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

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1,000th Funny Car Trophy Is Winternationals’ PrizeMediaNews 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.

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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. I’m number 600 [2008 Phoenix]. I had forgotten the fact that I’m part of the fabric of the milestone race wins that got us to 1,000.

“There’s never any extra incentive to win a race, because you just want to win a race,” he said. “NHRA stepped up the appearance of the winners trophies this year, and tracks have lately been giving an additional trophy, kind of the flavor of the event there, and so I’m sure this one for the 1,000th is going to be incredible.



“I just I didn’t think I’d be a part of this. I mean, I’ve done 30 races for John Force Racing, so 31 races ago, I wasn’t racing. The fact that I’m back in the cockpit to have a chance to win the 1,000th Funny Car race is the greatest news,” the 2012 Funny Car champion said.

Beckman has won in his past four starts at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip (2019 Finals, 2020 Winternationals, 2024 Finals, 2025 Winternationals) and is 19-1 in his five most recent appearances at the track. He also won twice here at the Winternationals in the sportsman-level Super Comp class (1998, 2003).

“Pomona happens to be my home track, just happens to be the 1,000th Funny Car race, and I happen to be the defending race champion,” Beckman said. “I’m hoping that the planets are going to line up. It’s kind of a nice feeling to be a part of this history. I’m a historian that’s also getting to put my thumbprint on some of the history. That’s pretty cool.”

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Jack Beckman.Icon Sportswire - Getty Images

But this third of 20 races in the NHRA’s 75th anniversary season doesn’t belong exclusively to champions and veterans. Daniel Wilkerson and class rookie Jordan Vandergriff have special reasons they, too, would cherish a special-edition diamond Wally (named for Wally Parks, the sport’s founder) – beyond simply claiming the distinction.

Wilkerson’s father, Tim Wilkerson, is one of just two to capture two milestone victories. John Force is the other. Wilkerson claimed Nos. 400 and 500 (in 1999 at Chicago and 2003 at the marquee U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis). Force’s 300th came in 1994 at Topeka, and the 800th in 2016 at Denver.

So Dan Wilkerson said he wants to win because his father and tuner, Tim Wilkerson, “won races 400 and 500, so we are really hoping to [follow] in the winners circle so Wilkerson is the only name on the list three times.”



Vandergriff, competing at the Winternationals for the first time, also has visions of personal satisfaction. The Brea, Calif., native said, “Getting my first win in the NHRA’s 1,000th Funny Car race, at my hometown track, would be amazing. I think you couldn’t write a script any better than that, and Hollywood’s not too far away. It just would be unbelievable for it to happen, and we’re [operating] with the idea that it’s going to happen.”

Racer Travis Shumake’s late father, Tripp Shumake, won the 100th Funny Car race, in 1981, at Atlanta. And the popular Tripp Shumake will be celebrated on track as Travis Shumake will carry livery from the 1981 NHRA Southern Nationals on his own Legacy Nitro Funny Car Series entry.


“It’s going to be an emotional weekend for me, for sure. My dad was so well-liked by everyone when he raced, and he is a part of history winning the 100th Funny Car race. To be able to honor him with the Little Hoss Funny Car will be amazing.”

Bruce Larson—winner last month at the Gatornationals at Gainesville, Florida, in an exhibition showdown of drag-racing legends–was the class’ 200th winner at the 1989 Winternationals. Johnny Gray, a former Pro Stock and Funny Car regular, made history in 2012, at Englishtown, New Jersey, as Funny Car’s 700th victor.

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Ron Capps.Icon Sportswire - Getty Images


Ron Capps, already successful this season as No. 1 starter at Gainesville and winner at Phoenix in the first two races, said, “We’ve talked about celebrating 75 years of NHRA in 2026 for quite some time now, and I can’t think of a track with more legacy or that better signifies the history of our sport than Pomona, the birthplace of NHRA drag racing. And, how cool that it lines up where this weekend is the 1,000th Funny Car race.

“I’ve been lucky enough to not only be a part of some of the big ones but have also had a front-row seat to some incredible matchups over the years with some of the biggest names, including my former boss, Don ‘The Snake’ Prudhomme. The Winternationals is one of the most historic events, so you really couldn’t have drawn it up better,” Capps said.

But maybe Alexis DeJoria, a John Force Racing teammate to Beckman and Vandergriff, said it best: “We’re all going to be part of history this weekend.”

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