Some NHRA teams were seen leaving Las Vegas in hopes of scoring enough Countdown to the Championship points at the Auto Club Finals at Pomona, while other drivers were simply focused on winning the last race of the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.
Traditions have played a major role at Los Angeles County Fairgrounds ever since chariots were first raced at the Pomona Fairgrounds back in 1922. Over the weekend, the tradition of rolling a Moon-sponsored Funny Car off the trailer continued as Jim Dunn Racing and driver Jim Campbell hope to make up a one-point deficit to finish the NHRA season in the Top 10.
Despite rumors earlier in the year of it closing, the track nicknamed the Fairplex will continue host NHRA championship events at Auto Club Raceway. Which is great news for die-hard race fans as drag racing began in Southern California and the Pomona track has traditionally hosted the opening and closing rounds of each NHRA season.
Prock Claims Top Fuel Victory at NHRA Auto Club Finals
Points leader Brittany Force got the ball rolling in record-breaking fashion on Friday at Pomona by posting the fastest run in Top Fuel history at 338.94 mph. Her 3.641 ET held up during Saturday qualifying to make the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac driver the Number One qualifier for the 57th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. But a heads up battle in the semifinals saw the faster Force at 337.58 mph lose to the quicker 3.642 ET of Austin Prock. On the opposite side of the eliminations bracket, Antron Brown defeated Justin Ashley, Ron August Jr, and Josh Hart.
With Brown’s win over Ashley, Brittany Force clinched her second NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Fuel championship at the end of the first round of eliminations. Her pivotal victory came at The Strip during the fifth round of the Countdown to the Championship. The Top Fuel Final saw a dead heat off the tree but Austin Prock’s 3.641 ET at 336.23 mph was quick enough to defeat Brown, who posted a 3.701 elapsed time. The daughter of the legendary John Force, Brittany was also the 2017 NHRA Top Fuel World Champion.
Pedregon Wins Funny Car Final at Pomona Raceway
Out of contention for the 2022 NHRA Camping World Funny Car championship, Cruz Pedregon was just looking to gain some momentum for the Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger racing team. Pedregon got things started with a class-best 3.840-seconds elapsed time at 322.58 mph and was looking to claim his first Number One qualifier of the season, but Ron Capps kept his Countdown to the Championship alive by grabbing the Number One qualifier spot with a 3.837 ET at 337.33 mph late in the day for Saturday’s final round of qualifying.
Capps would still need some help to win a third NHRA Funny Car world championship and the first phase of that miracle came when Bob Tasca III put Robert Hight on the trailer in Round Two. Capps had to then defeat Tasca III in order to make the Finals. On the other side of the ladder, Pedregon eliminated Jason Rupert, John Force, Alexis DeJoria enroute to matchup against Capps. Both drivers were off the tree together but it would be Pedregon’s 3.839 ET at 335.65 that would be the winning time at this year’s 57th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals from the Fairplex in Pomona. Capps would edge Hight by three points to earn his third NHRA Funny Car World Championship and his first as a team owner.
Up Coming:
AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals
The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Series has scheduled the first of twenty-one national events at Gainesville Raceway for the 54th annual AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals on March 9-12 at Gainesville Raceway.
