Photos by Ron Lewis, Mike Burghardt, Jeff Burghardt
1 – FOUR-LETTER FINALS – 1 – That nasty four-letter word – rain – popped up just in time to spoil the championship coronation this weekend at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. The entire Southern California region was drenched, and the forecast for Saturday, Sunday, and even Monday is looking grim. But everyone will give it another try Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. PST.
2 – DETAILS, DETAILS – Doug Kalitta will have to wait until the end of qualifying before his second Top Fuel championship in three years is official. But he will have wrapped it up the second he completes his first qualifying pass.
His 2023 championship went down to a winner-take-all final round against Leah Pruett at the season’s final race. Last year, he entered the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in fourth place in points and emerged with his seventh runner-up finish in the final season standings. This weekend, his route to a second championship has turned out to be dramatically less dramatic.
Needing just one qualifying pass, even Kalitta was surprised he was in such an exciting position.
“It’s hard to believe that we managed to not drag it into the last round of the last race,” the presumptive champion said. “It feels really good. I’m definitely proud of my guys for making it all happen, for sure. We just have to qualify this weekend [and] e can definitely manage that. It’s a huge relief. It means a lot to Connie [team owner Connie Kalitta], me and everybody at Kalitta Motorsports, and we’re very grateful. It’s gratifying. I always hoped I’d be able to tie my cousin [Scott Kalitta] with the number of championships he has, and there’s plenty of people who have won this twice. To be one of the guys that’s won it twice with Alan [Johnson] as the crew chief, is really special for sure.”
Kalitta wants it all, though. If he wins this weekend’s race, it will be his fifth win of the season and his eighth at the racetrack. Moreover, it would be his 60th – and come at the 60th annual Finals here.
“I love running at Pomona. I’ve had great success there, and the pressure will be off. The only other thing to do is go out there and win this thing,” he said.
3 – FORCE PIVOTS – Years ago, NHRA Funny Car icon John Force vowed that when it came time for him to stop driving, he didn’t want a farewell-tour season. He said, “One day, I’ll just step over the fence and I’ll be gone.”
But a painfully public crash in June 2024 at the Virginia Nationals and a long, challenging rehabilitation following a traumatic brain injury diagnosis robbed the 16-time champion and 157-time race winner of the luxury of stepping away on his own terms.
But he gets to choose what’s next. Force announced Thursday at his West Coast headquarters at Yorba Linda, Calif., “I want to be clear: I’m not getting back in a fuel Funny Car anymore. It’s time for me to … I’ve done my time.” But literally, without skipping a beat, he heralded an energizing, optimistic new dimension to his storied career.
“I’m expanding my racing operation,” Force declared. “I’m excited about that. It gives me something to do. I’ve got a lot of announcements for the future, but I’m not going to touch on them now. That’s for next year. We’ll have a press conference in the early days of the new year.”
Josh Hart already has announced he will leave team ownership behind and join John Force Racing (JFR) as the new driver of Brittany Force’s Top Fuel dragster as she leaves the sport to start a family. And all indications point to Alexis DeJoria joining JFR as a Funny Car teammate to Austin Prock and Jack Beckman. Maybe Force has some undiscovered aces up his sleeve.
What’s certain is his statement that “I don’t need any more hits to the head. You think you’re Superman and Elvis and James Dean rolled into one, and you wake up one day and you can’t hang up your robe. That’s kind of where I’m at. That’s the short story on me. But I am excited to be back and be with my teams.”
Force said, “I’ve loved this sport my whole life, since I left high school in ’67. I didn’t know nothin’ else. I don’t know how to quit.”
Jack Beckman, who came out of an economically imposed mothballing for the final eight races last season as Force’s substitute and this year has been driving for the team, called Force’s announcement “such a surreal moment to hear an icon of the sport announce that’s it.” He said Force is “somebody who has set a standard I don’t think will ever be equaled in the sport.”
John Force might have stepped over the fence, but he won’t be gone.
4 – SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY – It’s enough gravity for a relatively young driver to represent John Force Racing, knowing – seeing for your entire lifetime – how the legend has built his empire from nothing but his obsession with the sport. Add to that a consensus of opinion that he’s the heir apparent to Force’s legacy, the face of the next generation of drag racing. Pile on his shoulders the equal weights of expectation and demand not to squander a 101-point advantage at the final race of a spectacular season.
Such is the situation Austin Prock is in. But he had one more layer of emotion slathered on the day before the In-N-Out NHRA Finals was to begin.
He arrived Thursday at the John Force Racing West Coast headquarters at Yorba Linda, Calif., knowing he was about to watch his boss officially give up the only thing he knew how to do – and ever wanted to do since the mid-1960s. Prock walked through the Shipping and Receiving doors, and a wave of sentiment washed over him.
“I actually had a childhood flashback this afternoon when I pulled into the parking lot beside the shipping and receiving door,” he said. “I remember being seven or eight years old my first time coming here, when my dad [crew chief Jimmy Prock] got hired, walking through that door and I don’t know – it just hit me. I guess it means a lot to me, because it was the first door that I walked [through] into John Force Racing. And I remember being a little kid, running around the parking lot, playing with our toys, Austin Coil yelling at us, me and my brother, telling us to get our stuff together. It’s crazy where life can take you.” He said it has been an epiphany to fast-forward 20 years, realizing he has gotten to work on elite race cars, drive first a Top Fuel dragster then a Funny Car, and earn a championship (and possibly two) for the sport’s winningest organization.
“It’s a pretty special place in my heart,” Prock said of the facility.
And he said this weekend’s race venue, known today as In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, “is always my favorite racetrack ever since I was a little kid. When we lived back in Michigan or in Indianapolis, you get out school early, you go catch a flight, you fly out here, and as soon as you land you go to In-N-Out Burger and then smoke a flight for the racetrack to go cheer on my dad. And all I ever wanted to do was be in his shoes or be behind the wheel of a race car like my hero, John Force. So to be here again is always exciting. I love coming here twice a year and to have the pressure to win the championship.”
Not surprisingly, Prock said he wasn’t keen about the lousy weather situation: “The prediction of the weather definitely doesn’t sit well with you. It’s one more uncertainty. You don’t know when you’re going to race, what time you’re going to race, if you’re going to race, so the nerves are the same. I’ve been looking at it this way: We’re racing for our second NHRA title. Attempt to be back to back, and we have a 101-point lead coming into the last race. If you aren’t excited or happy about that, you’re crazy. We just have to go out there and execute and do our job like we’ve done all year. This place, it’s a difficult racetrack, and especially with points and a half, it makes it tricky. But I have all the faith in this team. I have all the faith in myself that we can go out there and do a good job and earn back-to-back championships for John Force Racing.”
5 – BECKMAN PROUD BUT SAYS HE’S ‘NOT A HERO’ – The sanctioning body planned to honor America’s military veterans Friday, and Funny Car racer Jack Beckman – the lone top-10 nitro driver who served in the military – spoke about his own military service.
“I was a 17-year-old high-school dropout, and I went in the Air Force and it was life-changing. It was the best decision I ever made,” he said. “I’m more proud of my service the older I get. I think you can reflect on it in a different way.
“I’m not a hero. I didn’t do anything heroic. Bobby [Lyons, Brittany Force’s husband] did some pretty crazy stuff; Special Forces guy. Guys like that, they’re heroes. And there’s a lot of men and women in uniform that do some extraordinary things,” Beckman said. “I was fortunate to get to spend four years and straighten my life out and serve my country. And I do take in that now, and I think it’s nice that NHRA has stepped up in a big way to support the veterans. And it’s not just at this event. It’s easy to do it on Veteran Day, but they do year ’round. And I think that’s a really unique thing, and I’m proud to be associated with NHRA for what they do for veterans.”
When he competed with Don Schumacher Racing, thanks to the late Terry Chandler, Beckman carried the Infinite Hero livery, raising awareness for the foundation that connects veterans with service-related injuries and their families with effective treatment programs.
6 – MISSING KEEN RIVAL – It’s a curious thing when a three-time champion in any sport walks away, virtually vanishes, and the reaction from just about everyone is super-low-key. That’s what happened with Funny Car standout Robert Hight. But one maybe-surprising individual said he especially misses Hight.
Matt Hagan, whose career featured some intense battles with Hight, including the race to get to four series championships. They faced each other 47 times, and Hight left the sport with a 25-22 edge over Hagan.
“Man, I really enjoyed racing him as a competitor. He always ran straight up. We always just were neck and neck, and I miss the guy,” Hagan said. “I miss racing the guy. I mean, just … it’s one of those things where we always had a big rivalry. There’s definitely times where you miss racing Robert, just because of the competitor that he is and the type of guy that he is. And I felt like we were similar in driving styles and we always just, you let your cars do the talking and the rest takes care of itself.”
Hagan said, “I’m very, very shocked to see Robert kind of fall off the face of the drag-racing world and doesn’t come to races, doesn’t reach out. I mean, to be someone that’s been so instrumental in the growth of our sport and where we’ve been and to just all of a sudden turn the switch off and disappear, which he’s allowed to do … I mean, there’s nothing in the rule book says you’re not allowed to live your life and move on in a new chapter and stuff.”
Just as nettlesome for Hagan, though, is Hight’s replacement, Austin Prock.
“I welcome the new blood in the sport,” Hagan said. “Jimmy Prock is a big part of that, and it’s a family affair over there with his son [driving] and his other son tuning. You tip your hat to him. And Austin being younger, like I said in an interview a while back, I think Austin still has some trials and tribulations to go through, unfortunately, and I hope that he never does. I hope that that car never blows up and never catches on fire and never hits walls. But he’s been in such a good car and they do such a good job of keeping the parts and pieces together there. But it’s kind of like with Funny Car, I earned my stripes early on. I thought I was going to die in a Funny Car. I was on fire every other run.”
And now the Funny Car focus at John Force Racing has shifted to Austin Prock and Jack Beckman. And Hagan has had to battle both to get himself in position to win another championship.
7 – DUEL BETWEEN TEAMMATES SPICES BIKE CHASE – If Gaige Herrera can overcome the 21-point advantage that RevZilla/Mission/Vance & Hines Suzuki teammate Richard Gadson has over him and win the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship, he would become the fifth in his class to win three consecutive championships. Herrera would join Angelle Sampey (2000-02), Matt Smith (2020-22), Andrew Hines (2004-06), and Matt Hines (1997-99). But Gadson isn’t going to make it easy for Herrera – and vice-versa.
After Herrera won at Las Vegas in the most recent event, he said, “This couldn’t have gone any better, me and my teammate facing off in the semis, with him in the points lead, so I needed him to go out to get a little closer. What a race between me and him, my .005 light to his perfect .000 light. It just doesn’t get any better than that. It also just goes to show how hungry we both are to get this championship right now. I’d love to race [Gadson] in the final in Pomona for the championship.”
Gadson said of Herrera, “He’s usually a flawless rider. You usually have to outrun him. I have to take advantage of any daylight I can get, because that’s how tight this championship battle’s going to be.” Also taking into consideration the “sometimes unpredictable Matt Smith” factor, Gadson said, “If I can be there to capitalize on those guys’ mistakes, it’s a big help for me in this points battle.”
Even before the Dallas eliminations two races ago, Gadson said, “I’m No. 1 in points. I just want the season to stop right here. I’m just holding on. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I’ve just got to not be my own worst enemy and I think we can do it. I’ve got as much of a shot as anyone else. Whatever intensity I feel, they feel, too. I’ll take that, knowing that it’s even.”
8 – BRITTANY FORCE REFLECTS – Two-time Top Fuel champion Brittany Force, the most successful woman in the class with 19 victories, is preparing to step away from the sport to build a family. And as the Yorba Linda, Calif., native looks back on her career – which began and will end here – she said she’s feeling “a little bit of pressure.”
She won the series’ most recent race, two weeks ago at Las Vegas, to pass legendary Shirley Muldowney’s 18 triumphs. Force said, “That win was huge for us” because she wants “to end the Countdown on a strong note.” She said her team’s desire to deliver her a victory before the end of the year – for her, not for themselves – “speaks so highly of their character.”
Force owns eight of the top 10 fastest speeds, all at 340 mph and better, including the fastest in all of motorsports at 343.51. She is happy to wear the label of Queen of Speed, but she said, “We were never chasing that mile per hour. We were always chasing that E.T. [elapsed time]. Force said her fans have continued to ask her if she plans to go even faster than 343.51 mph. She smiled and said, “Right now, I think that’s fast enough. But the second it’s taken from me, I’ll be calling [crew chief Dave] Grubnic.”
9 – BROWN READY TO REGAIN CHAMPIONSHIP FORM – Reigning Top Fuel champion for a few more days, four-timer Antron Brown said he’s planning to “come out swinging in 2026.” And the driver of the Matco Tools Eagle Experience dragster, who’s ninth in this year’s standings, is seeking a fifth NHRA Finals victory at Pomona. After earning the 1999 trophy on a Pro Stock Motorcycle, Brown has won this race three times (2009-10, 2024).
“As long as it doesn’t rain, we’re going to go for some triple-A throw-down runs. And hopefully the fans will get to see some of the fastest times of the year this weekend,” he said.
Matco Tools announced the nationwide rollout of the Eagle Experience, a dynamic mobile showroom tour designed to bring cutting-edge tool storage and diagnostic technology directly to technicians, technical education students, and motorsports fans across the country. Having launched this fall and continuing through 2026, the Eagle Experience will make stops at automotive repair centers, tech-ed campuses, and major events, including this weekend’s NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.
10 – FAMILY TIES – Melanie Johnson scored a holeshot victory against Shawn Cowie in Thursday’s opening round of Top Alcohol Dragster eliminations and will meet Jon Bradford whenever the rain-interrupted schedule permits Round 2 to take place. And she’ll do it in a car with special family-showcased livery featuring the Johnson Farms decal design. It was inspired by the classic Johnson Racing logo that appeared on the Top Alcohol Dragster her father, Alan Johnson, and uncle Blaine Johnson raced together in the late 1980s and early ’90s. It marks the 30th anniversary of Blaine Johnson’s first Top Fuel victory at this event here at Pomona in 1995.
“My family has been farming on the central coast of California for four generations,” she said. “My great-grandfather immigrated from Denmark and bought land in Santa Maria to start a dairy farm. Over time, the family transitioned to growing produce, most notably strawberries, and we’re proud to continue being stewards of the land today. Drag racing has always been a family passion. To close out my rookie Top Alcohol Dragster season by honoring where we came from, both in farming and in racing, feels really special. This weekend, our family and friends will come together in Southern California once again to celebrate an incredible season and remember the legacy that brought us here.”
TAYLOR AND STEVENS’ RECORD RUN LEAVES THEM WANTING MORE — AND THANKFUL IT STOPPED WHEN IT DID