Toyota Gazoo Racing North America NHRA Pomona Report – 03.24.24

JUSTIN ASHLEY REACHES FINALS OF POSTPONED WINTERNATIONALS AT POMONA
Final round to take place at NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix

POMONA, Calif. (March 24, 2024) – Starting the day as the No. 5 seed in the Top Fuel eliminations, Justin Ashley powered his Toyota Top Fuel Dragster to the final round of the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Due to inclement weather late Sunday afternoon, however, the final round of the event will take place in two weeks during the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix where Ashley will take on Tony Schumacher for the Wally Trophy.

The winning runs by Ashley on Sunday, which included defeating No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force in the semifinals, mark the 25th consecutive NHRA event Toyota has made the final round in either Top Fuel or Funny Car. When the final round commences in two weeks, Ashley will go for his third straight victory in the Winternationals.

In Funny Car, J.R. Todd followed up his win at Gainesville with a semi-finals appearance, only to fall to top qualifier, Matt Hagan. His Toyota Funny Car teammate, Ron Capps, was also a round away from the finals and a shot at his fifth Winternationals victory but was defeated by John Force.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals
In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip
Race 2 of 20

TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS 

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS 

*= Non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

JUSTIN ASHLEY, SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, SCAG Racing

TF Final Result: Finals

What are your thoughts about the day and now having to wait a few weeks for the finals against Tony Schumacher?

“We were looking forward to racing in the final round in front of all the great fans that stuck it out through the rain. I’m disappointed we couldn’t get it done, but grateful that we have an opportunity to finish things up in just a few short weeks.

I have a ton of respect for Tony (Schumacher). He’s a winner and a champion for a lot of different reasons. I have the utmost respect for him and Joe Maynard (Owner, JCM Racing) and that team over there. It will be a battle no matter where we get the race in. We have a huge responsibility to the BlueBird, Versatran, and SCAG dealers that came out and waited out this weather all weekend long. Not to mention, Pomona is a home event for Phillips, and Rob Phillips was here in the house. It won’t be raced in Pomona, but it’s still the finals of the Winternationals, so all chips are on the table. In the meantime, we’ll hop into our Toyota Sequoia and head back to the shop to make the most of our week off.”

J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car

FC Final Result: Semi-finals

How would you describe this weekend for you and the team?

“Yeah, I think our lucky streak finally ran out here in the semis. But all in all, I’m really proud of my guys for working hard and never giving up. All in all, can’t really complain about the weekend, we were in the semifinals.”

It must have been a challenging weekend with only two qualifying runs due to weather, right?

“Yeah, with the weather conditions and track conditions, it’s definitely tricky. Everybody’s in the same boat and there were some really good runs out there. Yeah, we got work to do and we’ll have our heads down and keep digging.”

RON CAPPS, NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car

FC Final Result: Semi-finals

Take me through your day today at Pomona.

“Yeah I mean, we knew all the manufacturers were in the semifinals. Obviously, you want to do well for Toyota and thought we had the advantage there with our GR Supra body. We found something right before we went up there. You know, I’m always bragging about my team that we have the ‘NAPA Know How’ and they caught something that could’ve been a bigger deal and they caught it right before we went up. So, we were a little rushed, me getting in the car and getting up there. It started sprinkling and we thought they were going to hold off but got up there last minute. I haven’t talked to Guido (Dean Antonelli, crew-chief) yet to see mechanically why it smoked the tires, but just something the car hasn’t done all weekend. We felt pretty comfortable, again like Gainesville, we had a great car. Felt like a car that could win the race. But good thing is, we have a couple weeks off and two more West Coast races, so let’s see if we can go out there and get a trophy.”

About Toyota 

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).

Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).