NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Justin Ashley, John Force, and Dallas Glenn won the rain-delayed Winternationals final rounds during qualifying at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, claiming respective victories in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock

Ashley collected his third straight Winternationals title, using an .023 to .081 holeshot to get ahead of Mission #2Fast2tasty winner Tony Schumacher and score the win, 3.80 to 3.77, and deny Schumacher the chance for a triple win this weekend. It's Ashley's 12th career win in the class.

Ashley began his quest for a Pomona three-peat by taking out tractionless Shawn Reed and Steve Torrence in the first two rounds in Pomona, then defeated two-time world champ Brittant Force in a semifinal pedalfest.

To reach the final, Schumacher had defeated tire-smoking Terry Totten, then bested Gatornationals champ Shawn Langdon and then Gatornats runner-up Billy Torrence with a 3.74 in Pomona that earned him final-round lane choice in Phoenix.

Force won the Winternationals for the eighth time, even if he did finish it nearly two weeks later in Phoenix. Force collected his sport-leading 156th career win, 4.03 to 4.04, over Matt Hagan. The win was the first for Force in nearly two years, since the spring event in Charlotte in 2022. For what it’s worth, Force was undefeated (4-0) in all Winternationals races against Hagan.

“I'm just so facing the truth in life, that, you know, time's running out, and I'm trying to hang on,” said Force. “This morning I was talking about, ‘You know, maybe this is it, maybe I should just walk out the gate and go to the casino, and then all sudden you win and your personality just changes.

“I was mad, mad at myself [for losing in the Mission Challenge earlier in the day], and I started saying, 'You just need to get out of the seat, you're just too old for this stuff' or 'Get out there and fight the fight.' And I did and things went right, and I got the win, so I'm excited.”

Force roared to his 267th career final by taking down Jim Campbell, tire-hazing Bobby Bode, and three-time world champ Ron Capps with a 3.92 to earn final-round lane choice.

Hagan made his to the delayed final round after defeating Buddy Hull, Jeff Diehl, and Gatornationals champ J.R. Todd, ending the Kalitta driver's six-round season-opening win streak with a 3.93.

Two of the class’ best starting-line artists went at it in the final round of the rain-delayed Winternationals, and the quicker left foot won it as Glenn put an .024 to .045 holeshot on Erica Enders and won a back-and-forth battle, 6.537 to 6.531, for his ninth career Pro Stock win and 10th overall. The win was a big comeback for Glenn, who red-lighted in round one of the Mission Challenge earlier in the day.

"That definitely kind of feels like it got the mojo back on Sunday in Pomona," said Glenn. "It definitely kicks you a little bit when you go red in #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and then winning kind of just brings you back into like 'OK, yeah, you know, I do still know how to do this,' so it feels good. 

"Tomorrow I'm just gonna go out there and try to cut for solid lights and all my shifts on every run. My goal for the whole season you know is I want to try to get into every single 2Fast2Tasty Challenge so, so far so good, and looking forward to keeping it going."

Enders began her pursuit of career win No. 50 by taking down Elite Motorsports teammate Fernando Cuadra Jr., who shook the tires in round one, then trailered Brandon Foster before eking out a .004-second victory over longtime rival Greg Anderson with a sizzling 6.52 that earned her final-round lane choice.

Glenn, the defending Winternationals champ, launched his bid for a repeat by defeating his new KB/Titan teammate, rookie Sienna Wildgust, then defeated David Cuadra and Mason McGaha to reach his 18th Pro Stock final.