OFF TO THE RACES; The NHRA's Winternationals Were Quick Out of the Gate.(Motorsports)(National Hot Rod Association)

Byline: BILL STEPHENS

In 1961, "The Big Go West'' first saw the light of day. The NHRA's Winter-nationals inherited that nickname as a direct reference to the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, touted as "The Big Go'' and the most prestigious of any drag-racing event. Forty-six years later, drag racers will tell you their career is incomplete without a U.S. Nationals win and only slightly less so without a Winternationals title.

The 47th Carquest Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California, opened the season with a trailer full of story lines in all the professional classes. Of course, drag racing's lead story has been drag racing's lead story ever since Ashley Force announced she would make her pro debut this year in a fourth Team Castrol nitro Mustang. She joins her dad, John Force, and team drivers Robert Hight and Eric Medlen.

The high point of the weekend for both Forces occurred in qualifying, when Force the elder faced knocking his daughter from the qualified field should he succeed in getting his own Mustang in. In the final qualifying session, John bumped Ashley with his best pass of the weekend, a 4.709-second shot that temporarily boosted him into the No. 3 spot. But a moment later, Ashley muscled her car to the finish line with a 4.790 elapsed time, nailing down No. 13. As her numbers rippled across the scoreboard, John went nuts back at the starting line.

"That's my baby!'' howled Force as tears welled up in his eyes. "She did it! She did it! This is the greatest day in my life next to her being born!''

The good times ended in Round 1 of eliminations, when John fell to Cruz Pedregon and Ashley was ousted by teammate Hight. But Ashley's Funny Car debut will be a talking point for the next 10 months of the season.

Not to be overlooked was Kenny Bernstein's Funny Car return (The "King of Speed'' Redux, Jan. 29). The six-time fuel champion was hoping that his new team could get all the pieces to fit together in its first race, but Bernstein did not make the field.