Sweden’s Jonnie Lindberg added his name to the NHRA history books two weeks ago when he became the 100th different national event winner in Top Alcohol Funny Car history. Racing at the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, Lindberg qualified No. 1 with a 5.45 and ran three more 5.4-second elapsed times in eliminations to pick up his first Wally.
For Lindberg’s Facebook and Instagram followers, his activities with Wally were almost as entertaining to follow as those required to earn the little gold man. Jonnie stayed in California to celebrate with friends and sponsors for a few days before returning to Sweden over the weekend. He brought Wally along with him and photographed their adventures on Instagram.
The journey started in the winner’s circle at Auto Club Raceway…
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and continued with a stop at Huntington Beach (to work on Wally’s *golden* tan, of course)…
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They stopped to visit XRP headquarters…
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and hung out with TA/FC drivers Shane Westerfield and Sean Bellemeur.
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Wally ran into some trouble with the law…
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before hours worth of flights across the U.S. and the Atlantic…
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that ended with a welcoming party in Stockholm.
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GOOD READS
- Hot Rod sat down with Carl Olson, winner of the Last Drag Race at Lions Drag Strip, to talk about the infamous event and what the victory meant to him.
- The Albuquerque Journal recently offered up this story of a VA nurse who is preserving the legacy of one of his late patients, a record-setting drag racer who gave up racing to serve in Vietnam.
- Jamie Hancock was one of the most talked-about competitors at Lights Out 5 last year, stirring up controversy with his Pro Mod chassis converted for Drag Radial competition. Whether you’re a critic or a fan, you can expect Hancock at Lights Out 6, this weekend at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
GOOD VIEWS
- Engineering Explained, a popular YouTube channel, spent time with the Gumout Top Fuel team at the Winternationals to crunch some of the numbers pertaining to the kings of our sport.
- Arizona Sport Scene posted up this footage from IHRA’s season opener, the Tucson Nitro Jam race.
- Bumper-draggin’ action like this will no doubt be present at Lights Out 6.
This story was originally published on February 16, 2015. 
