1,000th Funny Car Trophy Is Winternationals’ Top Prize at Pomona

1,000th Funny Car Trophy Is Winternationals’ Prize MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images - Getty Images Drag racer “Fast Eddie” Schartman knocked over the first domino 60 years ago at the 1966 Tulsa Finals in Roy Steffey’s S/XS Mercury Comet. Since he won that first Funny Car “Wally” trophy, the NHRA has handed out 998 more. And the 1,000th is up for grabs this weekend at the Lucas Oil Winternationals at Southern California’s In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

For Cruz Pedregon, who won the NHRA’s 1,000th race in 2021, at Las Vegas, as well as the 900th race in Funny Car history that same year at Norwalk, Ohio, winning this weekend would be another feather in the cap of the two-time Funny Car series champion. “The 900th was special, no doubt,” Pedregon said, “but winning the 1,000th at Pomona, my home track, would be on another level. It would mean a lot to me, my family, and our fans.

” The two-time Funny Car series champion, a second-generation NHRA pro racer, grew up down the road in Gardena, California. Cruz Pedregon. Icon Sportswire - Getty Images John Force Racing’s Jack Beckman—also competing at his home track—has a unique perspective on this milestone.

“Not only am I a drag-racing historian, I am also part of the history,” the Corona, Calif. , resident said. “The milestone winners… numbers 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, are all alive.