Doug Kalitta stormed past fellow competitor J.R. Todd in the Top fuel finals in the Auto Club Finals in Pomona, California on Sunday. Funny Car speedster Tommy Johnson Jr. and Pro Stock phenom Greg Anderson were also victorious at the 24th and final event of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
Doug Kalitta muscled his hot-rod to a hole-shot win with a 3.745 second pass at 326.63 miles per hour. Doug Kalittta did it in his Mac Tools dragster to defeat J.R. Todd’s 3.704 second run at 327.90miles per hour in the Top Fuel final. As a result, Doug Kalitta reeled in his fourth victory of the year and 42nd of his racing career.
The veteran driver blew past Shawn Reed, then eight-time world champ Tony Schumacher, and Shawn Langdon in the first rounds. The victory placed him into second in points. Nevertheless, that is where he will finish out the season for the fourth time in his career.
Second place finisher J.R. Todd appeared in a career-high sixth final round. The feisty racer defeated Troy Buff, Richie Crampton, and also world champion Antron “Get Down” Brown on his way to the final race against Doug Kalitta.
“I’ve been trying to win this last race for a long time,” said Doug Kalitta, nephew of drag racing legend Connie Kalitta. “The history here, for me, growing up watching Connie race over the years and to win today was huge. For me and also for everybody on the team. It was very cool that [Todd] and I were both in the final and got to run for the money there. It will also be good momentum for all of our teams, and we finished off the season with some good runs.”
In the Funny Car category, Tommy Johnson Jr. scored a 3.918 second pass at 320.51 miles per hour. His Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger R/T out-raced John Force’s 3.918 second pass at 321.81 miles per hour. Force’s speed was the quicker of the two, but Johnson Jr. was faster at the tree and won in another hole-shot race.
Tommy Johnson Jr. collected his third triumph of the 2016 season and 15th of his career. Johnson Jr., who posted a second place finish at this event one year ago, finished a career-high second in points. He outlasted speedster Dave Richards, Robert Hight, and Courtney Force, in the earlier races leading up to the final.
John Force made his eighth final round showing at the Auto Club NHRA Finals. The 16 time champion, bested fellow veteran Cruz Pedregon, and world champion Ron Capps. After dispatching of those two icons, he beat the number one qualifier Jack Beckman before losing to Johnson Jr. in the finale.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t win the championship,” said Johnson, who had not finished higher than third in points before this season. “It’s so important to do well. You have six races to really make no mistakes, and we had a bad race or two there towards the middle of the Countdown.”
“It was a little frustrating because we knew we were better than that. We also had fallen down to third, and we came here and knew we wanted to get back to second. We knew we could do that. You also want to finish strong and show you are there to contend. You want to end on a high note because it kind of sets the tone for next season.”comment Johnson
Pro Stock beast Greg Anderson beat his Summit Racing Chevy Camaro teammate and series champion Jason Line. Anderson won on a hole-shot in the Pro Stock final round. He powered his dragster to a 6.580 pass at 210.24 miles per hour. The time was better than his teammates, even though Line’s 211.43 miles per hour was faster than Anderson.
This is Greg Anderson’s eighth victory in 2016 and also the 86th of his storied career. Finally, it was his sixth triumph at the Auto Club NHRA Finals. The wily veteran finished the year behind his teammate Jason Line in second. Line blew past Alan Prusiensky, Chris McGaha, and two-time world champion Erica Enders before facing Anderson in the last showdown of the season.
“Great day; I can’t cry,” said Anderson. “I did all I could do today; we also did everything we could possibly do today. The only thing I can kick stones about is that I didn’t do a great job on qualifying on Friday. I lost three points to Jason, and those three points were also a big three points.”
“You do the best you can, and sometimes you make a mistake, and I did on Friday. Unfortunately, cost me and that was the decider. Still a great fight. Great fight all year. We had some great battles. During the last half of the year, the rest of the class got in, and we had some great battles with them. We overachieved this year, and we’re leaving here happy.”commented Anderson.
