A day after it became apparent the 2017 NHRA Heritage Series Funny Car championship was his, Ryan Hodgson was officially able to raise his champagne glass in a toast.

Hodgson clinched the 2017 title when Jason Rupert failed to qualify at the California Hot Rod Association, essentially eliminating the only challenger to his point lead. 

The chance to officially be recognized is something Hodgson sees as a long time coming. 

"It feels great," Hodgson said. "We set those goals last year at this time what we wanted to do and then we achieved our goals, and we’re happy. Our team’s very happy and I’m real proud of our guys that work for us so hard throughout the year. God bless all the fans and the sponsors that help us do this."

Hodgson admits getting called champion is something he's getting used to, but he's careful to understand the title is a limited time before he's got to prove himself all over again. 

"I just kind of don’t let that affect me," Hodgson said. "I just go with the flow, you know. You can call me whatever you want, I just don’t want anything like to get to my head. I just want to be a simple guy. You know, that’s great and all but I just want to be bigger than that."

Hodgson hopes this is something he gets to do more than once. 

"It’s just my turn this year, and then someone gets another turn next year, and next year, and next year, and that’s how that works, right?" Hodgson said. "I just got to enjoy it while it lasts."