NHRA: Brown, Anderson, Beckman and Smith win Pomona finals
After a small plane crashed into some campers and delayed the action, Antron Brown in Top Fuel and Greg Anderson in Pro Stock won world championships and the season-ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals to finish off an amazing 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Championship runner-ups Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the event to close their seasons.
NHRA Funny Car
In the teammate versus teammate final round, Beckman went a career-best 3.812-seocnds at 327.35 mph in his 11,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS to defeat Prock and pick up his second win of the season since taking over driving duties for John Force in August. It’s been a magical ride for Beckman, a former world champion, who won his 35th career race on Sunday.
To get to the final round on Sunday, Beckman knocked off Terry Haddock, Blake Alexander and Ron Capps, ensuring Prock and Force/Beckman finished first and second in the loaded Funny Car ranks.
“It doesn’t get any higher than this,” Beckman said. “It’s just magical at your home track. It’s special when it’s the Winternationals when the Winternationals was the first race of the year, but the Finals is finals, right? Whoever wins here gets a couple months to say we were the baddest on race day.
“This season has just been just pinch-me moment after pinch-me moment. The way John went out was terrible, but he’s still with us, and I think he’s just as valuable standing on the starting line as he is strapped in the car at the starting line. Having John here doesn’t make us want to win more. We want to win every time we go out there. It just made winning that much more special. To see Brittany [Force] win after a two-year winless drought the weekend her dad comes back and then Austin double up with her, was just great (in Las Vegas). We’re right back in another final against Austin, and this time we won it.”
Prock advanced to his 12th final round in his dazzling championship season in Funny Car.
NHRA Top Fuel
Top Fuel’s Antron Brown qualified just 12th in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster, but as he’s done all year, the standout was in prime form during eliminations. He knocked off Justin Ashley, who entered the weekend with the points lead, with a run of 3.696-seconds at 331.53 mph in an incredible matchup to open eliminations and then faced off with another title contender in Shawn Langdon. Both drivers ran into trouble, but Brown recovered and advanced to the semifinals against Force.
The championship is Brown’s first since 2016, adding to his already legendary accolades that also includes the 2012 and 2015 Top Fuel titles. Brown’s triumph also marks the eighth Top Fuel title for Toyota since they joined the category in 2007.
Brown won six races in the 2024 season, while also scoring 33 round wins over 20 races to claim the Top Fuel championship.
“This is super special. I’ve been dreaming about this day since I shared my vision with [late team owner] Don Schumacher about being a team owner,” Brown said. “This team has been resilient. We never quit and we never stop. When we lined up this weekend and we saw our matchup, it was like doomsday. To get this win, I tell you what, it’s been incredible. It’s truly a blessing and I can’t believe we did it.”
“We found something special in testing after Las Vegas and then we came in here and shot ourselves in the foot during qualifying. We ended up No. 12 and had to race Justin Ashley in round one. I just thought, ‘This is what I have to do. I have to beat Justin.’ And I found the Antron Brown of old form.”
“It’s all right here with this Mission Foods (championship) trophy! When everybody sees that AB Motorsports logo, it has that cross in the middle, all the glory goes to God. He gives us the strength to make this happen and to do it, because I didn’t have the faith in myself to do it, to start a team, for us to ever do this on our own like we did. But he gave us the faith, gave us the will and here we are with all these great partners like Matco Tools, Summit Racing, Toyota.
“They all make this possible for us and keep this going each and every day. And Sirius XM always has us tuned in. I tell you what, this team is resilient. We never quit, we never stop and when we lined up this weekend, and we saw our matchup as we didn’t qualify where we wanted to – it was like doomsday.
“Justin Ashley in the first round, then you go to Shawn Langdon, and we were both trying to throw at it and go down. And in that semifinal round against Brittany (Force), we had to go down the track. Hit the tree and go down track and if they run a 3.64 or 3.65, so be it, but we at least have to give ourselves a fighting chance.
“That 3.68 came right on time and I got down through there. To get this (championship), I tell you what, is incredible. Truly a blessing. I love all my family at home, my kids, everybody. We love you! This is coming back to Indianapolis, Indiana, and I can’t believe we did it!”
NHRA Pro Stock
A spectacular season in Pro Stock came down to a thrilling winner-take-all final round, with Greg Anderson defeating KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn with a run of 6.501 at 211.13 to slip past Glenn’s run of 6.516. It hands Anderson a remarkable sixth world championship, tying him with Erica Enders and Warren Johnson for the second-most in Pro Stock history.
“We struggled the last three or four months,” Anderson said. “I had a great car but crazy things would happen and every time I’d lose it was like a slug to the gut. I knew I had to figured it out and today we did. Today was like a dream. The sun shined on me and we had a flawless day. Nothing crazy happened. I just hoped and prayed and wished it was me.
“This is my sixth and I think it means the most. These young kids are trying to push me out the door but I keep dragging my feet because I don’t want to go yet.
“Today’s kids are relentless. They can be .00 to teen on the tree like there’s nothing to it. I can do that but it’s like an out of body experience,” Anderson said. “This place is special, especially when the sun goes down. In 2015, Jason Line raced Erica Enders in the final for the championship and I thought it was the coolest atmosphere I’d ever seen, and I always wanted to be in that spot.”
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycles
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Matt Smith ended his year with a strong statement on his Denso Auto Parts/Matt Smith Racing Buell, defeating world champion Gaige Herrera in the final round with a run of 6.702 at 202.12. It is Smith’s second win this season and the 41st in his career, enabling the six-time world champion to finish second to Herrera for the first time in his career.
Smith, who also qualified No. 1, took down Aaron Pine, Marc Ingwersen and Steve Johnson to reach the final round, setting up another marquee matchup with Herrera. This time, Smith had enough to get past the two-time defending champion,
“We came in knowing we probably couldn’t get three hats, but we knew we could get two and we did,” said Smith, getting the No. 1 qualifier and winner’s hat. “We got the low qualifier hat and the winner’s hat, just not the champion’s hat. Still, we were able to put pressure on Gaige [Herrera]. He’s a deserving champ, and we just made too many mistakes.
“I love doing this, but I’ve thought about getting off and putting some young kid on the bike. I’m 52 and it’s hard to keep up but I still love it. Actually, our sponsor, Denso told me to stop talking about retirement. I still have a job, so I plan to come back and push hard to get that seventh championship next year. “
Herrera advanced to his 12th final round of the season in just 15 races.
The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins March 6-9 with the NHRA Gatornationals at legendary Gainesville Raceway.