NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

After rain forced the postponement of Friday’s on-track action, NHRA will try again on Saturday to begin professional qualifying for the season-ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona. Despite the weather, the stage remains set for an epic conclusion to the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season as all four Professional championships will be decided during this weekend.

Doug Kalitta, Austin Prock, Dallas Glenn, and Richard Gadson come to Pomona as the leaders in their respective categories. Kalitta has the biggest lead of any Pro driver (141 points) and needs to do little more than qualify for the event in order to clinch his second title in the last three years.

Kalitta has appeared in seven final rounds this season and has won four times, but only reached the quarterfinals the last time NHRA raced in Pomona during the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals last March.

Pomona fans will also offer a fond farewell to two-time Top Fuel champ Brittany Force, who will end her driving career (at least temporarily) after the Pomona event. Force has won twice this season, including the most recent event in Las Vegas, and she’d like nothing more than to close out the season with another win.

On Friday, the Force team made a major announcement when John Force revealed that he’s officially retired from driving after a stellar career that includes 157 wins and 16 championships.

Prock comes to Pomona with a 101-point lead over Matt Hagan, so he’s got an excellent chance to defend his 2024 title. Pomona does offer a unique format that awards points-and-a-half, so Prock has work to do, but after a season in which he’s won nine of 19 races, he’s a heavy favorite to repeat.

Despite Prock’s dominance, there has been parity in the Funny Car class this season as eight different drivers have won races and 11 drivers have appeared in at least one final. Those who are poised to join the list of 2025 winners includes Bob Tasca III, Daniel Wilkerson, Alexis DeJoria, and NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Spencer Hyde.

In Pro Stock, the battle for the title is between KB Titan Racing teammates Dallas Glenn and Greg Anderson, with Glenn holding a 92-point edge over the six-time champion. With each elimination round in Pomona being worth 30 points, it’s in Anderson’s best interests to cut the deficit to less than 90 during qualifying although he’ll have at best two shots to do that. Otherwise, he’d need to win the event and have Glenn take a rare round-one loss.

Glenn and Anderson have combined to win 14 of 17 events this season with Erica Enders, Greg Stanfield, and Cory Reed, each scoring a lone victory.

Without question, the best points battle can be found in Pro Stock Motorcycle, where just 21 points separate incoming leader Richard Gadson from teammate Gaige Herrera. With such a small margin, the championship will likely come down to whichever rider advances the furthest during eliminations with the possibility of a winner-take-all race at some point in eliminations.

There is also a championship up for grabs in Top Alcohol Dragster where Joey Severance must win the event in order to prevent a repeat by 2024 champ Shawn Cowie. The Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car classes ran one round of eliminations on Thursday.

2024 EVENT WINNERS: Antron Brown, Top Fuel; Jack Beckman, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock; Matt Smith, Pro Stock Motorcycle:

MOST VICTORIES: Tony Schumacher, Kenny Bernstein, 4 TF; John Force, 8, FC; Greg Anderson, 9, PS; John Meyers, Matt Smith 5, PSM.

TRACK RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.628 seconds by Clay Millican, Feb. '18; 338.94 mph by Brittany Force, Nov., '22.
Funny Car - 3.804 seconds by Austin Prock, Nov. '24; 341.68 mph by Prock, Nov. '24.
Pro Stock - 6.476 seconds by Greg Anderson, March '25; 213.84 mph by Drew Skillman, Nov. '15.
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.661 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Nov. '23; 203.80 mph by Herrera, Nov. '23.

NATIONAL RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. '19, Reading, Pa.; 343.51 mph by B. Force, Sept. ‘25, Indy
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. '24, Pomona, Calif.
Pro Stock - 6.443 sec. by Greg Anderson, March '25, Gainesville; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May '14, Englishtown
N.J.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Oct. '23, Dallas; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July '21, Sonoma.

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, November 15
MISSION FOODS SERIES professional qualifying at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, November 16 
Pre-race ceremonies, 10:00 a.m.
MISSION FOODS SERIES eliminations begin at 11:00 a.m.

TELEVISION
SUNDAY, Nov.16, FS1 will televise one and half hours of qualifying highlights at 11:00 a.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, Nov. 16, FS1 will televise three hours of finals at 5:00 p.m. (ET)
SUNDAY, Nov. 16, FS1 will televise NHRA Post Race show at 8:00 – 8:30 p.m. (ET).