Long before the first professional session of the day, there was plenty of action on In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip including the crowning of a champion in Super Stock. Folloiwing a heated back-and-forth battle over the past few weeks, Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. claimed his second NHRA Lucas Oil Series title after  Ryan McClanahan lost in round three.

Hidalgo did not enter the Pomona event, but had to watch from home as McClanahan attempted to win his second title.

Going into Sunday’s final eliminations, titles are still up for grabs in Top Alcohol Dragster, Super Gas, and Right Trailers Top Sportsman.

PRO STOCK Q3

Pro Stock cars did not get to run during yesterday's rain-shortened qualifying day but that didn’t prevent the bulk of the class from turning in competitive elapsed times. No one handled the Pomona track surface better than,  who picked up a  much-needed four bonus points with a 6.505 to lead the field. Greg Anderson came into the event 56 points behind leader Aaron Stanfield in the battle for the world title.

Anderson’s teammate, Dallas Glenn, also made big progress with a 6.512 that is good for second. Glenn’s three bonus points shaved his deficit to just 29 points over Stanfield, which is equal to just one round of eliminations on Sunday.

Camrie Caruso ran early in the session, but managed to take advantage of prime conditions to make one of the best runs of the season with a 6.515, not far off her career best of 6.49 from the 2022 Gainesville event. The KB/Titan team swept the top four spots with a 6.50 by Matt Hartford and his GETTRX/Total Seal Camaro.

Erica Enders made the fifth quickest run of the session, but her chances for a title have all-but evaporated as she’s more than four rounds out of first place.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q3

Matt Smith’s slim title hopes remained alive when he rana 6.721 in the opening round of Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying. Smith not only took the provisional No. 1 spot, but picked up four much-needed qualifying bonus points. Smith came into the event trailing Gaige Herrera by 123 points and needs to get that margin to 119 or less, he’ll remain in the running for the title into tomorrow’s final eliminations.

Herrera did not get down the track so he did not earn bonus points.

Steve Johnson made the second best run of the round with a 6.771 on his Big St. Charles Suzuki. Johnson was .001-second quicker than Angie Smith, who sits No. 3 after one round. The final bonus point of the round went to Chase Van Sant, who ran 6.785 on his Trick Tools Suzuki.

John Hall and Hector Arana Jr. also got into the 6.7s with runs of 6.792 and 6.796, respectively.

TOP FUEL Q3

Justin Ashley entered the event as the points leader with gaps of 44 and 45 points, respectively, over Antron Brown and Shawn Langdon. Brown and Langdon no doubt were counting on the full complement of four qualifying sessions and the respective possible bonus points to get Ashley’s lead under 30 points (equal to one round) entering eliminations, but they lost half of that opportunity in yesterday’s rain. It’s not impossible now; just a whole lot harder and requires Ashley to not earn any bonus points and qualify well down in the field.

After being one of eight drivers who didn't get a run Friday, Ashley ran 3.711 for the provisional No. 5 spot while Brown clocked a 3.725 that has him ninth. Langdon didn't make it down the track under power and will need a good run in the final session to keep his championship hopes alive. He's currently No. 17, one spot behind the easily-reachable 4.121 bump, Langdon's last DNQ was at the 2022 Gatornationals.

None of that trio earned any bonus points in this session, which was led again by Shawn Reed. After leading the rain-interrupted half-session Friday with a 3.712, Reed and crew chief Rob Wendland rocketed to a 3.682; it’s not a career-best as he ran 3.676 last month in Dallas, but it still has him No. 1.

Indy winner Clay Millican also didn't make it down the track and will go into the final qualifying session not in the field. He has not DNQ'd since the 2021 U.S. Nationals.

Ron August Jr., making his first start since a jaw-dropping semifinal finish in Sonoma, had an explosive moment on his first pass alongside Jasmine Salinas. who ran 3.73 but punctuated her run with a blower backfire in the lights. August has the bump spot at the aforementioned 4.12.

FUNNY CAR Q3

Ron Capps uncorked a track-record and career-best 3.821 in the NAPA Toyota, bettering the 3.873 he ran in Reading way back in 2019. The old track record was even older, 3.822 by Matt Hagan at the 2017 Winternationals. Austin Prock was right behind him with a 3.822, which keeps him No. 2 but he passes Friday leader jack Beckman's 3.828.

Bob Tasca III didn't make it down in Q1 but made a full pull this session with a 3.867 that was third-best of the session, with J.R. Todd grabbing the last bonus point with a 3.878.

Blake Alexander (3.879) and Alexis DeJoria (3.952) had the only other three-second runners.

The bump spot is 5.413 by Jason Rupert with Dave Richards, Alex Miladonovich, and Buddy Hull on the outside looking in.

TOP ALCOHOL UPDATE

A consistent Top 10 finisher for the bulk of his career, including four third place finishes and four runner-up finishes, Shawn Cowie has now earned the title of NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster world champion following his round one win over Mike Coughlin. Cowie put an exclamation point on his first title with a strong 5.18 run after Coughlin got loose and made contact with the top end timing blocks.

Jackie Fricke came into the Pomoan finale with a chance to catch Cowie, but his round one win put the title out of reach.

There is also extra action in the Top Alcohol classes today as long-awaited final rounds from the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals are scheduled to be finished. In Top Alcohol Dragster, Joey Severance will take on Ron Anderson later today.

The Top Alcohol Funny Car class has an interesting scenario as Seah Bellemeur is scheduled to face Maddi Gordon for the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals title. They duo are also scheduled to race in the second round of eliminations for the In-N-Out Burger finals so that race will be a classic two-for-one.

PRO STOCK Q4

The Pro Stock field is set for the final event of the season and when it comes to the Mission Foods NHRA world title, the match-ups are intriguing and the possibilities endless. Incoming leader Aaron Stanfield ran a 6.517 and landed in the No. 4 spot. That means a round one match against Troy Coughlin Jr. More importantly, Stanfield banked three qualifying points so he’s pushed Dallas Glenn to a deficit of 29 points meaning Glenn needs to advance one more round further than Stanfield.

Greg Anderson made the quickest run of the round with a 6.505 to secure the No.1 spot for the 132nd time and earn a round one match against Kenny Delco. Anderson is 48 ponts back so he needs to win two more rounds than Stanfield to win the title.

Glenn finished in the No. 2 spot and will be paired against rookie Derrick Reese in round one. The third spot went to KB Titan driver Camrie Caruso, who made two of her best runs of the season including a 6.519 and a 6.515.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q4

Gaige Herrera is on the verge of clinching his second-straight Pro Stock Motorcycle title, but it’s still not official. Herrera rode to a 6.765 to qualify in the No. 3 spot and he’s 119 points ahead of rival Matt Smith, who qualified No.1. Smith cane pick up 120 points during eliminations, so he needs to win the race and have Herrera lose in the first round.

Smith will take on Aaron Pine in round one while Herrera is paired against Clayton Howey.

Angie Smith also made one her best run of the weekend with a 6.758 on her Denso Buell to take the No. 2 spot. She’ll be paired against Lance Bonham in Sunday’s opening round.

Other notable performances came from Geno Scali, who rode to a career best 6.788 while Marc Ingwersen also improved dramatically with a 6.792.

TOP FUEL Q4

This was a Top Fuel session for the record books. Four-time world champ Steve Torrence, still in the running for a fifth title, laid it all out with a 3.644, the quickest run of the season, bettering the 3.649 recorded by Doug Kalitta earlier this season in Sonoma, but it didn’t last as Brittany Force knocked him from the top spot with a 3.643. It's Force's sixth No. 1 of the season and her fourth in the last five races.

Doug Kalitta pounded out a 3.650 for the No. 3 spot and in the process, became just the second driver in history to reach the 300-mph mark at 660 feet with a speed of 300.53.

Earlier in the session, Shawn Langdon and the Kalitta Air Careers team pulled off a major turnaround. After nearly wrecking the car in a tire-blowing losing semifinal race in Las Vegas, the team repaired the chassis then didn’t make it down the track in Q3, their first crack at the track after Friday’s rain. All they did was go from outside the field right to the No. 1 spot with a stunning 3.653 that was later supplanted by Force, Torrence, and his own teammate, Langdon.

Clay Millican, who also came into the last session outside the field, worked his way into the show with a 3.700.

Hometown hero Krista Baldwin qualified No. 16, tied with a 3.801 and will race Force in round one. Despite not having four full qualifying sessions, we were on the verge of a record-quick field. The quickest bump spot in history was 3.758 at the 2022 U.S. Nationals and all but Baldwin ran that quick. No. 15 qualifier and class rookie Gary Pritchett was 15th with a 3.750.

Heading into Championship Sunday, Justin Ashley leads Langdon by 42 points and Antron Brown by 46. Kalitta is 78 points back, Torrence 79 behind, Clay Millican at -95, and Force at 108 back. Tony Schumacher has been eliminated from championship contention.

Ashley and Brown will face off in round one while Ashley will face Josh Hart. 

FUNNY CAR Q4

The inevitable became fact as Austin Prock was crowned NHRA Funny Car world champion at the end of qualifying and did in emphatic fashion in Q4, making the quickest run of the season and the fourth-quickest pass in class history with a 3.804. Only Robert Hight (3.793) and Matt Hagan (3.799 and 3.802) have been quicker over the 1,000-foot course. Those three runs came way back in 2017.

Prock enters the final day with a lead that his second-place teammate Jack Beckman cannot overcome no matter what happens on Sunday. He’s the first Pro champ to be crowned this season.

Matt Hagan’s 3.83 was the second-quick pass of the session with Bob Tasca III running 3.870 in a great final session.

Thirteen cars qualified in the three-second zone and the loss on Friday’s night session may well have prevented the long-awaited first all-three-second Funny Car field. 

Jason Rupert ended up on the bump spot with a 5.413 after Buddy Hull's 4.07 was DQ'd, which means Hull will join Alex Miladinovich and Dave Richards on the sidelines watching the final raceday of the season.

TOP ALCOHOL UPDATE II

Sean Bellemeur scored two wins on Saturday afternoon when he defeated Maddi Gordon at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Raceway. Bellemeur, who recently clinched his fourth Top Alcohol Funny Car world title, won the round two match, which was also the delayed final round of the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals from two weeks ago in Las Vegas.

Both cars shook the tires at the start, but Bellemeur was able to recover more quickly to post a 5.59 to add to his impressive 2024 season win total.

The Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals Top Alcohol Dragster final between Joey Severance and Ron Anderson will be contested on Sunday after the semifinals of the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals.