Drivers Wait for Weather’s Green Light

Top-fuel dragsters, overshadowed somewhat by the John Force-Tony Pedregon battle for National Hot Rod Assn. funny car supremacy, take the spotlight today -- weather permitting -- at Pomona Raceway in the 18th annual Budweiser Shootout.

Rain wiped out Friday’s qualifying rounds for the $2-million Auto Club NHRA Finals and the forecast is not encouraging for today’s program.

Graham Light, NHRA vice president, said that Friday’s schedule would be canceled. Instead of four rounds of qualifying for Sunday’s final eliminations, the 16-car fields will be determined by three -- the one completed Thursday and two today.

Track officials refused to speculate on what would happen if rain continued, but two years ago, when rain wiped out the Budweiser Shootout, it was postponed until the following February during the Winternationals at Pomona.

The Shootout, scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m., pits the eight top-fuel drivers who accumulated the most qualifying points in the 23-event, $50-million Powerade series. The winner will receive $100,000.

“Having the Budweiser Shootout at the final event gives us an added incentive to finish the season on a high note and have bragging rights in the off-season,” said Kenny Bernstein, today’s No. 1 seed and a two-time winner of the bonus event.

Bernstein, No. 1 qualifier at five events, will race Darrell Russell, six-time winner Joe Amato’s hand-picked successor when Amato retired last year, in the first round. Russell had the quickest top-fuel car in Thursday’s first round, posting a 4.571-second elapsed time.

“Putting up a good number in our first time out will give us some leeway in the Shootout,” said Russell. “If we weren’t solidly in the show, we might be a little conservative, but now we can be more aggressive with our setup. We can get closer to the ragged edge without having to worry about making the field Sunday.”

If a driver wins both the Shootout and Sunday’s finals, he will receive a $50,000 bonus from the NHRA. Amato is the only double winner. He did it in 1990.

Other first-round pairings: Larry Dixon, newly crowned NHRA champion, vs. Doug Herbert; Scott Kalitta vs. Andrew Cowin of Australia, the only Shootout rookie, and Tony Schumacher vs. Cory McClenathan.

Dixon and Bernstein have already won the $400,000 champion’s purse and $100,000 runner-up prize, respectively, but the payoffs for third through sixth are up for grabs Only 92 points separate Schumacher, with 1,397, from Russell, with 1,305. Between are Kalitta, 1,369, and McClenathan, 1,310.