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Pomona II: Goodyear Racing final summary

Goodyear Forces Its Way To Victory at Pomona POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 14, 2004) -- The Force Family led a group of four drivers that posted victories on Goodyear tires in the NHRA's Automobile Club of Southern California Finals at ...

Goodyear Forces Its Way To Victory at Pomona

POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 14, 2004) -- The Force Family led a group of four drivers that posted victories on Goodyear tires in the NHRA's Automobile Club of Southern California Finals at Pomona Raceway.

John Force, the 13-time Funny Car champion, won the final in the Funny Car class and his daughter, Ashley, won in Top Alcohol Dragster. It marked the first time in NHRA history that a father and daughter have won final rounds in the same NHRA national event. Top Fuel pilot Tony Schumacher and Pro Stock star Greg Anderson drove the other Goodyear-shod winners.

"I don't think I could be any prouder," John Force said.

The Pomona event was the final of the 2004 season and the four Goodyear winners had already clinched seasonal championships. John Force is the champ in Funny Car, while Ashley is an NHRA divisional champ. Anderson won the Pro Stock title on his way to rewriting the NHRA record book this year and Schumacher won his second Top Fuel title this season.

John Force set a track elapsed time record in Funny Car with a 4.698-second pass and teammate Gary Densham set a track speed record of 329.75 mph. Anderson set a Pro Stock record with a 6.705-second pass and Larry Morgan set another with a speed of 206.16 mph.

Ashley Force beat Mitch Myers in the TAD final. Myers, whose team also uses Goodyear tires, clinched the national TAD title at Pomona, while also setting and re-setting the national elapsed time record for the class. His 5.109-second pass in the fourth round is the new record. But when Myers faced Force in the final, Force's quicker reaction time was the deciding factor.

"I can't believe it happened, running against Mitch Myers," the younger Force said. "I was nervous against Morgan Lucas." Force beat Lucas in the semi-final round.

Goodyear-shod cars filled all four semi-final slots in the TAD ladder.

Schumacher captured his 10th victory of the season, setting an NHRA Top Fuel record when he beat Morgan Lucas in the final round. His lap times during the elimination rounds were very consistent, as he clocked quarter-mile passes in 4.494, 4.488, 4.477 and 4.550 seconds.

Schumacher said he was intent on setting the seasonal win record. "You want to pretend it's just another race and stay focused, but this was a big race," he said.

Lucas raced in both Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Fuel.

Anderson finished what will go into history as the most dominant season in NHRA history. When he posted the best time in qualifying, it marked the 16th time he has done so this season, the best total ever in an NHRA professional class. He already set records for most wins in a season, most final round appearances and most wins in elimination rounds.

All of Anderson's records were set on Goodyear tires.

"I don't want it to end," Anderson said. "My jaw hurts today from smiling so much. Everything just went like clockwork."

Anderson beat teammate Jason Line in the final round.

Steve Wilmoth, driving on Goodyear tires, advanced to the final round in Competition Eliminator and Harry Doolittle, also using Goodyears, did the same in Stock Eliminator.

-goodyear-

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