Kalitta, Beckman, Coughlin Win at Winternationals

(L-R) Jack Beckman, Jeg Coughlin and Doug Kalitta celebrate at Pomona

For the third straight time, Doug Kalitta took home a national event win at the 60th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com. Sunday’s win marks Kalitta’s 48th career win, placing him fifth in wins on the all-time Top Fuel list.

Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) also took home event wins in their respective categories, marking the first time in NHRA history that the winners from the Auto Club Finals also took home wins at the Winternationals.

Doug Kalitta

Top Fuel veteran Kalitta went 3.698-seconds at 330.23 mph in his Mac Tools dragster to defeat JFR’s Austin Prock in the final round at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Kalitta has won four of the last five races at the track and has advanced to five final rounds in a row at the Winternationals. Kalitta defeated Brandon Welch, Justin Ashley and former world champion Brittany Force to advance to the finals on Sunday.

“It’s been an interesting day for sure. A lot of close racing," said Kalitta. “We have people up there trying to tear the tree down on you so you’re a little nervous about all that. It worked out well though. I’m just really proud of my guys. They busted their tails today. We tore up a little bit of parts here, but it was all good. The 60th is pretty special. Connie was here at the first one. I couldn’t be happier for him and the family and the legacy that’s been created out here. I’m just glad this is one of our better tracks."

Jack Beckman

In Funny Car, Beckman picked up a win after going 3.837-seconds at 333.33 in his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. Beckman defeated Steven Densham, Ron Capps and Alexis DeJoria to advance to the final round, where he took the win over Funny Car legend John Force. Beckman captured his first ever career win at the Winternationals in 1998 in Super Comp. Sunday’s win marks Beckman’s 31st career Funny Car win, tying Del Worsham for eighth all time in class history.

“To beat John Force in the final, it's a pretty cool weekend," said Beckman. “It’s my home track. I’ve probably spent more time down there on the starting line than anybody else. I feel comfortable here. There were a lot of friends and family out here today. This a perfect storm. I had never won a nitro title at Pomona up until November last year and now I got two in a row. It’s beyond magical. You don’t know if your last win is your last win. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this isn’t our last win. The Infinite Hero team has been amazing. We were top two every run in qualifying, except for the first round. Our car was just absolutely amazing. As a driver, you don’t want to limp your way into the winner’s circle. It was awesome for us."

Jeg Coughlin

Coughlin kicked off his “Breaking Barriers 2020" retirement tour with a bang, taking home the event win with a 6.522-second pass at 210.80. Earlier in the weekend, Coughlin announced that he would be stepping down from professional Pro Stock racing at the conclusion of the 2020 season. He beat out Jason Line for the event win, who also announced that 2020 would be his final professional season. Coughlin defeated Joey Grose, Chris McGaha and Kenny Delco to advance to the final round at the 2020 Winternationals. Sunday’s win broke Coughlin’s 20 year win drought at the race, bringing him his 64th career Pro Stock win, placing him fourth on the all-time list.

“It was quite a day. It started on Friday honestly, we’ll just call it quite a weekend," said Coughlin. “Ricky Jones and Richard Freeman, the whole Elite team did a fantastic job over the winter. Today’s race was outstanding. I can’t recall a time in my 20 plus year career in Pro Stock that I was low for each and every one of the sessions and won the race. That’s quite a testament to the team. Hopefully it’s something we can hold on to for a little bit. It looks like we have a bit of a performance advantage here at Pomona and we were able to capitalize on it."

The Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues on Feb. 21-23 at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass.

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE — Clay Millican, 3.731, 323.58 def. Terry McMillen, 4.640, 183.05; Shawn Reed, 3.924, 238.26 def. Antron Brown, 5.233, 143.76; Brittany Force, 8.648, 77.72 was unopposed; Doug Kalitta, 3.885, 326.87 def. Brandon Welch, 7.325, 105.68; Leah Pruett, 3.659, 328.14 def. Jim Maroney, 4.503, 179.71; Austin Prock, 4.004, 316.15 def. Cameron Ferre, 5.164, 143.60; Justin Ashley, 3.726, 323.58 def. Shawn Langdon, 6.312, 102.28;

QUARTERFINALS — Prock, 3.678, 330.96 was unopposed; Force, 3.682, 336.23 def. Millican, 3.867, 311.13; Kalitta, 3.705, 325.53 def. Ashley, 3.965, 231.83; Pruett, 3.685, 326.40 def. Reed, 4.466, 169.23;

SEMIFINALS — Kalitta, 3.675, 329.26 def. Force, 3.689, 332.84; Prock, 3.678, 330.63 def. Pruett, 4.927, 140.69;

FINAL — Kalitta, 3.698, 330.23 def. Prock, 10.939, 80.31.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE — Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 5.241, 166.52 def. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 9.056, 82.90; Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.873, 324.83 def. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.383, 221.42; Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 8.365, 85.58 def. Terry Haddock, Mustang, Broke; Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.291, 294.18 def. Steven Densham, Mustang, 7.622, 92.71; Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.914, 330.39 def. Alex Miladinovich, Toyota Camry, 5.859, 124.03; John Force, Camaro, 3.875, 329.02 def. Bob Bode, Mustang, 10.726, 85.45; Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 3.922, 326.71 def. Paul Lee, Charger, 4.091, 240.85;

Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.879, 326.79 def. J.R. Todd, Camry, 5.983, 116.29;

QUARTERFINALS — Beckman, 3.871, 329.34 def. Capps, 4.625, 156.01; Force, 4.011, 275.06 def. Johnson Jr., 8.431, 80.69; DeJoria, 5.388, 136.12 def. Hight, 10.238, 86.54; Hagan, 4.042, 284.03 def. Wilkerson, 6.083, 113.18;

SEMIFINALS — Force, 3.923, 331.28 def. Hagan, 8.859, 78.06; Beckman, 3.843, 332.92 def. DeJoria, 9.729, 78.34;

FINAL — Beckman, 3.837, 333.33 def. Force, 3.897, 332.34.

PRO STOCK:

ROUND ONE — Chris McGaha, Chevy Camaro, 6.590, 209.52 def. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 7.233, 148.18; Jason Line, Camaro, 6.569, 209.39 def. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.561, 210.14; Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.628, 209.75 def. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.572, 209.46; Steve Graham, Camaro, 6.619, 208.78 def. Bo Butner, Camaro, 7.439, 207.05; Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.559, 210.05 def. Val Smeland, Camaro, 6.640, 208.97; Fernando Cuadra Jr., Ford Mustang, 6.692, 206.70 def. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 37.710, 21.14; Erica Enders, Camaro, 7.429, 130.13 def. Cristian Cuadra, Mustang, No Time Recorded; Jeg

Coughlin, Camaro, 6.542, 210.18 def. Joey Grose, Camaro, 6.700, 206.29;

QUARTERFINALS — Enders, 6.586, 210.50 def. Hartford, Foul – Red Light; Line, 6.574, 208.65 def. Cuadra Jr., Foul – Red Light; Delco, 6.597, 209.69 def. Graham, 7.329, 146.48; Coughlin, 6.546, 210.28 def. McGaha, 6.574, 209.72;

SEMIFINALS — Line, 6.582, 208.94 def. Enders, 6.621, 209.95; Coughlin, 6.535, 210.44 def. Delco, 6.716, 180.28;

FINAL — Coughlin, 6.522, 210.80 def. Line, 6.565, 209.56.

Point standings (top 10) following the 60th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the first of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series –

Top Fuel

1. Doug Kalitta, 117; 2. Austin Prock, 99; 3. Brittany Force, 87; 4. Leah Pruett, 80; 5. Clay

Millican, 53; 6. Justin Ashley, 52; 7. Shawn Reed, 51; 8. Shawn Langdon, 38; 9. Terry McMillen, 34; 10. Antron Brown, 32.

Funny Car

1. Jack Beckman, 126; 2. John Force, 94; 3. Matt Hagan, 86; 4. Alexis DeJoria, 67; 5. Robert Hight, 61; 6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 56; 7. Ron Capps, 54; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 52; 9. Paul Lee, 34; 10. J.R. Todd, 33.

Pro Stock

1. Jeg Coughlin, 130; 2. Jason Line, 94; 3. Erica Enders, 80; 4. Kenny Delco, 77; 5. (tie)

Steve Graham, 52; Matt Hartford, 52; Chris McGaha, 52; 8. Fernando Cuadra Jr., 51; 9. Deric Kramer, 40; 10. Bo Butner, 36.