Brown, Beckman, Line, Savoie Lead Pomona Qualifying

Jack Beckman

Ron Capps scored valuable qualifying points and Jack Beckman sprinted to the qualifying lead in Funny Car on Friday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the 24th and final event of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. The Auto Club NHRA Finals marks the conclusion of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Capps posted the lowest elapsed time in the first session of qualifying with a 3.883-second pass at 323.66 mph, picking up three points for being the quickest of the session and now has an 89-point lead over teammate and second-place Matt Hagan.

If Capps, the winningest Funny Car driver in NHRA history without a world championship, has at least an 81-point lead over Hagan when qualifying concludes Saturday evening, he will clinch the 2016 NHRA Mello Drag Racing Series Funny Car world championship.

Beckman raced to the top qualifying position in Funny Car with a 3.865 at 332.84. He set both ends of the track record with the performance. Beckman has five No. 1 qualifiers this year and 20 in his career.

In Top Fuel, 2016 series champion Antron Brown continued his dominance by racing to the provisional lead with a 3.713 at 326.56 mph. Brown clinched his third world title two weekends ago in Las Vegas. He has three No. 1 qualifiers this season and 47 in his career. Brown has tallied seven victories in eleven final round appearances so far this year.

Pro Stock points leader Jason Line sprinted to the top spot with a 6.565 at 211.16 mph. Line has seven No. 1 qualifiers this year, 48 in his career and four at the Auto Club NHRA Finals. He is a two-time world champion and has a 20-point lead over second-place Greg Anderson.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Savoie rode his White Alligator Racing Suzuki to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 6.844 at 195.93. Savoie entered the weekend three points behind leaders Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines, who were tied, but now has a one point lead over rival Krawiec and a three point lead over Hines.