FULL THROTTLE; Everyone is accelerating as NHRA kicks off 2005.(Motorsports)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

Is it better to have a multi-car mega-team in 2005 drag racing or a scrappy little one-car entry? The answer is, yes.

At the season-opening NHRA Winternationals at Pomona Raceway, the big-team approach worked in Top Fuel. Scott Kalitta won the event for the three-car Kalitta team by beating Doug Herbert in the final with a 4.487 seconds at 328.46 mph.

But Herbert had made it all the way to the final driving a car he himself owns. Defending Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher dominated qualifying from Thursday on, setting track records in elapsed time and speed at 4.447 seconds and 334.65 mph, all as part of the massive eight-entry juggernaut of Schumacher Racing.

Funny Car was the other way around, sort of. Tommy Johnson Jr. won the event with 4.741 at 327.59 mph when Phil Burkart smoked the tires. Johnson is part of Don Prudhomme Racing, which went from an ungainly and unsuccessful two-Funny Car team last year to one Funny Car (and one Top Fueler) this year, carrying over the best elements of that 2004 Funny Car team.

Burkart, meanwhile, was part of the two-car Worsham Racing team. All three Funny Car entries from perennial champ John Force Racing went out in the first round Sunday.

In Pro Stock Dave Connolly won driving a year-and-a-half-old car owned by Mike Dzurilla, edging GM-backed multi-champ Warren Johnson by less than 0.10 second.