Four-time world champion Gary Scelzi quickly salved the wounds of a forgettable 2006 season by winning the 47th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals when final-round opponent Robert Hight crossed the centerline and was disqualified. Reigning Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award winner J.R. Todd also found the winner's circle at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona by beating a tire-shaking Brandon Bernstein, and three-time Pro Stock world champ Greg Anderson defended his race title from one year ago.

After it appeared that Hight had beaten Scelzi for the Funny Car crown, NHRA officials quickly determined that Hight crossed the middle stripe, automatically giving the trophy to Scelzi. It was his 34th NHRA win. Bernstein was hoping for a final with good friend Todd, but their first head-to-head meeting was anticlimactic after Bernstein had to shut down just off the launchpad. Anderson kept finalist Greg Stanfield winless in four Pro Stock final-round appearances.

J.R. Todd

Todd's victory in the Skull Shine dragster was his fourth in just 20 Top Fuel starts, an impressive record by any standard. This one was extremely impressive as he followed up a 4.699-second, first-round pass on a freshly washed track with a pair of 4.47s and a 4.482 at 324.98 mph in the money round

"I never expected things to happen as suddenly as it has for me," Todd said. "It's pretty surprising to me, to be honest. When you have a guy like [crew chief] Jimmy Walsh in your corner, you're going to be good. That guy is the first one in the shop every day and the last one to leave each night. He's relentless.

"Last year was kind of a Cinderella deal for us, but by the end of the year, we weren't surprised by our performance anymore. This year we're for real, and I think all the other teams know that now.

"It was an expensive win for me because Jimmy had this board in the trailer, and every time he tuned me to a 4.5 pass, I had to put a dollar up there. The money is for the crew guys’ dinner and whatever. Well, last year I told the team that every time I ran a 4.4, I'd put a $100 bill up there. I had to win the race to pay for all the 4.4s we ran this weekend." 

Bernstein ran progressively quicker during the day until he encountered problems in the final. Perhaps he'll think twice before hoping for another final-round battle with his friend Todd, who had the better hot rod this day.

Reigning Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher, the No. 1 qualifier at this event, lost in the first round after smoking his tires against part-timer Joe Hartley. Whit Bazemore's first race day in Top Fuel ended in the quarterfinals against teammate "Hot Rod" Fuller.

Gary Scelzi

The Funny Car final featured celebrations in both lanes as Hight's Auto Club of Southern California crewmembers cheered the win light on the scoreboards only to hear a few moments later that their man had crossed the centerline just before the finish line, giving the win to Scelzi and the Mopar/Oakley Charger team, who then started a party of their own.

The victory was well-deserved for Scelzi's gang; the four-time world champion had trouble with his parachutes in the semifinals and ended up in the sandtrap. As his final-round run of 4.716 at 332.26 mph proved, the car was repaired in time.

"We didn't think we had anything for Jimmy [Prock, Hight's crew chief] in the final," Scelzi said. "We thought we'd try to run a high 4.6 and see what happened. I didn't see him until 700 feet, and then he just went right by me. I saw the win light in his lane, and it was a letdown. The guys on the radio told me he beat me on a holeshot, and here I was thinking I'd cut a good light. Then they said he was DQ'ed, and I thought that was a really cruel joke to play on me. 

"Those guys had a great car all weekend, but you know what, so did we. Ever since we tested in Phoenix, the car's been going straight down the track. It's been incredible. 'Zippy' [crew chief Mike Neff] and this team deserve a lot of credit."

Hight was a favorite entering the final after running the quickest pass of all time -- a 4.646 -- in the semifinals. He missed backing up the run to make it an official national record by one-thousandth of a second. 

Both John and Ashley Force lost in the opening round.

Greg Anderson

After struggling at times last year with his starting-line procedures, Anderson sawed down the Christmas Tree here with a .020-second reaction time average on race day. When coupled with the fact that Anderson had the quickest car every round, Stanfield didn't have a chance in the final, losing by a 6.651- to 7.001-second difference.

Low qualifier Anderson was competing with extra motivation Sunday in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO. Aside from wanting to defend his Winternationals title and see what his new DRCE3 engines could do under real racing conditions, Anderson was forced to watch teammate Jason Line accept the 2006 winner's jacket, ring, and new Harley-Davidson.

"I was happy for Jason, but they never gave away Harleys before, and I sure liked the look of that bike," Anderson said. "Some of those folks from Harley said they might do it again next year, so I had the bit in my mouth all day. It just shows how messed up in the head you can get at times because I haven't driven like this in two years.

"This place is magic for me. That was our sixth win here. When it's 60 degrees like it was today, we just love it because you can pour all your power into the track and show off what you built over the winter. It looks like we did just a little bit better job than everyone else.

"We lost three crew guys since last year, including one of our crew chiefs, Jeff Perley. How do you replace him? But the new guys stepped up today, and Rob Downing did a great job calling the shots on both Summit cars all day."

A two-time winner on the tour -- in the now defunct Pro Stock Truck category -- Stanfield will have to wait for another day to see his PiranaZ Pontiac GTO in the winner's circle. He'll still be thrilled to be second in the early POWERade points standings.

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