POMONA, Calif. — A full weekend of rain brought the NHRA Mission Drag Racing Series campaign to a disappointing conclusion with the cancellation of the In-N-Out NHRA World Finals at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds.
Drivers, teams and fans were disappointed with the way the season wrapped up.
Because of the rain, Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Austin Prock (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) earned championships.
It was the second title for Kalitta and Prock, while Glenn and Gadson are first-time champions.
• Matt Hagan entered the weekend with a chance to collect his fifth Funny Car championship, trailing Austin Prock by 101 points. However, with no on-track action, Hagan was relegated to a runner-up finish in the standings.
“As a competitor, you want to run this thing out, but I think we just wanted our shot to go for the championship,” said Hagan. “We wanted to fight for the championship that we have been working towards all year long. The end result was they (Austin Prock) were three rounds ahead of us. The NHRA came to our team owner, our marketing partners, and the crew and asked what we wanted to do today. The decision was made across the board that this was the proper decision with the weather. It was best for safety with the sand trap full of water and it definitely stings.
“Mother Nature didn’t give us that chance this weekend to go for another title. It just wasn’t meant to be. But overall, for our new crew chief (Knudsen) to have to call all of the shots and at all of the races and his note pad was all new at all of the racetracks. Mike had to make those ‘gut’ decisions and to win three races and finish second in the championship was a great season. I’m super proud of all of my crew guys as they are wrenching on the car and the car was solid all year. The whole crew is coming back for 2026. I know what we just did as a first-year team and I’m very excited for the future.”
Hagan’s team owner Tony Stewart defended the call to cancel the event.
“There is one thing that is undefeated in this world and that’s Mother Nature,” Stewart said. “It’s unfortunate but it is the right decision. I don’t think you are going to hear anyone in the pit area get upset about this call.”
• While Doug Kalitta clinched his second Top Fuel championship with Saturday’s rainout, the cancellation the following day meant that Kalitta Motorsports finished 1-2 in the Top Fuel standings for the first time with Shawn Langdon taking the second spot.
It’s the second time a single team finished one-two in Top Fuel points. Schumacher Racing did it in 2012 when Antron Brown won the title and Tony Schumacher finished second.
“We finished as well as we could as a team,” Langdon said. “It’s awesome to see – we’re all very happy for Doug and his team. Second is no reason to hang our heads. We had a great season and only lost to our teammate which is a good problem to have. We’re excited for Team Kalitta as a whole to finish one-two, and we’ll be excited to come back next year and go after that number one.”
• The rain also meant that Brittany Force did not get to make her final Top Fuel passes as she is stepping away from driving to start a family.
“I always try to find the positive in everything,” said Force. This weekend, with the event getting canceled, I look back on Las Vegas, my last pass down the drag strip, we turned a win light on and ended up in the winner’s circle, so that’s where my focus is.
“I’m really proud of everything this Monster Energy team has accomplished this season, everything John Force Racing has accomplished. Jack Beckman did an amazing job in the seat this again year and Austin Prock bringing home his second consecutive championship was amazing. Everybody under the John Force Racing umbrella gave it their all and none of our achievements would have been possible without them.”
