Race Report.(News)(a report of the NHRA season opening races in Pomona, California)

Last year in the NHRA there was a new tire everyone had to get used to. In 2001 everyone had to adjust to a less powerful but also less volatile nitro fuel mix. A few seasons before that all the clutch plates melted down. This year, there was only one real change, a switch to LED lights on the starting tree, which means the lights come on about three-hundredths of a second or so quicker, and no one's complaining about that. Otherwise, there are no major rule changes and no technology hiccups. So no excuses work for 2003.

There were none at the NHRA season opener in Pomona, California. There was a lot of good, close racing, and few oil downs or blown engines as more cars got down the track in one piece than seemingly ever before. The few losses were due to cataclysmic events-either between the engine mounts or between the ears. The winners finished just ahead of the losers, and the losers went home holding their heads up, knowing they'd done a good job.

In Top Fuel, defending series champion Larry Dixon beat Cory McClenathan by five one-hundredths of a second, 4.541 at 322.04 mph to 4.597 at 309.42 mph. The day before, Dixon won the Budweiser Shootout, a separate competition among Top Fuel's best qualifiers.

``It's the perfect way to start out a season,'' said Dixon.

In Funny Car, Tony Pedregon was the model of consistency, running 4.7s all day. He used the last one to ...