It Was a Funny-Car Day at Pomona Drag Races

After a week of speed-letting by top fuel dragsters, funny cars took over center stage before 40,000 spectators Sunday for the final rounds of the 21st annual Winston World Finals on the L.A. County drag strip in Pomona.

Don (Snake) Prudhomme, in what could be the final stages of a remarkable 20-year career, set a National Hot Rod Assn. funny car record of 264.86 m.p.h. before losing in the finals to the computerized Ford Tempo of Winston World Champion Kenny Bernstein.

For Bernstein, a restauranteur turned drag racer who lives in Newport Beach, it was his sixth win in 12 races this season and climaxed the winningest single season in NHRA history. By winning four rounds Sunday, Bernstein extended his total to 38, three more than the record held by the late Lee Shepherd, a pro stock driver.

In the volatile world of top fuel, one favorite after another fell by the wayside, leaving the final round to two-time world champion Gary Beck, who had not won a race since July 1984, and Gary Ormsby, whose only national win was in the 1984 Winternationals at Pomona.

Don (Big Daddy) Garlits, the 53-year-old guru of hot rodding who ran an all-time record 268.01 m.p.h. last Thursday, lost in the second round to Ormsby. Joe Amato, winner of the $30,000 Cragar shoot out Saturday, was a first- round loser to Bill Mullins. And Darrell Gwynn, the fastest qualifier at 5.442 seconds, lost to Gene Snow after first eliminating former pro football quarterback Dan Pastorini in a close race.

Beck, who moved to Hemet two years ago to be closer to Larry Minor’s racing shop, won a tense side-by-side final in which he took a narrow margin off the starting line and held it the 1,320 feet to win the $22,000 first prize.

“We weren’t the quickest or the fastest, but we kept pecking away until we were the only one left,” Beck said. “Our team has worked very hard to overcome a lot of things this year and it’s nice to be back on top.”

Minor’s team, which includes his own top fueler as well as Beck’s and a funny car for Ed McCulloch, exploded 18 $3,500 superchargers during the season.

After defeating pro stock favorite and world champion Bob Glidden in a controversial semifinal, Joe Lepone Jr. scored his first national win when rookie Bruce Allen red-lighted (started too soon) in the final.

Garlits, who already had won the Winston world championship, was fortunate to even get to the second round. In his opening run against Dick LaHaie, Garlits’ engine exploded half way down the quarter-mile strip and he coasted to the finish line at 148 m.p.h. The only reason he won is that LaHaie’s engine gave out even sooner and the best he could do was 98 m.p.h.

“I could feel it about to go at the starting line,” Garlits said. “I knew it would never last the run, but I wasn’t expecting what happened. It blew all eight rods through the block. We’ll have to take it home and perform an autopsy to find out what happened. Something like that is very rare.”

Garlits and crew chief Herb Parks installed a new engine between runs and it was a confident Big Daddy who rolled to the line to face Ormsby.

Garlits broke in front and led most of the way until the big 2,500 horsepower engine sagged a little at the end and Ormsby stormed past.

“It was a strong engine,” Garlits said. “We were making a good run, decisively in front of Ormsby, when we burned some pistons. It’s just one of those things that happen and you pack up and head home when they do.”

Shortly after Garlits was sent packing, Prudhomme made his opening round speed of 264.86 official by backing it up with a second round run of 263.0.

In the finals, with most of the crowd on its feet cheering for the veteran from Granada Hills, the Snake snagged some more ill fortunate that has plagued him for more than two years. After coming off the line a fraction ahead of Bernstein, the Snake’s Trans-Am began to drift sideways and crossed over into Bernstein’s lane. By this time it didn’t matter as Bernstein powered his Dale Armstrong-prepared car through the lights in 5.617 seconds--the quickest funny car run of the competition.

“I may not be back next year,” Prudhomme said. “I don’t have a sponsor and I don’t have one in sight. I was proud of the way the car performed in front of my home friends after coming off tour.

“I was also glad to set the NHRA record and silence the critics who who were skeptical when I ran 266.27 in an IHRA (International Hot Rod Assn.) race at Bristol, Tenn.”

In the alphabet world of drag racing, records and wins made by drivers in IHRA races are not accepted or admitted by the NHRA. Prudhomme’s 266.27, at the time the fastest run by any type drag racer, was made during the IHRA Springnationals.

Ironically, it was Bernstein’s record which Prudhomme bettered Sunday. He ran 260.11 at Gainesville, Fla., in March 1984.

“I am surprised the record held up as long as it did,” Bernstein said. “I have felt all year that it was kind of soft and if it had to go, I’m glad to see the Snake get it. He’s one reason the sport has grown to where it is and it’s nice to see him come back after a long dry spell.”

Bernstein, 41, said he only caught Prudhomme’s car edging close to him out of the corner of his eye.

“When I saw that blue fender right next to me I think I pushed harder on the accelerator,” Bernstein said. “The computer proved again today what it could do. We had a magneto go bad during a run and we’d never have found what was wrong without the computer telling us. We changed the mag and were right back in business.”

Bernstein and Armstrong have pioneered use of an on-board computer system which they credit for much of the team’s success this season.

The pro stock semifinal between Glidden and Lepone was so close that Glidden thought he had won and asked to see a replay. Director of competition Steve Gibbs denied the request, claiming he had seen it and it (the finish) was too close to call other than electronically.

Glidden based his case on the fact that he had the quickest elapsed time (7.640 to 7.652) and the fastest speed (182.11 to 175.84). However, taking into account Lepone’s quicker reaction time at the start (.404 to .426) it left Lepone the winner by one-thousandths of a second.

It was probably just that close. The final was anti-climactic when Allen jumped the gun at the start.