POMONA, CA (February 4) -- For the 41st consecutive year, the stars of NHRA drag racing kicked off their season at the AutoZone Winternationals in Pomona, California. The drivers, along with Hoosier Racing Tire, always hope to make a statement at the first event. Based on the 2001 results, the Hoosier drag racing team looks poised for another fine season. 2000 Federal-Mogul Dragster Champion Rick Santos opened his new season just as he left off with another victory in an all-Hoosier final, Bucky Austin topped a tough field of Federal-Mogul Funny Cars, and Larry Scarth drove his door car to victory in the Super Comp category. Sheldon Gecker and Gary Humrichouse claimed runner-up finishes in two other classes on USA-built Hoosier racing tires.

Federal-Mogul Dragster
The times continue to drop in the Federal-Mogul Dragster class. Rick Santos, whose 5.373 pass last November at Pomona set fast time, dropped the e.t. another six-thousanths to 5.367, despite carrying an additional 125 pounds as regulated by NHRA for blown Federal-Mogul Dragsters this season. After losing two engines in qualifications, Santos pulled his "small" motor from last season out of retirement and sqeaked past first round eliminations. The Oakwood Homes crew worked long into the morning building a new powerplant for Sunday, and Santos blasted into the final. There, he met another Hoosier-shod B/AD in the final when Mark Hentges pulled to the line in his Air Time Aviation mount. At the start, Hentges opened a .14 second advantage, but the 2000 FMD Champion drove hard through mid-track, and pulled away to his first national event victory of the season with a stellar 5.407 at over 261 m.p.h.

Federal-Mogul Funny Car
Bucky Austin knows what it takes to win Federal-Mogul Funny Car events. The Washington-state veteran paced his Exxon Superflo-backed flopper through the early rounds of eliminations, then turned up the wick in Sunday's final. Austin's used consistent 5.70's to reach the final event, then slapped a four-hundreths holeshot on Bret Williamson's Corvette to cruise to the victory in an all-Hoosier final event. Williamson was impressive in his drive to the finals including round wins over 2000 event winners John Weaver and John Hyland.

Super Comp
In today's Super Comp category, it is rare when a door car makes it to the late rounds of a NHRA National Event. At Pomona, Larry Scarth not only went deep in eliminations with his 1989 Beretta door car, he defeated a dragster-ladened field for the 2001 Winternationals crown. Scarth used consistent reaction times in the low .430's and USA-built Hoosier racing tires to move into the final. Scarth cruised to the victory when his final round opponent was unable to leave the starting line.