Pete Kaiser left Famoso Dragstrip with a trophy but not the championship. The veteran Top Fuel racer won the California Hot Rod Reunion title Sunday, yet his triumph wasn’t enough to erase Tyler Hilton’s two-round advantage in the NHRA Heritage Series standings.
Joining Kaiser in the Bakersfield winner’s circle was Funny Car standout Jon Capps, who also swept both events at the historic Central California track in 2025. Both drivers ended the season on high notes but fell just short of the ultimate goal — a championship title.
Kaiser dominated eliminations from start to finish, beating Bret Williamson and Brian Hall before defeating Frank McBee Jr. in the final round. His 5.720-second, 259.44-mph pass topped McBee’s 5.815 at 257.51 to secure the event victory.
Through the course of Sunday, Kaiser was consistently the quickest car in the field. He opened eliminations with a 5.708 and followed with a stout 5.677 before sealing the win in the final.
McBee’s path to the championship round was equally impressive. He dispatched Mike Hilton in the opening round and eliminated the newly crowned Top Fuel champion, Tyler Hilton, in the semifinals to advance.
For Kaiser, the victory marked a welcome turnaround after what he called a “frustrating” summer stretch. “Oh, definitely a huge high note to end the off-season like that,” Kaiser said. “Probably the biggest thing is we’ve got the car to come around. We had a bad summer with this car. We were just fighting clutch disc, valve train problems, and it was very, very frustrating. We kind of know how to run this car and it just wouldn’t react to anything we were doing. And this weekend, it started reacting.”
The improvement, he noted, was a long time coming after a season filled with mechanical setbacks. Kaiser credited his crew for their patience and willingness to keep experimenting as they sought consistency from the nostalgic front-engine dragster.
The battle between Kaiser and Hilton has defined the Heritage Top Fuel division in recent years. Kaiser acknowledged the rivalry with respect and said he’s already planning changes to push harder in 2026.
“Yeah, we’re going to change the fuel system around a little bit,” Kaiser said. “I kind of maxed out my adjustments on the fuel system. I can’t really put more nitro in it, because I can’t get enough fuel to flow. And I’m just going to change some things around. I’m going to try and take transmission out. I’ll drop 80 pounds off this car and just run high gear only. Just try some different things.”
That mechanical curiosity has defined Kaiser’s long tenure in nostalgia drag racing. He’s one of the few remaining veterans still tuning and driving his own Top Fueler, a throwback to an earlier era of the sport.
Asked about the state of the class, Kaiser said competition remains strong, though he wishes more racers would travel beyond their regional bases. “The class is pretty competitive,” he said. “It’s expensive to run this class. That’s why I wish more guys would travel. I get it, why they don’t. But there’s only like, I don’t know, four or five traveling cars. I wish more people could travel and so it would be more competitive.”
Despite falling short of the championship, Kaiser’s Bakersfield sweep capped a statement season for the Northern California driver. He proved that persistence still pays off, even when the title slips away by just a few rounds.
For fans, the Hilton-Kaiser rivalry is far from over. Both drivers are already looking toward next spring, when another season of nitro nostalgia begins — and the fight for the Heritage Series crown starts all over again.
