Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta said Saturday he thinks “it would be pretty cool if we could put some drama into tomorrow” during eliminations for the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at Pomona, Calif. With championships on the line Sunday in his class, Funny Car, Top Fuel, and Pro Stock Motorcycle, Kalitta has the chance to earn a third title in four seasons. But his Kalitta Motorsports teammate Shawn Langdon has an ever better chance to clinch his second championship. Langdon has to win his first-round match-up against crafty Josh Hart if he is to win his first Top Fuel title since 2013. If Langdon were to lose to Hart, Kalitta would need to win the race—win four rounds. It’s certainly not impossible, but Langdon has dominated the competition for much of the season—and together they have gone on a tag-team tear against a stout bunch of rivals. “It would be nice if we were paired up against one another. That would definitely make it a little more exciting,” Kalitta, a seven-time winner at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, said. “And we’re kind of not in the driver’s seat at all.” To score back-to-back championships, Kalitta conceded, “is pretty unlikely, but you never can tell.” Top Fuel teammates Doug Kalitta, near lane, and Shawn Langdon race down track during the opening round of pro qualifying at the NHRA Finals in Pomona on Friday, November 13, 2026. He knows he has 14-time championship tuner Alan Johnson, noted for accomplishing the impossible, in his camp. Even at that, Kalitta said, “Yeah, just see what happens. My biggest focus is just go rounds. Obviously try to get to the final, that’s all I’m focusing on for tomorrow. [I’m] just not making it too stressful, because, really,I have no control over anything. I usually just take it round by round and hope for the best. So I try not to overthink it.” Langdon, who’ll start from his second-worst position of the year at No. 7, isn’t worried that Kalitta had a better qualifying effort this weekend. He’s still is the points leader, and he said of facing Hart, “That’s a tough draw. It’s going to be a big round. It really boils down to this one round. We’re going to put our best foot forward. These are the moments we dream about. These are the moments we work all those long hours for, what we get up in the morning for. As a team we’re going to win or lose. At the end of the day, Kalitta Motorsports will be getting a championship. That’s the primary focus. I’m excited for tomorrow. I’m ready for it.” Funny Car race still tight Tony Stewart Racing Funny Car driver and points leader Matt Hagan—like closest rival Jordan Vandergriff—had a less-than-ideal qualifying performance. But both say they can fix their shortcomings overnight and wage a fierce battle on the last day of the season. Funny Car points leader Matt Hagan during the opening round of pro qualifying at the NHRA Finals on Friday. Hagan said, “We got to focus on the championship hunt and our guys trying to pull one in, man. It’s kind of wild because you think, ‘Man, we wish we could have been set up better, this or that.’ But I won from [No.] 14, 16, 15, 13, two, one. So you just got to be in it, and you got to be able to go out there and make it happen for yourself. That’s why we race them on Sunday and not on paper. And I’m excited for [eliminations]. I’m more excited than I am nervous. And we just got to go out there and do what we’re supposed to do.” Hagan is the No. 9 starter and will line up in the opening round against Dan Wilkerson. No. 7 qualifier Vandergriff will start his day against Jeff Arend. Vandergriff was unqualified going into the final session Saturday but managed to avoid a DNQ, saying, “I was not going to lift until I crossed the finish line,” despite the fact his Camaro “fought me hard to the left,” coaxing him toward the guard wall. “That was the run we needed. It keeps our championships hopes alive.” Hagan entered the weekend with a 39-point advantage over Vandergriff. Glenn takes second straight Pro Stock crown (unofficially) Dallas Glenn just has to show up at the dragstrip and take his Chevrolet to the stating line and he’ll have his second consecutive Pro Stock championship. “Maybe tomorrow night I’ll rest a lot easier, but I’ve seen a lot of weird things happen here,” he said. “I’ve seen water leaks, oil leaks. You never know what’s going to happen. So we’re trying to touch the car the least and just inspect everything so we can just go up and make a nice, clean run tomorrow, and then we can go Hail Mary. But the ultimate goal tomorrow is just to go out and win the race.” Herrera benefits from Las Vegas make-up final Motorcycle rider Gaige Herrera during the opening round of pro qualifying at the NHRA Finals on Friday. Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gaige Herrera won Saturday’s postponed final round from Las Vegas and qualified No. 1, edging Vance & Hines teammate, points leader, and reigning champion Richard Gadson. With that, he pulled within 28 points of Gadson. It sets up the possibility of a winner-take-all final round with Gadson, who qualified second. “That was big for sure,” Herrera said. “I almost feel like that’s one of my all-time-high wins right there. I definitely needed that, and I’m pretty sure Richard’s over there sweating it a little bit right now. “To come here and battle it out, round by round, the Vegas final—there’s nothing better than racing for a championship at the very last race in Pomona. We’re on opposite sides of the ladder [for eliminations], so hopefully we meet in the final.” Excessive wind at Las Vegas forced the final to Saturday, when Herrera used the added drama to throw a scare into Gadson with his fourth victory of the year and 32nd overall. Gadson qualified second. Haddock wreck raises issues about tethers Trying in his last chance Saturday to bump his way into the field of 16, longtime Funny Car racer Terry Haddock experienced a frightening explosion that split the carbon-fiber body in two and thrust him into the wall. Haddock exited the car on his own power and walked away. Drag racing vehicle experiencing a fiery burnout on the track. But the mangled mess that had shrouded him inside the car as he tried to get it stopped prompted observer Tony Schumacher, the eight-time Top Fuel champion, to remark, “I will guarantee there’s going to be another tethers discussion, because he couldn’t see. We couldn’t see him in the car, and he can’t see out.” That has been an issue for years, with no resolution, as the sanctioning body has tried to balance safety of fans and bystanders with protection of drivers. Seeing yet another driver ride out that kind of super-dangerous, essentially blind, situations made Hagan say, “It makes me not want to crawl back in the cars anymore. Unbelievable.” In the immediate aftermath, Haddock said, “The first thing I want to do is thank the Lord for keeping me safe. Thank you for AMPCO Contracting and the Stars and Stripes Children’s Foundation for doing all this. We’re trying real hard to put on a show and do a good job. It’s disappointing. It’s not how we want it to end the weekend. “I’ve never had one blow up like that when the body’s stuck to the car,” he said. “You can’t see where you’re going. So then I crash into stuff. That ain’t my thing,” Haddock said. “Thank you to my guys, everybody who works so hard. We’ve tried so hard to do a good job. We hate the downside of it for the fans, so we’re sorry, fans. But we want to come here and put on the show for you. We love drag racing as much as you do. We’ll go home and fix all this junk, and I’ll try to figure out how to come back.” Looking to purchase a car? Find your match on the MSN Autos Marketplace
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Liked by Connor Poirier, Olivia Morgan
Liked by Connor Poirier, Olivia Morgan
