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It’s a DSR Nitro Sweep in Pomona as Leah Pruett and Ron Capps Get Winternationals Victories

Don Schumacher Racing swept the nitro categories for the first time in the 2021 NHRA season on Sunday, as Leah Pruett and Ron Capps won in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively, at the 61st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

It marked the 10th race of the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and the final event of the famed three-race NHRA Western Swing.

Capps, who also qualified No. 1 this weekend, grabbed his first win of the year by going 4.151-seconds at 297.75 mph in the final round against J.R. Todd in his 11,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. It is the 67th career win for the former Funny Car world champ and also gave him the points lead. Capps conquered the rigorous conditions at Pomona on Sunday, knocking off Bobby Bode, Bob Tasca III, who held the points lead going into Sunday, and longtime rival John Force to reach the final round. He quickly tracked down Todd in the finals, celebrating a meaningful win at his home track.

“I was hoping a win was coming,” Capps said. “This team, time and time again, they’ve given me one of the coolest cars to drive and this (weekend) was one of the most extreme conditions we’ve ever had. To do it at Pomona in the summer, with all my friends and family here, I can’t even tell you how amazing it is. We’re going to have a blast (celebrating).”

Todd reached his third final round this season and 38th in his career thanks to round wins against Jeff Diehl, Robert Hight and Jim Campbell.

In Top Fuel, Pruett capped off the Western Swing with her first win since 2019, going 4.021 at 247.61 in the final round in her 11,000-horsepower Sparkling Ice Spiked dragster. She was set to take on Justin Ashley in the final round, but Ashley wasn’t able to make the run. After advancing to the final round in Sonoma, Pruett finished the job a week later at her home track, picking up her ninth career win in the process. Pruett qualified second and made a trio of consistent runs in qualifying before knocking off Steve Chrisman and Mike Salinas to reach the final round. It puts Pruett on an impressive path heading into the second half of the 2021 NHRA season.

“This is about the perseverance of this team,” said Pruett, who moved to fourth in Top Fuel points on Sunday. “We’ve had a lot of dedication and to do this at our home track, it’s phenomenal. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with us and we dug deep. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Wally and today has just been incredible. We’re going to enjoy this.”

Ashley advanced to the final round for the first time this season and second in his young career, knocking off Buddy Hull, No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force and Antron Brown. Points leader and three-time defending world champ Steve Torrence saw his bid to sweep the Western Swing end in the first round when he lost to Brown.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 13-15 with the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan.
***

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POMONA, Calif. — Final finish order (1-16) at the 61st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. The race is the 10th of 20 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:
1. Leah Pruett; 2. Justin Ashley; 3. Antron Brown; 4. Mike Salinas; 5. Clay Millican; 6. Brittany Force; 7. Shawn Langdon; 8. Doug Kalitta; 9. Steven Chrisman; 10. Steve Torrence; 11. Jim Maroney; 12. Brandon Welch; 13. Buddy Hull.

FUNNY CAR:
1. Ron Capps; 2. J.R. Todd; 3. Jim Campbell; 4. John Force; 5. Robert Hight; 6. Bob Tasca III; 7. Cruz Pedregon; 8. Alexis DeJoria; 9. Matt Hagan; 10. Bobby Bode; 11. Blake Alexander; 12. Jeff Diehl; 13. Tim Wilkerson; 14. Paul Lee; 15. Terry Haddock; 16. Jason Rupert.

POMONA, Calif. — Sunday’s final results from the 61st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. The race is the 10th of 20 in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel — Leah Pruett, 4.021 seconds, 247.61 mph def. Justin Ashley, Broke.

Funny Car — Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.151, 297.75 def. J.R. Todd, Toyota Camry, 4.289, 286.56.

Pro Stock — Aaron Stanfield, Chevy Camaro, 6.652, 207.69 def. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.660, 207.08.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — Matt Smith, EBR, 6.828, 199.52 def. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 6.911, 173.96.

Top Alcohol Dragster — Shawn Cowie, 5.325, 274.39 def. Joey Severance, 5.726, 195.96.

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Top Alcohol Funny Car — Terry Ruckman, Chevy Camaro, 5.724, 262.23 def. Brian Hough, Camaro, 5.712, 260.41.

Competition Eliminator — Tibor Kadar, Chevy Cobalt, 8.174, 165.97 def. Joe Mozeris, Dragster, 7.098, 183.37.

Super Stock — Jimmy DeFrank, Chevy Cobalt, 9.006, 151.05 def. Kyle Rizzoli, Chevy Camaro, 9.747, 134.71.

Stock Eliminator — Kyle Rizzoli, Chevy Camaro, 10.249, 126.99 def. Brian McClanahan, Camaro, 9.900, 131.01.

Super Comp — Nick Cobb, Dragster, 8.906, 172.83 def. Ryan Hansen, Dragster, 8.894, 173.14.

Super Gas — Mike Wiblishouser, Chevy Corvette, 10.025, 149.46 def. Larry Bradshaw, Corvette, 9.902, 164.55.

Top Sportsman presented by Vortech Superchargers — Richard Okerman, Chevy Beretta, 7.332, 166.66 def. Phil Miller, Chevy S-10, 7.662, 153.60.

Top Dragster presented by Vortech Superchargers — Paul Nero, Dragster, 7.141, 187.00 def. Mike Mendenhall, Dragster, 6.407, 216.24.

POMONA, Calif. — Final round-by-round results from the 61st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the 10th of 20 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series:

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TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE — Clay Millican, 3.843, 305.49 def. Doug Kalitta, 4.287, 232.19; Shawn Langdon, 3.923, 285.77 def. Jim Maroney, 5.503, 124.81; Antron Brown, 3.834, 318.47 def. Steve Torrence, 4.472, 197.10; Leah Pruett, 3.906, 311.77 def. Steven Chrisman, 4.312, 210.87; Mike Salinas, 3.832, 319.29 def. Brandon Welch, 5.620, 119.00; Brittany Force, 3.843, 322.88 was unopposed; Justin Ashley, 3.907, 314.02 def. Buddy Hull, 8.089, 67.99;
QUARTERFINALS — Ashley, 3.912, 311.49 def. Force, 4.013, 308.99; Pruett, 3.931, 310.27 was unopposed; Brown, 4.127, 254.62 def. Langdon, 4.189, 244.83; Salinas, 3.874, 313.37 def. Millican, 3.975, 264.34;
SEMIFINALS — Ashley, 3.944, 314.02 def. Brown, 4.024, 269.40; Pruett, 3.927, 311.05 def. Salinas, 4.360, 194.80;
FINAL — Pruett, 4.021, 247.61 def. Ashley, Broke.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE — John Force, Chevy Camaro, 4.054, 313.66 def. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.112, 308.99; Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.223, 289.57 def. Blake Alexander, Ford Mustang, 4.342, 248.25; Robert Hight, Camaro, 4.251, 245.90 def. Terry Haddock, Mustang, 10.763, 64.00; Ron Capps, Charger, 4.020, 309.77 def. Bobby Bode, Mustang, 4.180, 263.92; Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camry, 7.972, 77.94 def. Jason Rupert, Mustang, Broke – No Show; Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.103, 303.23 def. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 5.224, 147.37; J.R. Todd, Camry, 4.148, 301.07 def. Jeff Diehl, Camry, 4.510, 229.78; Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.306, 282.95 def. Paul Lee, Charger, 5.475, 137.61;
QUARTERFINALS — Todd, 4.192, 305.98 def. Hight, 4.192, 302.28; Force, 4.353, 260.46 def. Pedregon, 4.361, 218.37; Capps, 4.151, 296.50 def. Tasca III, 4.278, 288.58; Campbell, 4.314, 271.95 def. DeJoria, 4.797, 175.87;
SEMIFINALS — Todd, 4.297, 275.34 def. Campbell, 4.531, 206.64; Capps, 4.158, 300.06 def. Force, 4.659, 195.19;
FINAL — Capps, 4.151, 297.75 def. Todd, 4.289, 286.56.

POMONA, Calif. — Point standings (top 10) following the 61st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the 10th of 20 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series –

Top Fuel

1. Steve Torrence, 1,014; 2. Antron Brown, 661; 3. Brittany Force, 605; 4. Leah Pruett, 499; 5. Shawn Langdon, 494; 6. Mike Salinas, 473; 7. Doug Kalitta, 454; 8. Billy Torrence, 448; 9. Justin Ashley, 406; 10. Clay Millican, 383.

Funny Car

1. Ron Capps, 734; 2. Bob Tasca III, 729; 3. John Force, 698; 4. Robert Hight, 697; 5. Matt Hagan, 689; 6. J.R. Todd, 677; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 632; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 552; 9. Cruz Pedregon, 537; 10. Blake Alexander, 343.

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