By the end of Sunday’s second round of NHRA Finals eliminations at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif., Steve Torrence had all but earned his second consecutive Top Fuel championship.

He didn’t even have to win the race. All he had to do was avoid incurring a center-line or wall-grazing infraction that would have cost five points. The only question at that point was whether last-standing challenger Doug Kalitta would be saddled with his fifth series runner-up label by 33 points or three points.

This time it was three.

Kalitta has lost out on past championship opportunities by as much as 330 points and by as few as 14. But after a strong season that kept him in the top three virtually the entire way, he would up second again by a measly three points

But the driver of the Mac Tools Dragster came away with one big consolation prize: the race victory, his 47th in all, for a sweep of the two Pomona races and a third victory here in his past four visits.

Beating teammate Richie Crampton in an all-Kalitta Motorsports final round that would be Crampton’s last race for the team, Kalitta showed a buoyance of spirit that salved the letdown of another title miss.

Kalitta won with a 3.716-second elapsed time at a 332.67-mph speed on the 1,000-foot course, topping Crampton’s 4.884, 154.28 after the DHL Dragster lost traction.

“Yeah, I was real proud of the effort we put in today. That was the goal obviously, to get to the final,” Kalitta said. “In qualifying with Steve getting, above us, like 63 points after he ended up whatever the low qualifier was and then the points difference. So three rounds. It was tough to make up, and I don't know where we ended up short, but we gave it all we could. Obviously, it's definitely still on our list to win the championship. And I was just real proud of my guys today, and then coming out of here with the win, I love running here in Pomona, the 60th year with Connie.

“He's out here tuning Richie's car. And I'm running that thing in the final, and he had it all tuned up. And Connie's had that car running pretty good this year. So he's won a couple of races with it and, just real proud of him. And he's an inspiration really to me and everybody on our teams because 60 years of being out here . . . The Winternationals back in the 60s out here. So it's a pretty impressive run he's had, and he still loves it. So, to have somebody like that that's just so passionate, it's infectious with what we got going on.”

As for the championship chase that fell short, Kalitta said, “Obviously, a lot of people have mentioned it to me, I've got a hell of a following. I tell you what, there's a lot of people that love to see me win a championship, and I would love obviously nothing more to get it done one of these years. And so, yeah, it's just on the list. It's one of those things that I would love to be able to accomplish. And I think we're maybe three points behind this year, so some crazy amount. So, it's good that we're competitive. We're coming to these races, we're running good, and we're still taking a shot at coming into the last day of the events, and I'm trying to run for the championship.

“There's a lot to be said for that, and I'm just real proud of everybody on my Mac Tools team. Toyota's been a huge help with us this year with the TRD guys. They're out here busting their butts, working with all of the crew chiefs on our cars, and it's been just something that's really special that they've been helping us with. But yeah, it's a great team effort we got going on there. So I'll just keep digging,” he said.

Asked if he thought a championship will come for him when he really isn't expecting it, Kalitta said, “Well, hopefully, next year would be good. It's good that we've got the momentum that we've got going, and we'll just keep trying, work at it a little harder. It's amazing. You're three points behind at the end of the year, and it's these six races and the opportunities that you missed. I've got a couple of my own thoughts that, I was like, ‘Oh man, I should've had that round, with whatever your reaction time was.’ And it was just a close race. Just those opportunities, you got to just realize that those last six races are real important.”
 

Kalitta called race day “fun, for sure. Let's see. Probably the most excitement was in the second round [against Justin Ashley]. I think we completely blew that thing up. Just broke traction and just legged it down there, and it was a hell of an explosion. But everybody chipped in, and we got the thing put back together. The third round, the thing went up there, went .73, so I was like, after all of just what happened, as hard as those guys worked on it, it was awesome that ran a .73 and yeah, I was pretty impressed by my guys.

“We were actually the first car back up here because I was impressed. I was like, 'Guys, you realize we just totally leveled this thing, and you're the first car back to the lane.’  

"So, just hats off to these guys. And yeah, actually Troy did mention something about, 'Yeah, maybe we should have switched that motor,’ or whatever he was referring to. I'm not sure what he had going on with the car in the tuneup, but it definitely ran better and real proud of those guys. Troy and Rob Flynn, they've stepped this thing up for me, and we've gotten some consistency a little more this year than I think we've had."

After so many close encounters with a championship, Kalitta said “just the will to win” will keep him going.

“And those last six races, you have to take advantage of every opportunity. Again, this year was a good reminder of that. You just get up on the wheel and make sure you don't miss any opportunities. There's a bunch of young guys coming up next year. It's not going to be any easier. They were killing the tree, and you just got to step it up. So there's always something new."

One day something might be new for Kalitta.

But for Sunday, I was the familiar story . . . Kalitta watching someone else win the championship but showing he still is capable with another victory at Pomona.