Billy Torrence at Pomona Dragstrip for the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals – NHRA Photo
KALITTA, CAPPS, GLENN & HERRERA OPEN IN-N-OUT BURGER NHRA FINALS IN No. 1 SPOTS
POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 13, 2026) – Reigning Top Fuel world champ Doug
Kalitta powered to the provisional No. 1 position on Friday at In-N-Out
Burger Pomona Dragstrip, staying in the championship hunt to open this
weekend’s In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals.
Ron Capps (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro
Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the last
of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season
and the sixth race in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. The
second session in both Top Fuel and Funny Car were canceled due to
weather.
During Friday’s lone session, Kalitta went 3.677-seconds at 340.39 mph
in his 12,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster as the veteran looks to
qualify in the top spot for the seventh time this season. The veteran
still has an outside shot to track down teammate Shawn Langdon as he
attempts to win his third world title in four years.
“I’m glad we got one round of qualifying in today because at this
last race, you never know,” Kalitta said. “Alan Johnson, Mac
Savage, and all of my guys were really hungry to have a good qualifying
effort, and we went out there and did good today. I’m still hoping we
can pull off a championship. I’ve been part of a bunch of close ones,
and we’re just looking to go out there, throw down on every run and
we’re going to try to get every point we can every round.”
Maddi Gordon is second with a 3.679 at 342.11, setting a new track speed
record, while Leah Pruett is third after a 3.698 at 334.65. Langdon is
currently in the 14th spot heading into Saturday.
In Funny Car, Ron Capps was the only driver to go into the 3.80s during
the lone session of the day, going 3.894 at 331.53 in his
12,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra, taking the provisional
No. 1 spot for what he hopes is the fifth time this season.
A championship may be out of reach for the three-time champ, but the
veteran can still have a big finish to the weekend.
“You see a lot of teams every year that have been so-so or having
issues, come alive at this race because you could pretty much throw
everything at this track when the conditions are right there,” Capps
said. “However, they were almost too good. ‘Guido’ [crew chief
Dean Antonelli] did a good job of pulling it back just a little bit,
about 300 feet, and then letting it go. We saw a few of those really
fast Funny Cars get sideways and lose traction out there. So it was a
tricky Pomona, but still fast.
“Tomorrow, it’s going to be clearer, a little warmer, which will be
faster. It’ll still be cold enough, and the atmospheric conditions are
going to be stout, so it’s going to be great. That .89 will probably end
up being the bottom half of the field. We’re No. 1 right now, but we
have to run better for sure tomorrow to stay top half.”
J.R. Todd is second with a 3.911 at 327.90 and Cruz Pedregon’s 3.931
at 318.02 has him third. Points leader Matt Hagan is 11th after one
session and Jordan Vandergriff is currently not qualified and is 21st.
Looking for his second straight world title, Pro Stock’s Dallas Glenn
took care of business on Friday, taking the provisional No. 1 spot in
his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro with a run of 6.512 at 208.42.
If that holds, it would be his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season, but
with the bonus points he collected on Friday, he opened up a three-round
advantage over Matt Hartford. Should that hold up, Glenn would only need
to win the first round of eliminations – with what would be a
first-round bye – on Sunday to clinch the championship for the second
consecutive year.
“We made two really nice runs and so far we’ve done exactly what we
wanted to do. We’ve gotten our bonus points that we needed. Now, the
next major goal for tomorrow is to hold on to that No. 1 spot, make sure
nobody takes that away [to maintain a first-round bye].
“As long as I do my job and stay No. 1, then it won’t matter [what
anyone else does]. If I have to race one of them, I have a lot of
confidence in my car right now, and I wouldn’t want it if I didn’t earn
it anyway. I take it as like the biggest compliment ever that they want
to try to race me first round, so I welcome all challengers.”
Matt Latino moved to second in qualifying with a 6.516 at 209.17 and
Greg Stanfield, who opened the weekend 99 points out of first, is third
with a 6.523 at 210.18.
Gaige Herrera took command on what is a huge weekend in Pro Stock
Motorcycle for Herrera and the reigning world champion, Richard Gadson,
making the quickest run in each session, including a 6.673 at 201.76 on
his RevZilla/Motul/Vances & Hines Suzuki to take the top spot.
He gained two points on Gadson on Friday, but the big showdown will take
place in the opening session on Saturday, when Herrera and Gadson will
face off in the final round of the postponed Las Vegas final.
It’s Herrera versus Gadson, and Herrera can pull 20 points closer to
the points leader with a victory over his teammate. They were the top
two bikes on Friday in Pomona and an epic showdown awaits tomorrow.
“It’s definitely an ideal start for sure to go out there and run 6.67
on both passes and get the bonus points. Plus, Richard [Gadson] and I
both went 1.01 to the 60-foot in Q2, so that was pretty unique. Mother
Nature is going to mess with us this weekend, and it wouldn’t be
Pomona if we didn’t have some rain. I feel very good this weekend.”
Gadson is currently qualified second with a 6.713 at 200.00 and Matt
Smith is third after going 6.750 at 201.28.
Qualifying continues at 11:30 a.m. PT on Saturday at the In-N-Out Burger
NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
***
POMONA, Calif. — Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of
qualifying for the 61st annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out
Pomona Dragstrip, final of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag
Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final
eliminations.
Top Fuel — 1. Doug Kalitta, 3.677 seconds, 340.39 mph; 2. Maddi Gordon,
3.679, 342.11; 3. Leah Pruett, 3.698, 334.65; 4. Antron Brown, 3.705,
335.07; 5. Billy Torrence, 3.713, 333.66; 6. Tony Stewart, 3.717,
337.07; 7. Spencer Massey, 3.733, 327.98; 8. Tony Schumacher, 3.764,
301.13; 9. Shawn Reed, 3.778, 322.73; 10. Clay Millican, 3.786, 332.67;
11. Justin Ashley, 6.842, 85.04; 12. Josh Hart, 7.587, 80.52; 13. Bernie
Plourd, 7.660, 84.28; 14. Shawn Langdon, 8.006, 87.90; 15. Will Smith,
12.984, 56.12. Not Qualified: 16. Cameron Ferre, broke.
Funny Car — 1. Ron Capps, Toyota GR Supra, 3.894, 331.53; 2. J.R. Todd,
GR Supra, 3.911, 327.90; 3. Cruz Pedregon, Dodge Charger, 3.931, 318.02;
4. Jeff Arend, Charger, 3.973, 310.77; 5. Daniel Wilkerson, Ford
Mustang, 3.976, 325.22; 6. Julie Nataas, GR Supra, 4.011, 303.50; 7.
Jason Rupert, Mustang, 4.055, 290.19; 8. Jim Campbell, Mustang, 4.068,
300.26; 9. Terry Haddock, Mustang, 4.092, 287.29; 10. Austin Prock,
Mustang, 4.145, 227.61; 11. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.220, 218.97; 12. Jeff
Diehl, Toyota Camry, 4.233, 238.17; 13. Jack Beckman, Chevy Camaro,
5.885, 125.56; 14. Cory Lee,
Camry, 6.852, 103.88; 15. Blake Alexander, Toyota Supra, 7.147, 95.58;
16. Chad Green, Mustang, 7.618, 88.21.
Not Qualified: 17. Bobby Bode, 7.693, 78.08; 18. Dave Richards, 8.055,
79.43; 19. Alexis DeJoria, 8.279, 85.79; 20. Hunter Green, 11.513,
83.21; 21. Jordan Vandergriff, 15.343, 65.17; 22. Paul Lee, 17.749,
35.29.
Pro Stock — 1. Dallas Glenn, Chevy Camaro, 6.512, 208.42; 2. Matt
Latino, Camaro, 6.516, 209.17; 3. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.523, 210.18;
4. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.535, 209.95; 5. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro,
6.537, 209.46; 6. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.538, 209.56; 7. Greg Anderson,
Camaro, 6.549, 209.56; 8. Dave Connolly, Camaro, 6.550, 208.94; 9.
Stephen Bell, Camaro, 6.562, 209.10; 10. Cody Anderson, Camaro, 6.580,
208.71; 11. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.582, 209.01; 12. Jeg Coughlin,
Camaro, 6.595, 190.19; 13. Shane Tucker, Camaro, 6.596, 208.30; 14.
Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.817, 168.11; 15. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.958,
154.12.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.673, 201.76; 2.
Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.713, 200.00; 3. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.750,
201.28; 4. Clayton Howey, Buell, 6.755, 198.64; 5. Joey Gladstone,
Buell, 6.756, 200.00; 6. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.771, 199.02; 7. Ryan
Oehler, EBR, 6.774, 200.26; 8. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.793, 197.59; 9.
Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.828, 197.97; 10. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 6.835,
197.59; 11. John Hall, Buell, 6.839, 200.47; 12. GT Tonglet, Suzuki,
6.854, 198.06; 13. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.863, 194.72; 14. Marc
Ingwersen, EBR, 6.875, 196.10; 15. Malcolm
Phillips Jr., Suzuki, 6.890, 192.74; 16. Alex Laughlin, 16.523, 46.05.
Not Qualified: 17. Brad Hawkes, broke.
-NHRA-