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.

Four of Tony Stewart Racing’s crew members took the spotlight Saturday in honor of Veterans Day at the In-N-Out Burger Finals at Pomona, Calif. Those veterans – Thomas Brown, Kurt Johnson, Allen Oberbroeckling and Chris Shuron – perform unique positions within the Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Top Fuel and Funny Car teams.

Brown, who oversees body and tire preparation on Hagan’s Funny Car, was a sergeant and squad leader in the Army. Johnson, TSR’s track specialist, spent six years as a United States Marine Aircraft Fire Fighter during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Oberbroeckling, a member of TSR’s hospitality team, was an 88M Motor Transport Operator in the Army. Shuron, a clutch assistant who handles tire preparation on Pruett’s Top Fuel dragster, served in the Marines as a lance corporal.

Drag racing fans were reminded of the inherent dangers of racing Pro Stock Motorcycle Saturday during the Q3 session of the NHRA In-N-Out Finals.

From a purely competitive standpoint, you couldn’t have asked for a more thrilling kickoff to NHRA’s championship weekend.

The top three drivers in the sport’s premier Top Fuel class, separated by just 34 points entering the weekend, all qualified in the top three Friday, with current points leader Steve Torrence emerging atop the charts after day one of the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstip.

After hazing the tires in Round One, Torrence bounded back with a chart-topping 3.641-second pass at 335.65 mph in his Capco Contractors dragster, holding off Doug Kalitta and Leah Pruett to lead first-day qualifying.

Greg Anderson is no stranger to winning NHRA Pro Stock world championships – he has five (2003-2005, 2010 and 2021).

However, Anderson is going to have to have a lot of pieces fall into place to get title No. 6 this weekend.

Anderson arrived at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., in second place in the world standings trailing Erica Enders by 114 points.

Paul Lee was on top of the world for about five pairs of Funny Cars during the Q2 session at the NHRA In-N-Out Finals. The successful businessman, who considers nitro racing his fun time, had run the quickest elapsed time of his career, a 3.875-second pass, to claim the provisional No. 1 qualifier. 

And, even when Matt Hagan edged his career mark on the last pass of the session, Lee was still smiling ear to ear. 

Lee goes into Saturday as No. 2, but the run, the feeling of success, is a personal No. 1 by a mile. 

Del Worsham was lying in bed watching television when a commercial came on, advertising the upcoming In-N-Out NHRA Finals in Pomona, Ca.

It has been a short 32 years since the former bicycle racer who has never raced a car without burning nitro in the tank. He might have last raced full-time in 2017, but the fire never left the belly for the drag racing veteran who has tuned Alexis DeJoria for the last three seasons.

“I started looking through the social media, and seeing that commercial, I wanted to race again,” Worsham said. “I looked at my wife. She was good with it. I called Alexis, was my first call. She was good with it. I said, "All right, we'll make this happen. Let's have some fun."