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SUNDAY

WORSHAM CAPS CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON WITH POMONA WIN - Del Worsham knew what was at stake when he arrived for NHRA’s Auto Club Finals at Pomona, Calif.

The veteran driver came to the season-finale with a 38-point lead over second-place Jack Beckman.

Worsham made sure he captured his first Funny Car world championship by winning the race – beating Tommy Johnson Jr. in the finals Sunday.

Worsham clocked a 3.900-second time at 328.14 mph to edge Johnson’s 4.023-second lap at 305.42 mph.

This was Worsham’s fourth win of the season – to go along with his victories at Charlotte, St. Louis, and Dallas, all which happened in the ultra-important six-race Countdown to the Championship. Worsham drives the DHL Toyota Camry for Kalitta Motorsports.

“It was amazing,” Worsham said. “The Countdown did go well for us. We had some great events. We had Seattle where we ran well and we had Phoenix and Charlotte and we just kept losing these close battles. After what happened to us at Brainerd and the way Jack Beckman’s team performed we knew at that point we needed to go do something. We did some testing and we ran Indy and when we started Charlotte, Q1 in Charlotte set the tone for what was going to come. At that point, we knew we had a car that could at least race with the Schumacher cars.”

Worsham clinched the coveted world championship when he beat Beckman in the semifinals. Worsham ran a 3.928-second pass to defeat Beckman’s 4.088-second run.

“It is tough,” said Worsham about going out and racing in the finals after securing the championship in the semis. “Everybody wants to celebrate, not the crew, but the family and the fans. I said look, just give me a half an hour and we will come back and one way or the other we will celebrate what took place here. It’s a little difficult, but I just buried myself up there in the lounge with the crew chiefs and we did what we always do. We listen to music and we watch movies and we just talked and we were ready for the finals.”

Worsham said his choice of music in the meeting was the Beastie Boys.

Worsham was rockin’ and rollin’ all day on this memorable outing as he beat Tony Pedregon and Robert Hight before ousting Beckman and Johnson Jr. Tracy Renck

GRATEFUL LANGDON GLAD TO GIVE DSR, TEAM A TOP FUEL VICTORY - Shawn Langdon followed the most peculiar path to the winners circle at Sunday’s Auto Club NHRA Finals. He called it a “crazy year – how it started and how it ended.”

He began the season in Alan Johnson’s Knuckle Sandwich Toyota Dragster, still smarting from the news just a few weeks before that his primary sponsor had abruptly left AJR in the lurch financially. But he won the season-opening Winternationals this February and set the track record here at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif., with the quickest pass ever at the time.

He and his Brian Husen-led team, with extended funding from Toyota, battled gamely and reached the final round at Seattle, but never found the sponsorship to keep the team together. Johnson suspended the operation on the ever of the Countdown kickoff.

But in a remarkable display of drag-racing détente, Johnson arranged with his keenest racing rival, Don Schumacher, to put Langdon in his vacant dragster. Langdon had earned a spot in the six-race playoff, and both agreed that Langdon had earned the chance to continue to compete.

So Langdon completed the year – and won his second Wally trophy – with Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler tuning him through the Countdown.

And Sunday in the final he defeated Antron Brown quicker and faster than anyone could say “Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher/Sandvik Coromant Dragster for Don Schumacher Racing.” His 3.715-second, 332.43-mph performance on the 1,000-foot course trumped Brown’s 3.732, 321.73 in the Matco Tools / Toyota / U.S. Army Dragster.

Langdon joined Del Worsham (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock), and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) in the winners circle after the season finale that was interrupted twice by rain for a total of 80 minutes.

The No. 11 qualifier advanced past Larry Dixon, Clay Millican, and Doug Kalitta.

The Red Fuel team was in a bit of a similar situation as Langdon. He had lost his car. That team had lost its driver, when Spencer Massey was let go just before the U.S. Nationals. Khalid alBalooshi stepped in for the Indianapolis classic, but they got back in a groove with the arrival of Langdon.

After his victory, Langdon said, “I want to thank Don Schumacher for giving me the opportunity when he didn’t have to. They gave me a good car – big speeds, quick E.T.s, running the champ in the final.” He said the team “has absolutely worked their butts off. They were very deserving to have a shot at the championship.”

He said he was proud of the team for helping him work through what he called “a big learning curve.”

And Langdon wanted to make sure Schumacher receives proper credit for all he does to enhance the sport, saying it’s time to remove the labels slapped unfairly on the megateam owner.

“The guy has a big heart, and I can tell you firsthand since I’ve come over and raced with Don Schumacher and his whole organization it’s a first-class act from top to bottom. They gave me all the necessary tools to win. And even though I’ve been racing with Alan the last couple years and we competed [against DSR] for championships, Don didn’t take anything away from me coming over. He gave me everything that he gave Antron, he gave me everything that he gave Tony, to compete for a championship. In my eyes, that’s first class,” Langdon said. “I just can’t thank Don enough for the opportunity.”

He said he was a bit surprised the day he learned of the arrangement but said he hoped it would work – “a little bit selfishly for me to have the chance to win the championship. It just goes to show you that Alan Johnson and Don Schumacher are the two best owners out there. They do it for the sport. They do it for the fans. They do it to keep everything going. At the end of the day, it’s not about egos. It’s about doing what’s best for the sport.

“I couldn’t be more proud to work with two class acts,” Langdon said. “They both do the same thing. They give their drivers the best equipment out there. They hire great people. They surround themselves with great people. They’re very organized organizations – top-notch pats, pieces. Everything that goes into it is first class. I can see why Don Schumacher has won so many races and so many championships.”

He reminded, “I’m still under contract with Alan. My first obligation is to him. If things don’t work out, then I’ll go from there. Hopefully I’ll be in a racecar next year.”

Brown, the No. 1 qualifier, was seeking his 30th Top Fuel victory in the past five seasons. He has earned 29 Top Fuel victories in that span. The two racers who have come closest are Spencer Massey with 16 and Tony Schumacher with 13. That means Brown has won more times in the past five years than the next two most successful racers combined.

Brown produced consistent 3.7s all day, reaching his 10th final round this season by eliminating Cory McClenathan, Steve Torrence, and Richie Crampton. In his semifinal victory against Richie Crampton, Brown matched the 3.700-second track record Langdon had set in February.

Brown clinched the 2015 Top Fuel championship at the previous race, at Las Vegas two weeks ago, but he had hoped to give crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald one more triumph. But his newest DSR mate showed him no deference.  

Just the same, Brown had no regrets.

“It was a beautiful year,” he said.

“It was a good drag race there against Shawn. What can you say – five-thousandths of a second at the line. As far as the season is concerned, hey, we did everything we wanted to do and we’re just so happy and grateful that everything turned out the way it did,” Brown said. “I’ve been super stoked about all of our guys, all of our team, all of our great partners this year – Matco Tools, the U.S. Army, Toyota. It feels good to bring it home. We end the year with a Countdown that was pretty tight with three wins, a couple of semifinals, and a runner-up. That’s just a stellar year and just a stellar Countdown, and we’re just super stoked.”

The final standings, after Brown have Tony Schumacher the runner-up and Richie Crampton third. The rest of the top 10, in order, are Larry Dixon, Doug Kalitta, Langdon, Brittany Force, Steve Torrence, JR Todd, and Dave Connolly. Susan Wade

ALLEN JOHNSON WINS POMONA PRO STOCK TITLE - Allen Johnson has had plenty of special memories in NHRA’s Pro Stock class, and the one he made Sunday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona, Calif., might rank at the top.

Johnson clocked a 6.541-second time at 210.18 mph – and used a holeshot – to edge Vincent Nobile’s quicker 6.540-second lap at 211.93 mph.

“We struggled during the entire Countdown,” Johnson said. “I went first round, semis, first round, semis, first round, win. Here (at Pomona) we struggled the entire weekend. We were getting out of the groove, left, right, and right before the final a team member found a part that was bent underneath the car, and the final run (it) went right straight down the track, and made a good run. Somebody was up there looking over me all weekend, and we had that tribute thing on the car all weekend for 20 great years and to give your family that and your dad, (Roy Johnson) and Mopar, and everybody involved with the operation a win (Sunday), we all dug down deep and got it done.”

This win by Johnson also was the last by a carbureted NHRA Pro Stock car.

On Jan. 1, 2016, NHRA will require all Pro Stock teams to equip their cars with electronically-controlled throttle body fuel injection systems, making engines more relevant from a technology standpoint. In order to reduce and control costs for the race teams, an NHRA-controlled 10,500 Rev Limiter will be added to the fuel injection systems.

NHRA also will require Pro Stock teams to remove all hood scoops and reduce the length of the wheelie bars to a length specified by the NHRA Tech Department.

“It’s very special,” said Johnson about snaring the last carbureted win in Pro Stock. “We won the last championship (in 2012) with Full Throttle and that was pretty special. We’ve had a lot of special moments the last 20 years doing this. To do that one (Sunday), the way we dug down and got it done was very special and to do it with the last package of Pro Stock that will be remembered forever as an era, that is special.”

It was Johnson’s second win of the season to go along with the one he won in Chicago. It also was the 26th victory of his career, and likely his last with full backing from Mopar.

“We’re working on sponsorship,” Johnson said about his status for 2016. “I’m sure we will be in a Dodge Dart if we come back and Mopar will be involved with us in some way. We have our finger on something pretty good for next year, and if it happens it will be the best deal I’ve ever had. If it doesn’t, we ended on a great note.”

Although Johnson’s status for 2016 is in limbo, he said his team is moving forward with the hope of racing.

“The team has been working on the EFI,” Johnson said. “We have been working on the projects for next year just like nothing is going to happen different. We hope the package comes together to where we can be out here, but right now we are probably 50-50.”

Johnson acknowledged racing would be tough to replace for him.

“We’ve been doing it for so long,” Johnson said. “I grew up watching my dad race. I played in the mud behind the trailer at the local track in Newport, Tenn. He was racing Stockers and Super Stockers and then we started this (Pro Stock) gig in 1996. I would be lost probably, but you know we’ve had a great run. We’ve had championships, and a lot of wins and we’ve done it as a family and it would be bittersweet if we don’t show up, but it would be a great run if we didn’t show up. I’m sure I could learn to do a little something different if I had to. I don’t want to, but I could.”

Johnson entertained the idea of going back to Sportsman racing.

“We have dad’s Drag Pak Challenger sitting there that I’m sure if I don’t come back next year (in Pro Stock) you will probably see us at Bristol (Tenn.) and Atlanta and Charlotte probably racing that thing or something. I also got into road racing the last few years with the Dodge Vipers and I love that. I might even do some of that.”

Johnson said his dad’s car has been run in a couple of years – and he wants him to continue in Pro Stock.

“He’s pushing me on this sponsorship gig and he’s already working on the EFI, just like we’re going to be out here next year,” Johnson said. “He’s not going to roll over too easy.”

If Pro Stock racing doesn’t happen for the Johnsons, Allen knows it will not change the tight relationship he has with his father.

“We do a lot of stuff together,” Allen said. “The whole family does a lot of stuff together. We just live a half mile apart and we had a lot of interest together, so we will be together just as much.” Tracy Renck

BIKER KRAWIEC WINS EVENT TO GIVE HARLEY-DAVIDSON DOUBLE VICTORY - Eddie Krawiec had a chance to win the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship this weekend at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif.

Instead, his Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson teammate, Andrew Hines, grabbed his fifth series title, and Krawiec settled for the No. 2 spot in the standings.

But Krawiec was far from disappointed.

“Looking back, how can you say it was a bad year?” he asked rhetorically Sunday after defeating Matt Smith in the bike-class showdown of the Auto Club NHRA Finals. “We put two Harley-Davidsons in the winners circle many times, and I’m fortunate to be on a great team and be a part of it.”

It was another outstanding year for the three-time champion. He won four times in eight final rounds and ran his career victories total to 31 races. Along the way Sunday, he took advantage of Savoie’s mechanical malfunction early in their Round 2 match-up and passed him in the standings to give Harley-Davidson a 1-2 finish again.  

After reeling off a winning 6.846-second elapsed time at 192.58 mph on the quarter-mile, Krawiec said he “couldn’t be more excited about the way the season ended.”

He said he had been excited about the way the bracket filled out.

“It was the best-case scenario,” Krawiec said. “It was 1-2-and-3 that were all going to meet each other by the second or third round. In a perfect world, for me, I needed to beat Jerry second round in order to have that opportunity to have a shot at the No. 2 plate. So it was great, no matter how I looked at it. If Jerry beat us both, he deserved to win the championship. It was a great battle all year long. Jerry came on strong in the last part of the season. But consistency is the key. Sometimes the fastest motorcycle doesn’t always win, and we’ve all learned that.”

But with Savoie being an exemplary Vance & Hines engine-program client, Krawie said he was “proud of” Savoie and his team for helping his own organization post a 1-2-3 finish in the final standings. “They’re showing what we offer our customers. It’s great for Vance & Hines,” Krawiec said.

While the focus seemed to be on Savoie and Krawiec’s role in helping Hines and Harley-Davidson gain another championship, Krawiec’s success Sunday came also at the expense of Smith in the final round.      

Smith, a hundredth of a second quicker off the starting line than Krawiec, countered with a 6.888, 194.21 on his Victory Racing / NitroFish entry.

Krawiec shared the winners circle with Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Del Worsham (Funny Car), and Allen Johnson (Pro Stock). Susan Wade

SATURDAY - CAPPS POSTS POSSIBLE NATIONAL E.T. RECORD, FUNNY CAR BATTLE INTENSIFIES, SAVOIE SPRINKLES CAJUN SPICE INTO PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE CHASE, TONY PEDREGON ALREADY HEARING FROM FANS, DIXON WANTS TO KEEP GOING, NO SCHUMACHER MIRACLES NECESSARY, SEVERAL TOP FUEL AND FUNNY CAR TEAMS VYING FOR BETTER SPOTS IN FINAL ORDER, MILLICAN MEANS BUSINESS, TODD MAKING PROGRESS, FAMILIAR FACES RETURN TO PRO STOCK PITS

CAPPS POWERS TO NO. 1 WITH 3.886 BLAST – In what he called “the craziest run” and “probably the wildest ride I’ve ever had,” Ron Capps recorded the third-quickest Funny Car pass in NHRA history that has the potential to turn into a national record. With his track-record 3.886-second elapsed time (at 326.87 mph), the NAPA Dodge Charger driver seized the No. 1 qualifying spot in the final qualifying session.

He needs to run a 3.925-second E.T. Sunday to back that up as a national record, which is worth 20 points. Capps is in fourth place, 134 points off Del Worsham’s pace an officially eliminated from championship contention.

“I don’t even want to go there. I don’t want to jinx myself,” he said. “Tomorrow’s going to be unbelievable. I wouldn’t doubt a mid-[3.]80 from Funny Car, if they can hold onto it.” He was referring to the sometimes-unpredictable nature of the cars with the new laid-back exhaust headers.   

Capps began qualifying with the track E.T. mark of 3.951 seconds Friday. Then Friday night, Tommy Johnson Jr. lowered that to 3.917. Matt Hagan, Del Worsham, and Jack Beckman all beat Johnson’s mark in the last session, as well. The top seven qualifiers, including Robert Hight and Cruz Pedregon, surpassed John Force’s 3.965-second track record from February 2014 that stood until Friday.   

Force’s track speed record of 324.12 mph also fell, as several racers went faster. Ultimately, Hagan set the standard at 330.15 mph in the final qualifying session Saturday.  

Capps, who said he has seen so many classic passes through the years at this racetrack, invoked the memory of NHRA’s late founder. “This place always brings magic. This place has created a lot of really good magic. It’s almost like Wally Parks is sort of looking over this, making sure this place still creates magic,” he said.

FUNNY CAR TITLE CHASE INTENSIFIES – Del Worsham continues to hold onto the Funny Car lead with his 36-point advantage over Jack Beckman at stake in Sunday’s final day of the season.

Darkhorse candidate Tommy Johnson Jr. is 96 points off the pace, 60 behind Beckman, and already has a back-up in hand for a national elapsed-time record that could net 20 precious points.

Worsham, the No. 3 qualifier, will race No. 14 Tony Pedregon in the first round of eliminations. Beckman, the No. 2 starter who will go against No. 15 Chad Head, is on the same side of the ladder as Worsham. It’s possible they could meet in the semifinal round.  

“Great qualify effort for the DHL Toyota team. We have the Camry running strong, and I am proud of our effort,” Worsham said. “We will go into tomorrow and lay it all out on the line.”

Said Beckman, “I really like the position we’re in. It’s nerve-wracking, because we aren’t leading the points, and we have to be two rounds better than another car to capture the championship. And this is the scenario where it’s fourth down, the clock has almost run out, and you’re going to get the ball again and you have to be perfect. And I think we can be perfect.”

At play Sunday will be a national record, and with temperatures forecast for the mid- to low-60s, it could happen. But Beckman said, “We do not intend to do anything special to go for the record. We will race the racetrack.

“That might sound anti-climactic, because you want to talk about ripping the opponent’s throat out, but the reality is the crew chiefs will look at the racetrack conditions and determine what they think we can run under those conditions,” Beckman said.

“Because we qualified so well, in theory you get a slower first-round opponent, but you can’t back off the race car. If you do, then it will shake the tires, it will wear the clutch differently, it will change everything. We will have to be aggressive every run.”

SAVOIE SPICES BIKE BATTLE WITH CAJUN FLAVOR – By qualifying No. 1 in Saturday’s final session, Louisiana alligator farmer Jerry Savoie sliced Andrew Hines’ lead in the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings from 46 to 38. Eddie Krawiec, Hines’ Harley-Davidson teammate and the only other championship-eligible rider, is 83 points behind Hines (45 behind Savoie).

All three are on the same side of the ladder, as Hines qualified No. 5 and Krawiec No. 8. If Savoie gets past first-round foe Mike Berry (No. 16) and Krawiec defeats No. 9 Scotty Pollacheck, they would meet in Round 2.

Hines squares off against No. 12 Michael Ray in the opening round.

KEEP THOSE CARDS AND LETTERS COMING - Tony Pedregon hasn't even started his new job, and he's already drawing criticism. The Funny Car driver will hang up his firesuit for a microphone and a spot on the new NHRA Fox 1 Broadcasting team next February.

"I've gotten probably as much hate mail as I have ever gotten," Pedregon said. "I think the fans have a right to speak, and I understand where it is coming from. I think in all fairness, I haven't even started my new job. I think it's great the fans have a passion. My hope is that I can win the critics over in time.

"The time I get worried is when I start to get love or hate mail," he said.

Pedregon is competing in what could be the final Funny Car race of his career. He qualified No. 14 and faces championship contender Del Worsham in the first round of Sunday's eliminations.

"It really hasn't hit me: this is the last race," Pedregon admitted. "I thought it would have hit me harder. It still might, just hasn't yet. It might hit me at my first race in the booth, could make for some good television."

DIXON LAMENTS END OF SEASON – Despite a scary pass that ended up with his car airborne and breaking apart at Gainesville, Fla., in the third race of the year, Larry Dixon said he wishes this race weren’t the final one of the season. That’s partly because of how well his Bob Vandergriff-owned C&J Energy Services Dragster is running and partly because he simply is racing again.

“I’ve had seasons where I was glad it was over, but this season has been the polar opposite,” Dixon, ranked third at the start of the weekend, said. “It’s been a lot of fun, and my batteries are definitely recharged. I’m excited about this weekend and next year, as well.

“Just being able to race every week has been exciting,” the three-time Top Fuel champion whose previous fulltime season was 2011. “When you get that taken away from you and then get a chance to do it again and compete at a high level, it makes you feel really good. Mike [crew chief Guger] wants to do some things with the car in the off-season, and if there’s a chance we can run even better than we are now, that’s certainly exciting.”

Dixon, seeking his first victory since the 2011 Phoenix race and 63rd overall, said, “With the way the car has performed all season, it is definitely deserving of a win. From the standpoint of the team, starting with Bob and for everyone else on the team, I would like to give them one win the way things have gone. I love racing at Pomona. The bad thing is, it’s the last race of the season. The way the car is running, I’ve had a lot of fun and I wish the season wasn’t ending.”

He has six runner-up finishes this season.

“We certainly have the equipment and people to achieve a lot of things. And to compete against some of the best teams around, it makes you feel really good,” Dixon said. “One of the proudest things was setting the speed record in Norwalk. With the rules in place, doing that is one of the hardest things to accomplish, but we’ve had a really nice-running engine all year.”

It could carry him to a second-place finish behind Brown. Dixon is 54 points behind Tony Schumacher. That would make this fabled track at Pomona, Calif., where he has won five times totally, even more special for Dixon, a second-generation dragster driver and a Van Nuys native (who lives with his family at Avon, Ind., now).

“For me it’s home court,” Dixon said. “I have a lot of friends and family that come out, and I love that aspect. It’s home and there are a lot of memories that get stirred up just driving through the gate. There are a lot of things I think about, not only with my career but my whole life, when I go to Pomona. It stirs up a lot of emotions, and I have nothing but great memories from [this] track.”

He made a few more this weekend. He was the early qualifying leader Friday, before Billy Torrence bumped him down to second-quickest that evening.  

He will start Sunday’s eliminations as the No. 6 qualifier, against No. 11 Shawn Langdon, his former teammate at Alan Johnson Racing.

FAMILIAR FACES - Matt Hartford’s Pro Stock pit had some familiar faces both here and at Las Vegas two weeks ago - Warren Johnson and Kurt Johnson.

NO MIRACLES NEEDED – Tony Schumacher made a reputation in the U.S. Army Dragster for last-minute miracles, earning two of his eight series crowns literally with seemingly impossible last-second heroics. “Unfortunately, there will be no coming back for the U.S. Army team this time. But, like we have done every single time we have had the honor of representing the U.S. Army at the racetrack for the last 15 years, we are going to show up with our heads held high, and we are going to try to win this last race of the season. That’s business as usual for us. We congratulate Antron and his Matco Tools/U.S. Army team for doing an absolutely incredible job of running the table at the first three Countdown events and never looking back. It keeps the Top Fuel title in the family for the U.S. Army for the ninth time in history, and we are incredibly proud to be a part of that. The season’s still not over, however, and we’re going to try to win Pomona for the seventh time in our time together [with the Army].”

He said that would “ultimately give us the most positive outlook for next year. And, most importantly for this year, it will guarantee the U.S. Army finishes 1-2 in the standings for the second time in the last four years.”

Schumacher came into this season finale in second place in the standings. But he has to watch out for No. 3 Larry Dixon (54 points behind him) and No. 4 Richie Crampton (70 points behind him). Schumacher is seventh in the order for race day, destined for a match-up with No. 10 Doug Kalitta. (The two will be linked forever in history with the 2006 last pass of the year that gave him the title over Kalitta.)  

Schumacher said to come here without the challenge of pulling off an upset championship “feels very weird, for sure. But in addition to showcasing what an incredible job done this year by Antron and the Matco Tools/U.S. Army team, it’s a testament to how incredibly competitive the Top Fuel class is from top to bottom. On any given weekend, there really isn’t much of a difference anymore between No. 1 and No. 16. Anybody can beat anybody, and the biggest winners there are the fans of our great sport.”

Regarding his own performance, Schumacher said, “We can’t point fingers at anyone else for the situation we’re in now other than ourselves. We made some changes. We tried some new things once we clinched first place in the standings heading into the Countdown that were designed to make us that much better once the Countdown began. They didn’t quite work out right away – or quite like we planned and, at the same time as we were making them, Antron and his team went on a hell of a streak and did a phenomenal job winning the first three events. You can normally go on and make the kind of changes we did and, against any normal opponent under normal circumstances, you can almost get through without losing too much ground. But we have to take our hats off and pat them on the back for doing the great job that they did. All that said, the U.S. Army car is an incredible race car. And this weekend’s race is a very important one because you sit for two months thinking about what happened at Pomona, win, lose or draw.

“We’re not going to win the championship – that’s a given – but we’ve got some really good teams with a shot at the second-place position we are currently in. Considering the incredible number of great cars and teams this series has provided the fans with, we have nothing to hang our heads about finishing in second place. That’s still very impressive in this day and age,” Schumacher said. “Second place was not our goal at the beginning of the season, but if we go out and execute and have one of our typically great weekends, we can leave Pomona feeling proud. I mean, a lot of other really good teams wish they could be in the position we’re in.”

HOT TIME AT THE OLD TRACK – Tim Gibbons undoubtedly was hot Saturday in the third overall qualifying session as his Steve Plueger-owned Race One Media Chevrolet caught fire.

“I’m fine. It’s heartbreaking more than anything,” the Northern California racer said after riding out a fire underneath the body. It happened about 660 feet and burned the rest of the way down the track. The oildown cost him $2,000. “Plueger’s throwing everything but the kitchen sink at it. It’s all good,” Gibbons said, promising he’d be back in the final session.

He and his team were unable to make the repairs in time, and Gibbons wound up 17th in the lineup, one of five not to qualify. Joining him with DNQs were Bob Bode, John Hale, Terry Haddock, and Brandon Welch.

TORRENCE WANTS TOP-FIVE SHOWING – Capco Contractors Dragster driver Steve Torrence has new chassis piping and an eye on a top-five finish. He has won only one round in seven previous Top Fuel appearances in the Finals but is hoping he can break the cycle by eliminating first-round opponent Dave Connolly and moving on. (Torrence is the No. 8 starter, Connolly No. 9.)

In the standings he hopes to improve from his seventh-place ranking. He’s just 42 points behind fifth place Brittany Force.

“Fifth, I think, is do-able, and fourth isn’t impossible,” Torrence said. “Either one would be better than last year (when he finished a career-best sixth without winning a single Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event). Our first goal every year is to win the championship. After that, you always want to do a little better than you did before.”

He has qualified fourth or better in eight of the last 11 events and was the No. 1 starter at the St. Louis Countdown race.

“There’s still a lot of motivation to finish up in the points, put the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation in the winners circle on Veterans Day weekend, and carry some momentum into the off-season,” Torrence said.

The foundation honors the memory of the late so-called “American Sniper” through its support of the families of first responders and soldiers returning from high-stress deployments.

Torrence, the Denver winner this July, was runner-up at Dallas.

In 2005, he was runner-up here on the way to his Top Alcohol Dragster championship.

Dad Billy Torrence, in his fifth 2015 appearance in the second Capco Contractors Dragster, was quickest and fastest Friday and through the third overall session Saturday. Antron Brown robbed him of the top starting position in the final session. Billy Torrence, an NHRA national tour winner in the Super Comp class, has made the most of his limited schedule with three No. 2 starts, a No. 3 start, and a semifinals finish at St. Louis.

TODD COMPLETING FIRST FULL YEAR IN KALITTA CAMP – J.R. Todd, driver of the Optima Batteries Dragster, said, “It has been a tough couple races” for his team. But as he finishes his first complete season for Kalitta Motorsports this weekend, Todd has a little bit of good news to lift his spirits. He was in the protected top 12 at No. 10 after Friday qualifying, and he moved up five places early Saturday.   On a speedy 331.61-mph pass in the final session that matched Billy Torrence’s top speed, he vaulted to No. 4 with a 3.732-second elapsed time.

Todd will start Sunday eliminations facing No. 13 Troy Buff.

“We want to end the season on a high note and then begin work on how we can get better for next season,” Todd said.

He’s just 40 points out of seventh place, so a couple of round wins could make a significant difference. He’ll finish among the top 10 drivers for the second straight year and fourth year overall.

One of Todd’s eight career victories came here at the 2007 Winternationals.

SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY – Family and racing are the pillars for Auto Club Raceway for Shawn Langdon. The interim driver of the Don Schumacher-owned Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher Dragster is from nearby Mira Loma, Calif., and he grew up coming here dreaming that one day he, too, would be competing in the Top Fuel class. At Jurupa Valley High School he and classmate (and eventual boss and teammate) Morgan Lucas used to sit in the back of their English class and talk drag racing rather than diagramming sentences.

This is where Langdon celebrated two sportsman-level national titles and the 2013 Top Fuel championship. And it’s where he set the track elapsed-time record at 3.700 seconds and won the Winternationals this February in the Knuckle Sandwich Toyota Dragster. That feat was even more remarkable, for he had just found out his expected funding from his longtime sponsor had vanished just days before.     

So this venue has been kind to Langdon, who has three career victories in five final-round appearances at Auto Club Raceway. And he’s hoping for a victory that could advance him in the standings and give DSR a thank-you victory.

"Here lately our car has been really great in qualifying and we have just had some bad luck on race day. It would mean a lot to me to get a win for everyone at Don Schumacher Racing to close out this season,” he said. “I always have a lot of family and friends come out to this event and to do well in front of them would be pretty special for me."

No. 6 starter Larry Dixon might have something to say about that. He’ll race Langdon in the first round of eliminations.

MILLICAN SURGES – Clay Millican has been trying for 218 races to win his first NHRA Wally trophy. He knows how to win – he’s the six-time International Hot Rod Association Top Fuel champion with more victories than anyone in that sanctioning body.

But Millican made a strong statement in Stringer Performance’s Parts Plus/ Great Clips in the final qualifying session Saturday with a career-best elapsed time and speed – 3.729 seconds, 319.29 mph – and will start from the No. 3 slot. That run, which moved him up six places from No. 9, topped his 3.378-second pass from Sonoma this summer and his 2013 Norwalk speed of 327.27 mph.

He was eight-thousandths of a second slower than No. 1 qualifier Antron Brown and just three-thousandths behind No. 2 Billy Torrence.

Lauding crew chief Dave Grubnic, Millican said, “Grubby’s getting a handle on this car in the last couple of races.” He shrugged off missing out on the No. 1 qualifier, saying, “When you run career-best numbers, ain’t nobody going to gripe about that.”

Millican will square off against No. 14 qualifier and 2014 event-winner Morgan Lucas in the first round Sunday.

Even before the weekend action started, Millican said, “I love racing in Pomona and with the way the car has been running lately – I wish it was the Winternationals and not the Finals.”

RUNNING ON MELLO YELLO? – Terry McMillen, with some digging by crew chief Rob Wendland and what he described as “help from friends,” found a glitch in his Amalie Oil / UNOH Dragster. And he had a feeling it would help him break into the Top Fuel field in his final chance Saturday. He had to coax at least a 3.98-second pass from his car to bump Steve Faria from the field. The dragster delivered with a 3.856 at 317.57 mph, giving him the No. 15 spot in the lineup and a first-round date with No. 2 qualifier Billy Torrence.

Wendland’s first reaction was a self-critical “We’ve tried screwing this up all weekend. But the Good Lord was looking over us.”

A wound-up McMillen attributed his spot-on run to a special fuel. “It’s all about the Mello Yello we poured in that gas tank.”

To that, public-address announcer Alan Rinehart kidded, “Attention, Tech Department: Terry McMillen just put Mello Yello in the gas tank again.”

MATCH-UPS – Other first-round pairings pit No. 1 Antron Brown against No. 16 Cory McClenathan and No. 5 Richie Crampton against No. 12 Brittany Force.

I’M LEAVING . . . DOES ANYBODY CARE? – He wasn’t expecting a gold watch, but a phone call might have been nice. Drag-racing veteran Steve Chrisman, who has a pioneer pedigree, said he was a little surprised to have received no response from the sport that he has decided to leave competition and sell his equipment.

Right around the beginning of the Countdown, crew chief Kevin Meredyk had heard from a gentleman who wanted to buy the rear end equipment from Chrisman for a decent price. So Chrisman said, “Sell it. It’s a good time to stop.” That’s when he decided to step away from the sport his family had helped shape.

“I kind of thought the NHRA would call up: ‘Hey, what’s the deal? Heard you’re quitting.’ Haven’t gotten phone call from anybody. Nobody cares. I don’t want their sympathy, but they could at least say, ‘What’s the deal?’ ” he said.

He said it’s possible he might return someday.

Chrisman made his nitro debut in the NHRA 31 years ago in a Funny Car. He has raced a Top Fuel dragster since 2003. His first race was here at Pomona, at the Winternationals.

 

RIDING OFF INTO THE SUNSET - ESPN Pit Reporter Gary Gerould announced on October 14, 2015 via his personal Twitter page he was retiring at the end of the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. When the sun rises on November 14, the veteran television personality will begin his final day on the job.

"I really have mixed emotions today," said Gerould. "You find yourself riding the gamut of emotions. It's a little melancholy and you run into someone who puts a smile on your face. Then you just say, 'wow, this is really cool."

"The bottom line is this has been an awesome ride."

Gerould joined the NHRA's ESPN team in 2012, and worked various stints with the NHRA as part of the American Sports Cavalcade team.

"I've been blessed and so fortunate to make so many friends and have such great opportunities," Gerould said. "It's been a remarkable special experience."

Gerould said he won't get sentimental and speculate on a parting message as he signs off for the last time. He admitted he's not even tought about what he'll say.

"Not in the least, has not even crossed my mind," Gerould confirmed.  "The story on Sunday has nothing to do with me. As we close our show, it will be with newly crowned champions. Deservedly they get the spotlight and the recignition. That's the way it should be and the way it will be."

Sunday's broadcast will be the final for the ESPN team, as NHRA will bring the television production in-house, and broadcasts will appear on FOX Sports 1.

FRIDAY - LUCAS SCARCE BUT SKILLED, BROWN NOT LETTING UP, FORCE GETS FULTIME SPONSORSHIP FROM PEAK, BECKMAN TO DRIVE INFINITE HEROES DODGE AGAIN NEXT SEASON, WILKERSON DOING DOUBLE DUTY, STEVENS BACK, STOFFER QUICKEST IN BIKES

TOP FUEL

LUCAS RETURNS, AIMING TO WIN AGAIN – Morgan Lucas hasn’t raced his Top Fuel dragster since he won the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis and even said, "Believe me, I thought about calling it a career after that one. That was obviously one of the biggest wins of my driving career.” But he’s back at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway – where he won last November and ran a 3.704-second elapsed time that still ranks among the class’ 10 best of all time.

"You've got to keep going, going to the next one, and try to do it all over again,” Lucas said. “We're not out there to show up and look pretty. We're out there to try to win and put good numbers up and show the fans we care about the sport."

He said “it seems like the right thing to do,” competing at Pomona. It’s where the young Corydon, Ind.-born businessman first attended a race as he spent his formative years living in Upland, Calif. This track is where he used to run around, looking for tossed parts and autographs from his racing heroes. “There's always been something special about that place. It's a good track, and you're able to run fast," he said.

This is seventh race of the season. "Whenever we go to the racetrack, we know we have a car that can potentially compete and win," Lucas said. "It's exciting for the guys, especially when you have a limited schedule the way we've set up the last couple years. It's always fun. There's always the element of, 'We can do this. No matter where we qualify, we have a shot at it.' "

Lucas applauded Antron Brown’s recently clinched championship and said, "He's a great guy, and it's really cool to see that happen.” But his mission is “to try to help Richie [Crampton] get as far up in the points as he can be."

Crampton, fourth in the standings in the Lucas Oil Dragster, has a chance to finish as runner-up to Brown. Crampton is 16 points, less than one round, out of third place and 70 points away from second place. Crampton has won five times this season, including the Countdown race at Dallas. Counting Lucas' victory at Indianapolis, the team has won one-fourth of the season’s events.

"That just goes to show how tough it is: You win five times, and you're still battling for third position in the points," Crampton said. "To get five national event victories is amazing, and overall the Morgan Lucas Racing team is going to end the year winning at least a quarter of the events for the season, which is an impressive stat. I can't thank my Lucas Oil team enough for giving me a good race car and putting me in the winner's circle five times. It's been an amazing second year for me driving a Top Fuel dragster at MLR."

Both Lucas and Crampton have extra incentive to win this weekend. Lucas Oil is headquartered at nearby Corona.

NO MORE TAP DANCING BUT MORE HISTORY TO PURSUE FOR BROWN – Antron Brown enters the Finals as the Top Fuel champion. He wrapped up his second overall title two weeks ago at Las Vegas, but he said, “We’re still trying to make a little bit more history before this year’s out.” So far he has a career-best seven victories and has recorded an impressive 16-2 win-loss record in five Countdown races. His current title, added to the one he earned in 2012, marks the fifth for a Toyota-sponsored Top Fuel driver since 2010 (that includes Larry Dixon’s in 2010, Del Worsham’s in 2011, and Shawn Langdon’s in 2013).

“Even though we have won the championship, people may think that your work is done, but our work’s not done. It’s not complete yet. We have one more race on the table. The only difference is there’s no strategy involved in this last race. We’re going to qualify. We’re not worried about the qualifying points. We can go out there and have some fun with it. You don’t have to worry about tap dancing or doing strategy anymore. Now we can go in there and let our hair down, but I don’t have no hair to let down,” he said, “so we’ll give it all we’ve got, have some fun with it, go out, and be aggressive.”

Before qualifying began, Brown said, “Let me tell you something, they were trying to crown us champs in Las Vegas before the event was even over. We got the championship, yes, but the thing about it is, we were still in competition. I literally told them, ‘Pictures, you want to do them now?’ I’m like, ‘We’ve still got a race - we’re racing. Our whole focus was still on Vegas. That’s the same thing for Pomona. I mean, we would love to end the year with a win. The weather’s going to be right, and it’s going to be fast enough to go out there and throw down.”

He put the title in perspective, considering the level of competition. Brown has seven victories in nine finals, six No. 1 starts, and a national elapsed-time record. Moreover, he had just five first-round defeats.

“In 2012 when we won the championship, we only had two first-round losses, which happened at the last two races of the year. We came in with the same amount of points lead at that point that we had this year and almost lost the championship to our teammate, Tony Schumacher, back then. That’s the funny part. It shows you how much tougher this class is, that we did have five first-round losses this year to very competitive teams. This whole year, I can honestly tell you that our team, we’re on pins and needles every race in the first round because we always had a tough first-round matchup. Even if we qualified No. 1, we lined up against Shawn Langdon or someone like that. It didn’t make a difference where you qualified, because that’s how tough the field was. If one car had a mishap, ended up being in the bottom half of the field, couldn’t bounce back up because of the weather conditions on Saturday, you had to race them first round. Vice versa, we were on the bottom half of the field where we went rounds and won, too. It just shows you how tough it is.

“We look at it now where you’ve got to go out there and scrap,” he said. “To get this championship done this year was very meaningful for our team. It’s almost like, if you could just win a race, it’s nearly impossible. But to win the championship, you have done an extremely difficult feat in the class we have right now.”

TOYOTA DRIVERS EYE SEVENTH STRAIGHT FINALS VICTORY – Toyota Top Fuel drivers will be looking for their seventh consecutive win at the NHRA Finals at Pomona this weekend.  The streak began in 2009 with Antron Brown, who repeated in 2010.  Other Toyota Finals winners include Del Worsham in 2011, Brandon Bernstein in 2012, Shawn Langdon in 2013 and Morgan Lucas last season.  Lucas will be back in a second car this weekend for Morgan Lucas Racing.

STILL TIMELESS – Morgan Lucas took the last spot in the protected top 12 Friday with a 4.143-second elapsed time. That left Richie Crampton, Steve Torrence, Cory McClenathan, Terry McMillen, Shawn Reed, and Steve Faria to start over with their qualifying efforts Saturday.
 

FUNNY CAR
 

 

BUSY BECKMAN TO BE BACK IN 2016 - Funny Car racer Jack Beckman had an assignment to moderate the Night of Champions at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at Pomona Friday night after racing concluded. The 2012 Funny Car champion and 2003 Super Comp champion did his best first to put himself in a strong position to earn a third title this weekend.

Before he raced over next door to the Museum, where fans got to ask questions of the sport’s legends, Beckman took the early No. 2 spot in the order in the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger, behind Don Schumacher Racing mate Ron Capps. Then in the evening session, he wound up fourth.

Beckman is looking for every point this weekend he can collect. He built a commanding 178-point lead by the end of the US. Nationals, but the Countdown format busted him back to just 30 points ahead of the No. 2 seed. Del Worsham won three of the first four Countdown events, and has a 38-point advantage over second-place Beckman as the Finals kicked off.

But with a nod to team benefactor Terry Chandler, Beckman said, "No matter what happens this year the Infinite Hero program with Terry is what I am most humbled by and proudest to have been part of."

Chandler rescued his team, which was in jeopardy of not returning this year because of sponsorship, and she donated branding opportunities to the Infinite Hero Foundation (InfiniteHero.org) that provides grants to help veterans returning from war with physical or mental injuries.

"Everything this Infinite Hero team has accomplished is because of Terry Chandler's generosity, and I won't ever forget that," Beckman, a former U.S. Air Force sergeant, said.

DSR announced Friday that Chandler will bring the Infinite Hero team back for 2016.   

"I'm just so thankful to be part of this," Chandler said. "I feel very blessed to be involved with Infinite Hero and all that they do to help the men and women, along with their families, who have served our country. Infinite Hero truly makes a difference in lives, and our team has been fortunate to see that with our own eyes.

"For the past two years, being part of Infinite Hero with this race team, I have met so many people who inspire me. But it isn't just me who is inspired. My team members feel this in their hearts, too. To have the ability to raise awareness for these two foundations [she funds the Make-A-Wish Dodge that Tommy Johnson Jr. drives] has meant the world to me. It brings so much joy to my life, and I hope that others are inspired to help."

Said Beckman, "No matter what happens at Pomona I know we all can be proud of the things we have done on and off the track."

During each run down the track this year, Beckman has carried at least 10 Infinite Hero challenge coins on board. For a $100 donation to the Infinite Hero Foundation, fans could have one.  He said, "The challenge coin program will top $150,000. When you throw out a large number like that, what gets lost is the effort that went into making that number. That's 1,500 coins that NHRA fans have come to our pit area and donated $100 for. I took those coins down the track, sign them, and personally hand them to the fans.

"When you look at the dollar figure and see what that does . . . That will pay for several soldiers who came back with PTS (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) to go through a month of therapy at The Brain Treatment Center (MRT in Newport Beach, Calif.). The exoskeleton suit (paralyzed retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 5) Gary Linfoot wears cost $100,000, so between what we generated last year and this year it would pay for two of those suits to be put in therapy centers to enable veterans to come and stand up to go through therapy. It's just changing people's lives.”

For the entire season, the Infinite Hero Foundation has generated more than $300,000 through its DSR and NHRA drag-racing programs. That includes more than $150,000 from the Veterans Day evening Infinite Hero Gala at Oakley headquarters at Foothill Ranch, Calif. On hand were 2,000 veterans from around the nation, representing the 15 programs the foundations supports. The foundation has donated $2.23 million to those programs, according to Colin Baden, foundation president and Oakley CEO.   

"I'm just so thankful to be part of this," she said. "I feel very blessed to be involved with Infinite Hero and all that they do to help the men and women, along with their families, who have served our country. Infinite Hero truly makes a difference in lives, and our team has been fortunate to see that with our own eyes.

"For the past two years, being part of Infinite Hero with this race team, I have met so many people who inspire me. But it isn't just me who is inspired; my team members feel this in their hearts, too. To have the ability to raise awareness for these two foundations has meant the world to me. It brings so much joy to my life, and I hope that others are inspired to help."

PEAK TO SPONSOR FORCE FULLTIME IN 2016 – Old World Industries and its PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant and BlueDEF brands announced a year ago it would invest in John Force’s new Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car for more than half of the 2015 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.  

“They were kind of testing the waters to evaluate NHRA – where they’re going, where they’re going to invest, and spend their dollars right. And I was hoping to God that was going to be me,” Force said.

“We were in trouble, guys. We were in trouble. We didn’t know if we were going to make it, and this is our life. We love it. But the sponsors stood by us, and we continued to keep piecing the thing back together.”

And Friday, between qualifying sessions, John Force Racing and PEAK revealed a major expansion of their sponsorship agreement. In a multiyear deal with terms not fully disclosed, PEAK will be the full-season primary sponsor for John Force’s car, beginning in 2016.

PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant and BlueDEF will continue as major associate sponsors of the Funny Cars of Robert Hight and Courtney Force and the Top Fuel dragster Brittany Force drives. JFR will continue to develop relationships with numerous other Old World Industries brands and retail partners.

“John Force is whole again. John Force Racing is whole again, and you’re stuck with me for a long time,” the team owner and most successful NHRA driver told fans gathered in the pits.

“The way that PEAK got involved with an associate sponsor in 2014 and then stepped up and bought half a year this year and now they’re diving all in next year . . . That just shows the value they see in NHRA drag racing and John Force Racing. They’re seeing the values,” JFR President Robert Hight said. “And it’s because of the fans here that they’re spending their money. When you have PEAK and Old World Industries step up and you have Auto Club, Monster, Traxxas, that’s a heavy group. And that’s only going to attract more sponsors to these Funny Cars. And we’re going to be back winning, just like we did in Las Vegas.”

Force said, “This is an exciting day for John Force Racing and for me personally. I want to thank everyone at Old World Industries, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant, BlueDEF and Final Charge. This relationship started a couple of years ago, and we have grown it through a great marketing partnership with Bryan Emrich and his marketing team. I feel like I am becoming the face of PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant, and I want people to think about all these great products when they think of John Force and John Force Racing.”

He said, “the future is huge. There’ so many exciting things coming next year with FOX and live TV and other things I couldn’t even explain.” Force said that in a meeting with NHRA President Peter Clifford and other NHRA officials, “I was all giggly. And I would have hated sitting there, not knowing if I was going to get to race next year.”  

Emrich, chief marketing officer for Old World Industries, said, “We’re honored to expand our relationship with John Force for 2016 and beyond. After working with John the past two years, it was clear that he and his family are a great fit for our company. Our customers have responded so positively to John and to this program that it was natural to expand our relationship.”

In 2013, PEAK started its Sportsman program with NHRA championship drivers Jay Payne, Duane Shields, Dan Fletcher, Sherman Adcock, and Tony Fuller.

BLOCKER – Alexis DeJoria, No. 1 qualifier here last year, put her Patrón XO Café Incendio Toyota Camry Funny Car in the tentative No. 8 position Friday. Two weeks ago, she advanced to the quarterfinals, matching her five total Countdown rounds, so she’s on track for her career-best finish. Auto Club Raceway also is where DeJoria became the first female in NHRA history to run a sub-four second pass last February. She’s just two rounds behind John Force for seventh place and three rounds behind Robert Hight for sixth. She said she plans to help Kalitta Motorsports mate Del Worsham hold ontohis lead and win the championship.

“It’s been a turbulent season up to this point,” she said. “We have had some very great runs and round wins, plus we are in the top 10, no matter what. This weekend will be about finishing well and hopefully going up in points. And I’ll do my best to not only win but be one hell of a blocker for Del.”

MEET THE SNAKE – Don “The Snake” Prudhomme will greet race fans in the “Snake Skybox” with the purchase of a Skybox Pass. The pass includes the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch nitro qualifying and eliminations with Prudhomme in an air-conditioned suite, as well as an autograph session and a photo opportunity. Prudhomme goodie bags will be handed out, and each ticket includes free catered meals daily with non-alcoholic beverages. Limited space is available in the Snake Skybox. Passes can be purchased by calling the NHRA Ticket Office at 800-884-NHRA.

HOT ROD JUNCTION BACK – The NHRA’s Hot Rod Junction has returned to the Auto Club NHRA Finals, offering nostalgic entertainment for race fans. It will feature photo opportunities with past and present NHRA celebrities, a display of historic race cars and hot rods, and daily Cacklefest shows that will rattle the senses. First-time Cacklefest spectators call it a sensory overload when dozens of nitro-burning historic, front-engine dragsters and other classic race cars are fired up simultaneously, creating a roar of engines and flame-throwing headers. All spectators attending the Auto Club NHRA Finals will have free access to the Hot Rod Junction.

WILKERSON HOST WITH MOST (WORK) – Tim Wilkerson is helping the NHRA test a new hospitality concept – while testing some clutch pieces with his Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang Funny Car during the weekend. And he’s serious about doing well at both tasks.

Wilkerson’s organization jumped at the NHRA’s invitation to inaugurate a one-of-a-kind experience for NHRA members directly next to his working pit area, providing an unprecedented view and unparalleled access to the team and its LRS Funny Car.

The experience is open on a space-available basis to any NHRA member who shows a valid membership card at the door, as well as to any current participants in the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Junior Drag Racing League. No reservations are needed. NHRA and Team Wilkerson personnel will be present to host attendees, and Wilkerson will mingle and sign autographs as often as his busy tuning and driving responsibilities allow.

"NHRA watches what we and a lot of other teams do, in terms of making any given race a really special experience for our important sponsor guests, and they came to us to see if we'd be interested in doing the same thing for NHRA members," Wilkerson said. "I think this is a really great idea, because most fans walk by the various hospitality set-ups and wish they could get that up-close view in such a VIP environment. We jumped at the chance to do this.

"And if any fans want to take part who aren't current NHRA members,” he said, “it's easy for them to sign up for a new membership or renew their old one right there at the track and take care of that. All they have to do is visit the National Dragster trailer right by our pit and they can sign up there. This is a great chance for folks who are longtime loyal NHRA fans to have a corporate-style hospitality experience. We're looking forward to having them with us right next to our pit."

The hospitality area will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and from 7:30 a.m to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. In addition, at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday a drawing will be held to select the NHRA Member of the Race, who will receive instant seat upgrades for them and one guest, an introduction on-stage during opening ceremonies, a ride in the Mello Yello Express, and access to the Winner's Circle after the race.

They'll see Wilkerson, who raced to the No. 5 place in the line-up in Friday’s first session, working on clutch combinations.

"It became pretty obvious in Dallas that we were losing the handle on how the clutch was acting,” he said, “and part of that was the unfortunate timing of us running out of one specific batch of discs. We had to start mixing in some newer discs that didn't act quite the same, but that happens all the time out here and you have to be able to adapt and handle that. We changed some other parts in the clutch as well, and we're still trying to sort it all out. That's our goal.”

"We're just trying to get our ducks in a little better row before 2015 is over," Wilkerson said. "Our budget doesn't allow us to do nearly as much testing as these other playoff teams do, so we want to finish this year on a better note to give us a leg up on 2016. Don't get me wrong –

we're not treating Pomona as a test session. We're going there to race and hopefully win, but right now we have some gremlins in the clutch system. If we sort those out we'll not only feel a little better about ourselves but we'll also have a good chance to move up a spot or two in the standings.”

He came here in 10th place, trailing Cruz Pedregon by a mere six points and Alexis DeJoria by 33.

Because the off-season amounts to about only 50 days, he wants to reduce the number of problems that need attention so he can address a few other issues, including some new crew members. Said Wikerson, “We’re going to have some turnover before next year, in terms of manpower, so we'll have that to deal with that and we'll try to get everyone up to speed as best we can. Hopefully we'll be able to go to the big preseason test in Phoenix before we get to Pomona, as well.”

He’s referring to the Feb. 3-6 NHRA Nitro Spring Training at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park at Chandler, Ariz., near Phoenix.

“I hope we'll be able to be there, and we're aiming to do that. First off, though, we need to finish strong this weekend to set the stage for a strong 2016. Finishing with a single digit on the car for next year would be a sign that we're on the right path."  

 

 
PRO STOCK

WILL GRAY STAY NO. 1? WILL HE COME BACK NEXT YEAR?  – Shane Gray was plenty happy about his 6.509-second pass at 212.79 mph that led the Pro Stock class in qualifying Friday. But, the Gray Motorsports Camaro racer said, “It’d be better to win the race.” He said he couldn’t begin to guess what Saturday qualifying holds for him and his competitors: “I’d be a rich man if I could predict tomorrow.”

He did say that with Erica Enders already finalizing her series championship, he could afford to try some new tactics Saturday. “We’ve got nothing to lose, so you might as well go for it,” Gray said.

Rumors, typical year-end chatter, abound about what Gray Motorsports has in mind for 2016. Gray didn’t share all the team’s plans, but he did say that brother Jonathan will yield his seat, Alex Laughlin will come on board, and he is still deciding his own future because of 16-year-old son Tanner’s budding circle-track career. Tanner Gray is competing in NASCAR’s K&N East Series and will work with Tony Eury Jr. and Jeff Fultz in their driver development program associated with LFR Chassis in anticipation of running in the CARS Tour.

“It’s kind of hard to say at the moment. There are a lot of things up in the air,” Shane Gray said of whether he’ll return to his Pro Stock car next season but guessed, “We’ll probably be back.” He said he knows his son “is in good hands” with Eury and Fultz but said he will sit down with his son and talk it over: “We need to work it out.”

TURNAROUND MAKING HIM GIDDY – Larry Morgan is from Central Ohio, where it’s starting to get cold and dank and dark by 4:30 or 5 o’clock. And he’s giddy to be in sunny Southern California, racing his FireAde Chevy Pro Stock car at a fairground, no less.

“It's real cool to get to race Pomona," he said. "It's a fairground. We have cotton candy and all that, but we need a Ferris wheel. NHRA should do that."

Throughout the years, Morgan has had plenty of suggestions for the NHRA hierarchy. A Ferris wheel is a new one. But what the veteran owner-driver really is giddy about is the way his 2015 season has turned out – and turned around. Morgan, who as a rookie snuffed out the great Bob Glidden’s U.S. Nationals stranglehold on the class, got in a performance rut the past few years, largely because of a sagging economy and trying to compete in a Ford with no factory support. Las year all he could muster was one single round-win.

A season ago, Morgan was able to win only one round all year, opening the season by beating Allen Johnson. But in 2015, after partnering with FireAde and becoming part of Gray Motorsports’ engine program, he has two victories and 25 round-wins. This marks the first time since 1990, when he won four times, that he has multiple event victories. He’s sixth in the standings. And he said he had a feeling during preseason testing that the campaign would play out well.

"I figured when I let the clutch out in Phoenix during the test that I'd have a good year," he said. "I thought I'd be all right, and I was. I can't say enough for Ron Thames and FireAde and all the great people at Gray Motorsports and all my guys, too. Without them all, I couldn't have done any of it. I've had a hell of a year."

Still, he can’t help but shoot for his first top-five finish since 2004. He was fourth that year. Entering this weekend, Morgan was 65 points out of third place, 50 out of fourth, and only seven out of fifth.

He's eighth in the qualifying order after two sessions Friday.  

"It's not over yet. We're not finished. I've been in three finals and won two of them, and I feel good about it. I'm just a really blessed guy. I've enjoyed it, I've enjoyed the fans, and I've been very lucky," Morgan said.

SHE STILL MEANS BUSINESS – Erica Enders still has her second straight championship speech to deliver and a banquet to get dressed up for, but Elite Motorsports’ Racing In Red Camaro driver isn’t about to dismiss this race. After all, she’s last year’s event winner – and why not have back-to-back race victories (and six in the final eight) to go along with back-to-back series titles? And why not take a crack at her own year-old Auto Club Raceway records (6.480 seconds, 213.67 mph)?

“We accomplished what we wanted to as far as the championship is concerned. That pressure is off of us. But we definitely want to go out there and finish the season strong,” she said. “I want to go in and just do the best that I can for the guys that work so incredibly hard for me.

“We're all racers. We all grew up at the racetrack. I started in a Junior dragster. Rickie Jones [crew chief] was at the track when he was a little kid, as well. We stay hungry because it's our passion and we want to be the best,” Enders said. “My guys are perfectionists. We go out and make an excellent run and win the race, then come back and analyze the data and say, 'We needed to do this and that.' They just want to be perfect. Even though we were the best that day, they want to get better. I’m the same way as a driver.”

Enders said she surprised herself along the way to a second consecutive crown.

“Being able to accomplish what we did in the fashion that we did it in 2014 [defeating neck-and-neck challenger Jason Line in the final of the Finals], I didn't think it could ever be topped,” she said. “The first is always the best and the most memorable. But having the second and doing it back-to-back is pretty cool, because I wanted to prove so badly that it wasn't a fluke and that we do mean business.”

She still means business. (Ask her husband, Richie Stevens, who’s subbing for Deric Kramer this weekend and will be facing her on the track again. “The pressure is off of her because she wrapped things up in Las Vegas,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong - she still wants to go out there and kick everybody’s a--.”)

Said Enders, “My guys are just incredible. The most important part of it is being able to enjoy the success with the people I care about the most. Last year, having it go down to the final round at the final race of the year, then this year it was so different because we were able to lock it up in Vegas with one more race to go. So we'll [have] a little bit of weight off our shoulders. At the same time, we want to win that race, as well. My guys are perfectionists and extremely competitive. To be able to do it back-to-back says so much about our team and what we're capable of.”

She ended Friday's two qualifying sessions in the provisional No. 5 spot. Just seven-thousandths of a second separate the top five provisional qualifiers.

EYEING SECOND-PLACE FINISH – Chris McGaha skipped the Reading race last year and finished the season with an 8-23 elimination-round record (12-43 overall). Even with one race remaining this season, his numbers have improved significantly. His record is 36-20. So he has tripled his career round-wins – and he has the opportunity to finish second in the standings for the season.

He’s third, 20 points behind No. 2 Greg Anderson. He stayed in the running for the first half of the Countdown to the Championship, but he lost in the second round at Dallas to eventual champion Enders, allowing her to distance herself from the rest of the field.

The Camaro owner-driver said, “Finishing second in the points is a pretty big goal for our Harlow Sammons team. I was looking at the points the other morning, and you can easily go all the way down to sixth if you don't do well at this race. We want to end this year on a good note.”

He has another distinction that’s significant to him: “We might've not won the championship, but we want to be the last team to win in Pro Stock with carburetors. That would be pretty sweet. I'd love to win the last race with carburetors before we make the changes this winter."

McGaha earned back-to-back victories at Sonoma and Seattle and followed that with a triumph at Reading.

Despite losing one crew chief late in the season and seeking and securing the services of Tommy Utt to win in their first race together, McGaha said, "Our team has progressed pretty good this year. We finally got our first win and to come back and get two more was pretty neat. We have a chance to win one more and even with our new additions (crew chief Tommy Utt), our team is coming together real strong."

He also was runner-up at Houston and Bristol.

As he tries to overtake Anderson, McGaha knows he needs to watch out for Drew Skillman, another Elite Motorsports driver like Enders. Skillman trails McGaha by just 15 points. But McGaha said he’s buoyed by getting to come back to historic Pomona again this year.

McGaha will start Saturday's last day of qualifying from the No. 8 spot.

"I had never been to Pomona before the 2012 World Finals,” he said. “I like going to Auto Club Raceway. It's a neat place. You start and end your racing season there. It gives you a chance to look at your year when you start and finish there. I really enjoy it. Even if I was on a limited schedule, Pomona would still be on my list."

LOOKING AHEAD BUT WANTING GOOD FINISH – Like the rest of the Pro Stock class, Jason Line and Greg Anderson and their KB/Summit team already are strategizing how they’ll react to the upcoming rules changes that will eliminate carburetors and hood scoops and introduce electronic fuel injection.

"I'd like to end this season with a bang. No question about it," Line said. "This is an end to an era that KB Racing has had a big influence on for the past 15 years. It would be nice to end it on a strong note."

Teammate Greg Anderson, who wanted to debunk rumors that his team would see changes in ownership and/or sponsorship after this race. He chose to focus on an outstanding end to the season.

He said, “This last race will carry us through the winter, so it's very important that we make a good effort. We have to find a way for our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to win that race. We're pretty close to being 100 percent, and we've made a huge gain over where we were at this point last season. Hopefully we can make more gains over the winter and head into 2016 very strong. There have been a lot of positives for the year, and no, we didn't win the grand prize. We didn't finish a storybook season. But you know what? We're very close. The performance is there, the capabilities are there, and that is a good feeling."

Anderson was second in the standings, Line seventh as action began Friday with the first of two qualifying days. Line never has placed lower than fifth since he started racing in the Pro Stock class fulltime in 2004. Line has two championships and 37 victories in 78 final rounds. Anderson has four series titles and 78 victories (and 46 runner-up showings), with 650 career round-wins.

Anderson leads the class in victories at this race, with five. (He has won 10 times in 11 final rounds here. That’s second-most to Bob Glidden’s 12.) Line has fared well at Pomona but better in the February Winternationals. He has four season-opening victories but has three runner-up Finals finishes. He has advanced to the finals in each of his past three visits to this venue. (He won back-to-back Winternationals in 2014 and this year and in between was runner-up at the 2014 finals.)

Said Line, "Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, things didn't go the way that we had hoped. We won a round with my car, but that certainly wasn't all we wanted out of that race. It wasn't the day we were looking for, but we've had a few of those this year. [At Pomona, we’re] planning to put our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro back in the winners circle."

Anderson said, "We have been so close to being excellent, but we have had a few hiccups – and you just cannot have that in this class. We aren't putting any additional pressure on ourselves for this race, but there is nothing that we'd love more than to go into this off-season on a high note. The bottom line is that the last few races have been disappointing. We haven't seen the results that we're looking for, but we've got one more chance this year to get it right.”

Line and Anderson are provisionally ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, separated by just two-thousandths of a second.  

EN GARDE, PRÊTS, ALLEZ – In fencing parlance, that means “Ready, Set, Go.” While Pro Stock racer Deric Kramer will be immersed in that sport this weekend, Richie Stevens will be hearing Kramer’s American Ethanol/Madcap/Novozymes Dodge Dart and the sounds of his team at the Auto Club Finals. Kramer will be in New Mexico, thrusting and parrying, while Stevens is doing the drag-racing equivalent of that here (sort of).

Stevens told Competition Plus’ Tracy Renck that the Kramer camp asked him to step in a few days before the most recent race and he said yes, as he has driven this car before. It used to be Jeg Coughlin’s car. And Stevens said he thought getting back into the car “should feel like getting back on a bicycle.” He also has driven at Houston and Bristol, red-lighting in the first round both times. His career first victory came at Pomona in 1998, when he beat Coughlin, but he guessed his previous race here was in 2007.

Stevens said he hopes “to do them [the Kramers] some justice and put on a good show for them.” Then he wisecracked, “And hopefully not face my wife.” He said, “I know I’m not driving a car as dominant as the car as what she has got, but it is definitely a car that’s capable of winning, and hopefully we can guide it there on Sunday. I don’t want anybody to judge me on my first run because it has been since Bristol [in June] that I’ve driven a Pro Stock car. The first run might be a little sketchy, but hopefully after that I will get myself on track.”

His first run left him tentatively 16th in the order out of 18 racers. Stevens improved in the night session, but his E.T. was one-hundredth of a second slower than No. 12 Jonathan Gray’s time (6.561 to Gray’s 6.551). So he’ll have a clean slate from which to work when Saturday’s final day of qualifying begins.

NEEDING TO GET IN – Richie Stevens, Kenny Delco, Matt Hartford, V Gaines, Alan Prusiensky, and Joey Grose fell below the top-12 line and have no times heading into Saturday’s last two chances to qualify.  
 

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
 

STOFFER TOPS BIKE CLASS QUALIFIERS – Karen Stoffer said her late-season performances have been the “weak link” in her career. But her provisional No. 1 qualifying position Friday signaled a turnaround. On her Big St. Charles Motorsports Suzuki, with her team’s lone “Dirty Harry” motor that’s named for (and by) previous owner Harry Lartigue, she led the field with a 6.823-second, 196.36-mph pass. It didn’t challenge Andrew Hines’ track record E.T. of 6.766 seconds or Eddie Krawiec’s track speed record of 198.29 mph. But it was a step toward her and crew chief husband Gary Stoffer’s aim to “knock that gremlin off our back” – and possibly a chance to claim a top-five overall finish in the standings.

She was fourth after the opening session at 6.867, 190.65 – her E.T. matched that of Jerry Savoie, but he got the tentative No. 3 slot in that session on speed with his 196.02 mph. Although she said she thought her bike could deliver a class-best E.T. on that run, she said she was testing her brakes by shutting it down around the 1,000-foot mark. “The brakes worked well,” Stoffer reported, saying she was satisfied in the end that she could come back and be able to grab the top spot on the second hit.

Stoffer said she didn’t think her time would hold up as quickest through two final Saturday sessions, but she said she was relatively confident she could be in the mix of those who are improving.

INTO THE SAND – Swedish racer Robert Karlsson threw a scare into everyone during the second qualifying session Friday. He discovered he had no brakes at the end of his right-lane run and rode into the sand. There he laid down the Elvira Racing Suzuki. NHRA emergency medical officials said he was conscious and alert when they reached him. Karlsson was transported to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center for evaluation.

ARANA JR. WANTS WINTER-LONG BRAGGING RIGHTS – Lucas Oil Buell racer Hector Arana Jr. has a new house on Long Island, a fiancée (Nicole Nobile), and an itch to go testing for next year’s Gatornationals (the season-opener for the bike class). But he doesn’t have his lucky-charm brother with him this weekend – or a guarantee he’ll get to be king of the hill for the long off-season.

He said he likes the ring to the phrase “defending race champion" as the Auto Club Finals get under way. "That sounds great," Arana Jr. said. "I hope I can obtain that title again and keep it for next year. I don't want to let it go."

That 2014 victory was his first here on his way to a third-place finish in points, and, Arana said,

"When you win the last race of the year, the whole off-season everybody remembers who won the last race. You're that winner. I was the winner all the way until March. When the races are back to back, you're only the winner for a week, and then it's on the next guy. It gives everyone motivation and good momentum for the off-season to move forward and to work hard."

His younger brother, Adam, bid farewell to fulltime racing at this event last November and joined the United States Coast Guard in January. "That was my brother's last time racing a full season with us, and I was able to get the win," Arana Jr. said.

Adam Arana found a free weekend this September to compete in the Countdown race at St. Louis. And, Hector Jr. said, "I don't know how, but Adam did a little cameo race in St. Louis, and I was able to get a win there, too. Maybe I'll have to have him come to this race."

Hector Arana Jr. has won twice and led the field in qualifying twice. But he has struggled, too.

"I'm happy and I'm sad," he said. "I'm happy because I feel like going testing and starting to work on next year. We fell off a little bit, and Jerry Savoie really stepped up his game and showed everybody that we need to step up our game. There's a lot of things we want to test this off-season and a lot of stuff we want to get going, so we're looking forward to that.”

Arana Jr. ended Friday qualifying third in the order, happy that his father found and evidently fixed a glitch that had plagued him for awhile. Still, he groaned, “Why couldn’t we do this earlier?”

HE’S ADDICTED – Hector Arana described drag racing in a graphic way:  "It's like a drug - the more we do it, the more we want it." So his mixed feelings about the end of the season this weekend are understandable.

"It's sweet and sour," he said. "I'm glad, in a way, for it to be over so we can regroup, go back, and find more horsepower so we can start all over again. But of course, I want to continue racing because I love this sport. I love when I go to the track. But I do want some time off so I can be able to relax a little bit."

Arana, eighth in the standings, has his eye on sixth and a second victory this year. He won at Atlanta to break a drought that stretched back to 2009, when he won the series crown. Five years ago, he came close to winning the season finale, with a final-round appearance.

"It would pump me up again so I can keep going," he said of a year-ending victory. "You work, you work, you work, and when you have a run like in Atlanta, all it does is charge you back up. It gives you that energy, and it pays off all the hard work. Now, you're back at it. I've been in the final here, and if I could just win were, that would be great. I really want to win another race this year. That would give me everything I need to carry on for next year."

As for this season, he’s 13th in the order overnight.

MORE OUT THAN IN – Twelve racers have elapsed times they can carry over to tomorrow. But 16 others have to start all over again. Those whose Friday times were wiped out are Hector Arana, Mike Berry, Shawn Gann, Jim Underdahl, Fred Camarena, Kalle Lyren, Joe DeSantis, Redell Harris, Katie Sullivan, Robert Karlsson, Luke Crowley, Rhett Lougheed, Eddie Reed, Lance Bonham, Bill Burkhart, and Melissa Surber.