Every NHRA Pro Stock racer wants to cap a season with a world championship.

That didn’t happen for Aaron Stanfield, but he did get the next best thing as he won the season finale – the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., on Sunday.

It was Stanfield’s first victory of the season in his Elite Motorsports Janac Brothers Chevrolet Camaro. All the while his wife Joleigh is expecting the couple’s second child any day.

NHRA crowned its final series champions as the Camping World Drag Racing Series era drew to a close on Sunday at In-N-Out Dragstrip in Pomona, CA.

In the last run of the day, veteran Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta claimed his first-ever series championship by beating Leah Pruett to win the monumental championship. Joining Kalitta in their respective professional categories were Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

During the Top Fuel final round, Kalitta’s 11,000-horsepower Mac Tools/Toyota dragster clocked the best run of the day, covering the track in 3.673 seconds at 334.98 mph, surpassing Pruett’s run of 3.720 at 326.16. 

It was just the way drag racing fans loved it. A final round to determine the Top Fuel championship was won by Doug Kalitta as he beat Leah Pruett in a winner-take-all championship moment to close out the 2023 season at the NHRA In-N-Out Finals in Pomona, CA. 

Chad Green (Funny Car), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also scored national event titles in the last race of the Camping World Drag Racing Series era.

History has a way of making things right. It was 17 years ago that Kalitta's tuner Alan Johnson guided Tony Schumacher to a heartbreaking victory over the Mac Tools-sponsored driver. On a Sunday afternoon at In-N-Out Dragstrip, Kalitta got his championship with Johnson as his crew chief. 

Nothing was in it for Pro Stock racer Fernando Cuadra – no money, no publicity, no business deals. He just saw a need, knew he could be part of the solution, and had a heart that compelled him to reach out.

So when the bootmaker and master crafter of leather goods saw Angie Smith have her accident at St. Louis and display her tenacity in wanting to return to racing her Pro Stock Motorcycle, he stepped up to design a leather boot that would be sturdier and more protective. Moreover, he donated to the entire Pro Stock Motorcycle class, through Matt and Angie Smith, a stack of leather sheets to be used for customized padding in the racers’ riding leathers. He offered the leather sheets free of charge.

GETTRX, already a marketing partner with Hector Arana Jr. and Matt Hartford, announced Saturday at the NHRA In-N-Out Finals it will serve as title sponsor for the All-Star Call-Out specialty races in both the Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle classes, starting with the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Cruz Pedregon never imagined he’d have a synonymous sponsorship. But here he is three decades later, killing it. 

Pedregon's partnership with Snap-on Tools dates back to 1992, when the two first teamed up, and remained intact, despite a 2001 season where he served as a television analyst for ESPN. He returned in 2002, with full sponsorship from Snap-on, a relationship extended Saturday at the NHRA In-N-Out Finals through the 2026 season.

"I never thought I'd get to this point, and I told John Force the other day, 'I thought I was going to race you for a couple of years and that would be it,’" Pedregon said. "The fact he and I are the only ones left racing from the early 1990s is a blessing.  

As the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals unfold this weekend, Robert Hight embraced a clear mission.

His task was straightforward: Surpass Bob Tasca III to secure the second spot in the Funny Car standings and stay within striking distance of championship leader Matt Hagan. Hight not only achieved those objectives Saturday, but also clinched his seventh top qualifier award of the season.

As the final day at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip looms, he leads the pack, ready to cap off the season in style.

As the spotlight narrowed on the Top Fuel championship trio at the NHRA season finale this weekend, Austin Prock wasted no time in asserting his claim as the master of Pomona.

The defending race winner of the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, Prock has visited the final round at Pomona in three consecutive races. He got his bid for a fourth final round in two years off to a great start Saturday with the pole position at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

“I love it every time I come here,” Prock said. “As a kid growing up, ditching school and flying out here to come watch my dad race for championships and Wallys, it was always a treat to me. And I still feel the same way about this place. It has a special place in my heart and it just seems like we have a little mojo here.”

Robert Hight ensured the Funny Car championship will go down to the final day of the season as he stormed to the No. 1 qualifying position at the NHRA In-N-Out Finals in Pomona, CA.

Hight was joined atop the nitro qualifying grid by teammate Austin Prock (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and newly christened Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Gaige Herrera. 

Hight narrowed the gap between him and point leader Matt Hagan to just 12 points by thundering down the 1,000-foot course at In-N-Out Dragstrip in 3.844 seconds at 331.61 miles per hour in his Automobile Club of Southern California/Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS. Saturday’s top spot marked the seventh No. 1 of the season for the three-time world champ and the 84th in his career and propelled him past Bob Tasca III into second place in the process. With No. 6 qualifier Tasca only 17 points out of first – promises one of the most thrilling finishes in class history on Sunday.

Round One goes to Matt Hagan.

With three drivers locked in a dogfight for the NHRA Funny Car world championship, Hagan landed the first blow with the provisional pole Friday night at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Hagan was among the quickest drivers in both sessions on Friday, posting the second-quickest time in round one before jumping to the top of the class during session two. His 3.869-second pass at 328.46 mph in the Dodge Power Brokers Chargers was good enough to unseat Bob Tasca, the first-session pacesetter, and place himself in a prime position entering day two of qualifying.