At long last.

After 26 seasons, 587 races, 52 race wins, and six national runner-up finishes, Doug Kalitta has ascended to the pinnacle of NHRA Top Fuel racing as a world champion.

Returning to the racetrack where he made his Top Fuel debut in February 1998, Kalitta’s journey reached its zenith at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Gaige Herrera was as nervous as he'd ever been. 

The virtually unknown motorcycle rider was at Vance & Hines for a job interview to fill the open rider spot on the team. After getting a tour of the facility, he was summoned to the office of Terry Vance, team owner and an iconic two-wheel drag racer. 

In the realm of storybook endings, the events that unfolded in the Funny Car category on Sunday in historic Pomona, California, surpassed even the most imaginative tales.

A narrative emerged where a crew chief son triumphed over his nitro-piloting father and another family collected a dream-like father-and-son double-up. The afternoon was rife with upsets, with not a single championship contender advancing past the initial two rounds.

As the day concluded, it was Chad Green who emerged as the last competitor standing, clinching his maiden victory in the Funny Car category in his 50th start at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

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.