Pomona didn’t deliver the Sunday show fans were hoping for. Relentless rain forced NHRA officials to cancel the final eliminations at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals. With the track too wet and too cold to recover, the points leaders locked in their titles, officially wrapping one of the most competitive NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series seasons in recent memory.
Doug Kalitta Earns Second World Championship
Doug Kalitta has never been known for taking the easy route to success, but his second career Top Fuel world championship came with a far different vibe than his nail-biter 2023 title. When heavy weather washed out Saturday qualifying at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, the points math locked in Kalitta as the world champion.
Kalitta’s path to the title was built long before the skies opened over Pomona. His Alan Johnson-tuned Mac Tools dragster came alive at the perfect time, rolling into the Countdown with momentum and then turning into one of the most consistent weapons in the class.
Kalitta reached the final round at four straight playoff events, picking up wins in St. Louis and Dallas to take command of the points battle. A semifinal finish in Las Vegas pushed the gap wide enough that nobody could catch him once qualifying was washed out.
“Yeah, this is definitely a lot easier [than 2023],” said Kalitta. “It’s always seemed to come down to the last race, last day, but we had a nice string of runs throughout the Countdown. Alan [Johnson, crew chief] and my whole team have had my car going down the track. It’s been real nice, and just not doing something stupid on the track and getting good, solid runs.
“Alan is always throwing down and always has something up his sleeve. So, I’m just really proud of him and my whole team. It’s a huge relief to be able to win the championship before the last round at the last race, and we’re all just super happy.”
Prock Goes Back-to-Back in Funny Car
Austin Prock didn’t just defend his Funny Car title, he did it with authority. In only his second year in the class, the John Force Racing driver delivered a crushing season in his 12,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevy SS: nine wins in 19 races, 12 final rounds, and seven No. 1 qualifiers.
That stat line included a full sweep of the four-wide events, a three-race summer streak, a second straight U.S. Nationals victory, and multiple pressure-cooker playoff performances.
Prock knew the target on his back was huge, especially with Matt Hagan mounting a late-season charge, but the second-generation racer never cracked.
“To win one world championship is one thing, and to win two is another and it puts you in a select group,” Prock said. “I think there’s only seven of us who have ever done it, and to add my name to that list, I wish my entire team could be added to that list. I get all the praise and the glory from the media and from the fans, but it’s not just me. I couldn’t accomplish what I’ve done in the last two years without the people behind me, and I’m really proud of them.”
Hagan clipped Prock in the Vegas final to keep things interesting, but Prock rolled into Pomona with a comfortable lead and finished the season with an insane 45-10 round record. He now becomes only the seventh Funny Car driver to repeat—and just the second to do it in more than two decades.
Dallas Glenn Finally Finishes the Job in Pro Stock
If there was a driver overdue for a championship, it was Dallas Glenn. After two straight years of near-misses, the RAD Torque Systems Camaro driver finally sealed the deal in 2025—and he did it in dominant fashion.
Glenn put together a monster season with eight wins, 13 final rounds, and a ridiculous 50-9 record in eliminations. He and KB Titan Racing teammate Greg Anderson traded blows all season, but Glenn’s playoff run was the difference-maker.
He came into the Countdown hot and stayed hot, winning four of the five playoff races: Reading, Charlotte, Dallas, and Las Vegas.
“It’s definitely really special, especially getting so close last year,” Glenn said. “It feels good. I honestly don’t think it’s really hit me yet. It maybe will hit me on the long four-day drive home later in the week. But no, it feels really good right now. You know, there’s a lot of just a lot of stuff, a lot of emotions and you’re just trying to process everything.
“It definitely feels good. You know, I get to race all next season with number one on my car. I get to take it from Greg, take it off of Greg’s car, and put it on mine. We get to swap numbers.”
A year ago, Glenn’s early exit in Vegas opened the door for Anderson’s miracle comeback. This year, Glenn slammed that door shut and welded it shut for good.
Richard Gadson Breaks Through for First Pro Stock Motorcycle Title
Some riders talk about wanting it. Richard Gadson rode like he needed it. And when Sunday’s cancellation hit, it locked in the biggest moment of his career: his first NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world championship with the RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki team.
Gadson entered Pomona with a 21-point lead over teammate Gaige Herrera—a razor-thin margin when the guy behind you is a two-time champ. But he earned every inch of that advantage with a clutch late-season surge: four wins, six finals, and his first two career No. 1 qualifiers.
“The mentality was kill or be killed. That was it. We talked about me and (Herrera) meeting in the finals, but it didn’t have to go that way,” Gadson said. “We had two sides of the ladder that we had to get through and none of those people owed us any favors. I didn’t want anybody to take it from me or stop it and I was willing to lay it all on the line out there. So, you know, I came here to go to war with my friends, with my teammate. It was that mentality the whole weekend.”
Gadson’s breakthrough win in Bristol lit the fuse earlier in the year, and he kept building from there, stacking wins in Sonoma, Charlotte’s four-wide event, and Dallas. Meanwhile, Herrera stumbled early in the Countdown, just enough room for Gadson to strike.
The win completes a remarkable rise for a rider who spent two seasons knocking on the door.
Next Stop: The 75th Anniversary Season
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series ramps up again March 5–8 with the 2026 Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, kicking off the sanctioning body’s milestone 75th anniversary season.
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