, while Langdon cruised into the final round after his previous challengers T.J. Zizzo, Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown all went up in smoke.

In the final round, Langdon got posted a .027 on the Christmas tree but almost immediately the car started to shake and Langdon was forced to back off the throttle, allowing Lucas to power past before in into the lead by the time he cleared the starting line, easily grabbing to win with a 3.835 at 316.38 mph for his fourth career victory.

“I’ve never been in the points lead in Top Fuel before, and I don’t really even know how to feel right now," said Lucas. "Getting to race my teammate Shawn, who I went to high school with, this is just a dream come true, it really is. I think as a team we’re really going to appreciate this day and just enjoy it because, you know what, who knows when the next one is going to happen."

Morgan Lucas

Toyota

“The thing about it is this is probably one of the most special races there is. In my eyes, it’s here, Gainesville, Indy, and the Finals. Those are the races that if you’re going to win one, those are the ones you want to win, and maybe a little, in a selfish way, the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd just because of family."

Having not won a single round in the last six events, Robert Hight reached the final round in the Winternationals for the fourth time six years, scoring his third victory in the season-opening event with a holeshot win over Matt Hagan.

Hight took out Bob Tasca III, John Force and Ron Capps to reach the finals for the 32nd time, taking on Hagan, who defeated Gary Densham, Jeff Arend and Mike Neff to move onto his eighth final round.

Facing each other for the third time in the money round, Hight left t the line first with a .060 at the light to beat Hagan on a holeshot, 4.056 at 312.71 mph to 4.023 at 310.20 to claim his 19th career victory and his first since the MOPAR Nationals last July.

“To win the Winternationals, the first race of the year, at Auto Club Raceway is just awesome," Hight said. “The biggest deal for me is how long it’s been since we won, even a round. It goes clear back to Brainerd last year. You look at the class, it ain’t that easy to get wins.

“What’s really important to me is this is the fourth year in a row that my guys have stayed together, the complete team 100 percent of them, and that makes it so easy to get out here and do what you know how to do. And it makes it that much more special when you win because you pull together, you stay together. You become a family, and that’s what makes these times so special."

In Pro Stock, Jason Line beat out Greg Stanfield to notch his 22nd career Pro Stock event, collecting his second Winternationals victory in three years.

Behind the eight-ball from the beginning of eliminations starting from the 12th qualifier positions, Lines posted starting lights of .002, .026 and .001 in the first three rounds to beat out V. Gaines, Vincent Nobile and Greg Anderson to face Stanfield for their 31st meeting and just their second in the final round.

At the start, Stanfield got the early edge with a .020 light against Line’s .041, but Stanfield’s Pontiac got loose just past the start and Line was able to take advantage and take the win with a 6.529 at 211.89mph over Stanfield’s 6.595

“You can’t start any better, I guess," Line said. “I’ve said before the year started that I wanted to win all the races, and if you want to win them all, you have to win the first one. It was kind of a strange weekend with the weather and everything else, but it was a great weekend, a great way to finish it. It feels awful good to win here, that’s for sure. It’s been kind of another strange offseason for us, so to start this way feels good."