Millican, Beckman and Anderson Pick Up Victories at 65th Annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals

– Millican slips past Stewart in TF final
– Beckman hands JFR 300th FC victory
– Anderson sets track record in PS win

POMONA, CA – March 31, 2025 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Clay Millican edged out Tony Stewart in an explosive Top Fuel final round on Sunday for Rick Ware Racing, winning for the first time at historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip at the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals.

Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) also won the third of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Millican went 4.273-seconds at 189.71 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Mighty Fire Breaker/Parts Plus dragster before a wild engine explosion at the finish line, as Stewart drove into tire smoke almost immediately in the finals. It is the eighth career victory for Millican, who defeated Shawn Reed, Jasmine Salinas and No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force to reach the final round, and first in 2025.

Millican was also dynamite on the starting line during eliminations, including a lethal .038 against Stewart, denying the racing legend his first career Top Fuel victory and moving to sixth in points.

“My crew chief (Jim Oberhofer) told me he had it loaded up and a couple things were going to happen. He said we’re going to win, we’re going to blow up and if we lose, we’re going to be a footnote in history,” Millican said. “Thank goodness we’re not a footnote in history. Tony Stewart is going to win one of these soon, but all I know is we won the Winternationals.

“But boy, that final round was forever. When you blow it up and – and we blew it up good – and you got a HANS [head restraint] device on, you’re stretching that HANS to its limits, trying to look over like, ‘Is he coming or not?’ I couldn’t get there quick enough. I promise I never let off the throttle, even though it wasn’t running no more. But I had that thing buried. I was stomping on the loud pedal harder than normal. What a day.

“Winning [the Winternationals] is one of the majors. It definitely is. We’ve won Indy and now we’ve won here, and that’s pretty dang cool. But to come out and win the way we did today, it was a total team effort. I pulled us out once, which rarely ever happens, and the team just stuck together.”

Stewart reached the final round for the third time in his career and first this season after defeating reigning world champion Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta and points leader Shawn Langdon.

In Funny Car, Beckman handed John Force Racing its 300th Funny Car win after he went 4.015 at 302.88 in his 11,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS to knock off Daniel Wilkerson in a historic championship round at the legendary facility – and the home track for JFR. It is the 38th career win for Beckman, who replaced Force after his crash last year and has won the last two races in Pomona.

Force also won last year’s Winternationals, making the car a remarkable 12-0 in the last three Pomona races. The weekend belonged to Beckman, who won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for the first time with two standout runs and then made a series of passes in the 3.80s to reach Sunday’s final.

He defeated Jeff Diehl, Chad Green and Matt Hagan to reach the championship round. There wasn’t another 3.80s in the fold, but after Wilkerson had trouble at the starting line, Beckman recovered and rolled to his first victory of the season and 36th in his career. It’s also the first time he has led the points since 2020, as Beckman continues to perform at a high level since replacing Force following his crash in June.

“The car was amazing all weekend. We qualified fourth, but we got qualifying points every single round and ran 3.80s every round of eliminations until the final when the flawless part fell off a couple of hundred feet out and car shook the tires and knocked them loose,” Beckman said. “That’s where, as a driver, you’ve got to be ready to give one back to the team because they’d given me everything all weekend long.

“It felt good to be able to pedal the thing and take it down there and have the car not blow up. It’s pretty cool when they hand you a trophy, your car still intact, and get John Force Racing its 300th Funny car win.”

Wilkerson reached the final round for the second time in his career thanks to round wins against J.R. Todd, Paul Lee and Funny Car rookie Spencer Hyde.

There appears to be no stopping Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson these days, especially at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, as the reigning world champion set the track record in the final round against KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn with a stellar run of 6.476 at 210.90 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. That gives Anderson a remarkable 16 career wins in Pomona – the second-most in NHRA history – including the last two races.

He won the NHRA Finals last November against Glenn, a final-round matchup that has repeated itself the first three races of the 2025 campaign. Glenn won the first in Gainesville, but Anderson has taken the last two. While Phoenix was a wild and wacky final round, this one was much more conventional, as Anderson continued his torrid run this weekend. He was in the 6.40s throughout eliminations, including a 6.477 against Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the second round that initially broke the track record from 2014.

Anderson, the current points leader who also won the GESi Pro Stock No. 1 Qualifier Award for a second straight race, then broke it again in the championship round with a spectacular run, giving the six-time world champion his second victory this season and 108th in his marvelous career.

“We set a [track] record in the final and this is the way you want to do it,” Anderson said. “You want to go out and earn it every single run, and you want to save your best for the final round, and that’s what we did. These are proud days today, and just like three months ago here in the final round, you want to give your best shot in the final round against the toughest competition.

“I love this place. Nine times out of 10 when we come here, you get friendly conditions like this, and I was able to drive better than I normally drive as far as reaction time goes. The slight cloud cover, the cool temperatures just feel good for a driver and that just plays more into my hand. are the conditions I need. I wish we could race here every weekend.”

Glenn continued his impressive season as well, advancing to a third straight final round and 30th in his career after defeating Erica Enders, Matt Hartford and Deric Kramer.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action April 11-13 with the 25th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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POMONA, CA — Final finish order (1-16) at the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip. The race is the third of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:

1. Clay Millican; 2. Tony Stewart; 3. Brittany Force; 4. Shawn Langdon; 5. Jasmine Salinas; 6. Doug Kalitta; 7. Josh Hart; 8. Ida Zetterstrom; 9. Scott Palmer; 10. Steven Chrisman; 11. Justin Ashley; 12. Shawn Reed; 13. Antron Brown; 14. Steve Torrence.

FUNNY CAR:

1. Jack Beckman; 2. Daniel Wilkerson; 3. Matt Hagan; 4. Spencer Hyde; 5. Chad Green; 6. Blake Alexander; 7. Cruz Pedregon; 8. Paul Lee; 9. Bobby Bode; 10. Jeff Diehl; 11. Austin Prock; 12. J.R. Todd; 13. Ron Capps; 14. Dave Richards; 15. Alexis DeJoria; 16. Steven Densham.

PRO STOCK:

1. Greg Anderson; 2. Dallas Glenn; 3. Cory Reed; 4. Deric Kramer; 5. Matt Hartford; 6. Jeg Coughlin; 7. Matt Latino; 8. Brandon Foster; 9. Eric Latino; 10. Greg Stanfield; 11. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 12. Stephen Bell; 13. Erica Enders; 14. Aaron Stanfield; 15. Mason McGaha; 16. Cody Coughlin.

POMONA, CA — Sunday’s final results from the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip. The race is the third of 20 in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel — Clay Millican, 4.273 seconds, 189.71 mph def. Tony Stewart, 6.187 seconds, 99.83 mph.

Funny Car — Jack Beckman, Chevy Camaro, 4.015, 302.28 def. Daniel Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 8.292, 91.83.

Pro Stock — Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.476, 210.90 def. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.503, 211.66.

Top Alcohol Dragster — Anthony Troyer, 5.193, 276.86 def. Joey Severance, 5.389, 239.19.

Top Alcohol Funny Car — Brian Hough, Chevy Camaro, 5.449, 263.41 def. Shane Westerfield, Camaro, 5.447, 265.64.

Super Stock — John Winslow, Dodge Challenger, 9.010, 146.53 def. Justin Lamb, Chevy Camaro, 8.709, 151.24.

Stock Eliminator — Jeff Adkinson, Chevy Camaro, 9.356, 130.27 def. Joe Sorensen, Camaro, 11.168, 114.75.

Super Comp — Bill Webber, Dragster, 8.927, 167.74 def. Toby Payne, Dragster, 8.890, 182.72.

Super Gas — Jerron Settles, Chevy Corvette, 9.909, 162.27 def. John Parrino, Ford Mustang, 9.885, 147.39.

Top Sportsman — Aaron Steinkey, Chevy Camaro, 6.315, 213.27 def. Chris Newman, Camaro, 6.567, 211.93.

Legends Nitro Funny Car presented by Extreme Steel — Derrick Moreira, Chevy Camaro, 4.774, 238.43 def. Shane Westerfield, Camaro, 4.700, 239.10.

POMONA, CA — Final round-by-round results from the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, the third of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE — Tony Stewart, 3.713, 314.68 def. Antron Brown, 5.253, 139.70; Josh Hart, 3.675, 332.67 def. Justin Ashley, 4.536, 184.75; Brittany Force, 3.700, 337.75 def. Steven Chrisman, 4.048, 252.61; Shawn Langdon, 3.668, 331.28 def. Ida Zetterstrom, 3.806, 278.40; Doug Kalitta, 3.660, 338.34 def. Scott Palmer, 3.852, 288.52; Clay Millican, 3.874, 282.54 def. Shawn Reed, 4.696, 238.01; Jasmine Salinas, 3.716, 331.45 def. Steve Torrence, Foul – Red Light;

QUARTERFINALS — Millican, 3.717, 313.37 def. Salinas, 3.707, 331.69; Force, 3.693, 332.26 was unopposed; Langdon, 3.691, 334.73 def. Hart, 11.965, 61.44; Stewart, 3.702, 332.92 def. Kalitta, 4.456, 178.26;

SEMIFINALS — Millican, 3.750, 324.12 def. Force, 3.812, 263.92; Stewart, 3.723, 330.07 def. Langdon, 3.835, 316.01;

FINAL — Millican, 4.273, 189.71 def. Stewart, 6.187, 99.83.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE — Chad Green, Ford Mustang, 3.960, 325.61 def. Dave Richards, Mustang, 5.811, 130.12; Paul Lee, Dodge Charger, 3.842, 332.51 def. Bobby Bode, Toyota GR Supra, 3.883, 330.47; Blake Alexander, Charger, 4.236, 222.58 def. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 4.415, 300.13; Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 3.886, 322.19 def. Ron Capps, GR Supra, 4.989, 162.82; Jack Beckman, Camaro, 3.847, 327.19 def. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Camry, 4.092, 260.31; Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.890, 324.44 def. Steven Densham, Mustang, 10.437, 91.66; Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.165, 234.00 def. J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 4.621, 253.18; Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.884, 324.59 def. Alexis DeJoria, Charger, 9.685, 86.38;

QUARTERFINALS — Hyde, 4.144, 231.28 def. Pedregon, 6.931, 95.05; Wilkerson, 3.932, 330.47 def. Lee, 10.656, 71.19; Beckman, 3.859, 331.04 def. Green, 3.901, 329.34; Hagan, 3.940, 324.51 def. Alexander, 3.944, 325.22;

SEMIFINALS — Wilkerson, 3.894, 329.26 def. Hyde, 5.000, 153.46; Beckman, 3.860, 328.62 def. Hagan, 3.915, 316.82;

FINAL — Beckman, 4.015, 302.28 def. Wilkerson, 8.292, 91.83.

PRO STOCK:

ROUND ONE — Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Camaro, 6.524, 209.52 def. Stephen Bell, Camaro, 6.556, 210.54; Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.490, 211.49 def. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.564, 210.83; Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.535, 211.10 def. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.508, 210.70; Cory Reed, Camaro, 6.491, 210.97 def. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.532, 210.31; Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.482, 211.96 def. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.552, 209.59; Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.477, 211.00 def. Mason McGaha, Camaro, Broke; Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.502, 210.80 def. Cody Coughlin, Camaro, Broke; Brandon Foster, Camaro, 6.526, 210.80 def. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 14.890, 59.05;

QUARTERFINALS — Kramer, 6.535, 211.00 def. M. Latino, Foul – Red Light; Reed, 6.517, 210.90 def. Foster, Foul – Red Light; Glenn, 6.505, 211.46 def. Hartford, 6.505, 211.89; Anderson, 6.492, 211.56 def. J. Coughlin, 6.546, 210.77;

SEMIFINALS — Glenn, 6.507, 211.33 def. Kramer, 14.431, 60.58; Anderson, 6.489, 210.67 def. Reed, 6.517, 210.90;

FINAL — Anderson, 6.476, 210.90 def. Glenn, 6.503, 211.66.

POMONA, CA — Point standings (top 10) following the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, the third of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series –

Top Fuel

1. Shawn Langdon, 300; 2. Doug Kalitta, 223; 3. Antron Brown, 214; 4. Brittany Force, 202; 5. Tony Stewart, 200; 6. Clay Millican, 199; 7. Jasmine Salinas, 197; 8. Josh Hart, 120; 9. Justin Ashley, 117; 10. Steve Torrence, 113.

Funny Car

1. Jack Beckman, 271; 2. Paul Lee, 212; 3. Matt Hagan, 197; 4. Chad Green, 194; 5. Austin Prock, 171; 6. Ron Capps, 164; 7. Daniel Wilkerson, 160; 8. Bob Tasca III, 153; 9. Cruz Pedregon, 141; 10. Alexis DeJoria, 139.

Pro Stock

1. Greg Anderson, 355; 2. Dallas Glenn, 317; 3. Cory Reed, 206; 4. Matt Hartford, 181; 5. Jeg Coughlin, 156; 6. Deric Kramer, 148; 7. Eric Latino, 143; 8. Aaron Stanfield, 140; 9. Mason McGaha, 136; 10. Troy Coughlin Jr., 120.

About Mission Foods

MISSION®, owned by GRUMA, S.A.B. de C.V., is the world’s leading brand for tortillas and wraps. MISSION® is also globally renowned for flatbreads, dips, salsas and Mexican food products. With presence in over 112 countries, MISSION® products are suited to the lifestyles and the local tastes of each country. With innovation and customer needs in mind, MISSION® focuses on the highest quality, authentic flavors, and providing healthy options that families and friends can enjoy together. For more information, please visit https://www.missionfoods.com/

About NHRA

NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 20 national events featuring the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as well as the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™, NHRA Holley EFI Factory X and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock at select national events. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With more than 100 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services® (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv®, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Source: National Hot Rod Association

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