Scott Kalitta Drags Away $100,000 With Top Fuel Victory
In the quickest drag race in National Hot Rod Assn. history, Scott Kalitta defeated Cory McClenathan to collect $100,000 Saturday in the 12th annual Budweiser Classic for top fuel cars at Pomona Raceway.
Kalitta, the defending NHRA top-fuel champion from Chelsea, Mich., raced the quarter-mile in 4.64 seconds at a track-record 316.56 mph. He was driving the family-owned American International Airways dragster prepared by former world champion Dick LaHaie.
McClenathan, in former NFL coach Joe Gibbs’ McDonald’s dragster, ran 4.677 and 309.38.
McClenathan earned the No. 1 starting position for today’s Winston Select Finals when he ran 4.625 in the semifinals to sideline Kalitta’s father, Connie.
It capped a big day for Gibbs, whose stock car is on the pole for the Winston Cup race in Phoenix with Bobby Labonte driving.
Richard Hartman, an independent driver, shocked his funny car rivals by taking the No. 1 position with a track-record run of 4.932 seconds.
In pro stock, Warren Johnson of Duluth, Ga., qualified No. 1 with a Pomona-record elapsed time of 6.957 seconds and a speed of 198.15 mph.
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