KALITTA TAKES TOYOTA TO WINTERNATIONALS TITLE
POMONA, CA – Toyota Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta defeated Tony Schumacher with a 3.779-second pass in the 
final round to win the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Sunday. It’s the second Winternationals title for Kalitta, who also captured the top spot in 2009.
He defeated teammate Richie Crampton, Scott Palmer and number one qualifier Clay Millican on the way to his final round match-up with Schumacher on a day that was dominated by accidents, oil downs and delays.
“To get the first win of the season and get that monkey off your back is huge,” said Kalitta, who advanced to his third consecutive Winternationals final round today. “It was kind of a lucky day. Our Mac Tools Toyota dragster coasted across the finish line twice, but we were still getting the win light. It was one of those crazy days and we went through a lot of parts, but we got it done.
We don’t care how we win, as soon as the win light comes on, we’re moving on to the next round. It was a great victory for us. I can’t give enough credit to the entire team. Not only my guys, but the Kalitta Air guys all pitched in and we needed them. It was a thrash to make to at least three of the four rounds. It was just a great team effort. Fortunately, we have the team and the people to get it done.”
Fellow Toyota driver Antron Brown advanced to the semi-finals in Top Fuel with victories over Mike Salinas and Steve Torrence before falling to Schumacher by ten thousandth of a second.
In Funny Car, two Camry drivers advanced to the second round in J.R. Todd and Cruz Pedregon. Todd knocked off John Force in his opening run before seeing his day come to a close against Robert Hight in round two. Pedregon defeated Tommy Johnson in his opening run and then lost by five thousandths of a second against eventual winner Matt Hagan. Pedregon registered an amazing .010 light at the tree, only to lose a cylinder at mid-track, allowing Hagan to narrowly run him down. Pedregon had the quickest reaction time in both rounds that he ran today.
Shawn Langdon, the 2013 Top Fuel champion, made his Funny Car debut today as he fell in the first round to Ron Capps, while Del Worsham lost in his opening run to Tim Wilkerson.
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series heads to Phoenix, Ariz., in two weeks for the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, Feb. 23-25.
