BROWN, ANDERSON WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS, SEASON FINALE; BECKMAN, SMITH ALSO SCORE | From NHRA.com staff
POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 17) — Jack Beckman closed out the 2024 season NHRA season with a thrilling Funny Car victory on Sunday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, defeating John Force Racing teammate and world champion Austin Prock in the final round to close out the 59th annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals.
Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the last of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the sixth race in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
In the teammate versus teammate final round, Beckman went a career-best 3.812 seocnds at 327.35 mph in his 11,000 horsepower PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS to defeat Prock and pick up his second win of the season since taking over driving duties for John Force in August. It’s been a magical ride for Beckman, a former world champion, who won his 35th career race on Sunday.
To get to the final round on Sunday, Beckman knocked off Terry Haddock, Blake Alexander and Ron Capps, ensuring Prock and Force/Beckman finished first and second in the loaded Funny Car ranks.
“It doesn’t get any higher than this,” Beckman said. “It’s just magical at your home track. It’s special when it’s the Winternationals when the Winternationals was the first race of the year, but the Finals is finals, right? Whoever wins here gets a couple months to say we were the baddest on race day.
“This season has just been just pinch-me moment after pinch me moment. The way John went out was terrible, but he’s still with us, and I think he’s just as valuable standing on the starting line as he is strapped in the car at the starting line. Having John here doesn’t make us want to win more. We want to win every time we go out there. It just made winning that much more special. To see Brittany [Force] win after a two-year winless drought the weekend her dad comes back and then Austin double up with her, was just great (in Las Vegas). We’re right back in another final against Austin, and this time we won it.”
Prock advanced to his 12th final round in his dazzling championship season in Funny Car.
Top Fuel’s Antron Brown qualified just 12th in his 11,000 horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster, but as he’s done all year, the standout was in prime form during eliminations. He knocked off Justin Ashley, who entered the weekend with the points lead, with a run of 3.696-seconds at 331.53 mph in an incredible matchup to open eliminations and then faced off with another title contender in Shawn Langdon. Both drivers ran into trouble, but Brown recovered and advanced to the semifinals against Force.
“This is super special. I’ve been dreaming about this day since I shared my vision with [late team owner] Don Schumacher about being a team owner,” Brown said. “This team has been resilient. We never quit and we never stop. When we lined up this weekend and we saw our matchup, it was like doomsday. To get this win, I tell you what, it’s been incredible. It’s truly a blessing and I can’t believe we did it.”
“We found something special in testing after Las Vegas and then we came in here and shot ourselves in the foot during qualifying. We ended up No. 12 and had to race Justin Ashley in round one. I just thought, ‘This is what I have to do. I have to beat Justin.’ And I found the Antron Brown of old form.”
A spectacular season in Pro Stock came down to a thrilling winner-take-all final round, with Greg Anderson defeating KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn with a run of 6.501 at 211.13 to slip past Glenn’s run of 6.516. It hands Anderson a remarkable sixth world championship, tying him with Erica Enders and Warren Johnson for the second-most in Pro Stock history.
The winner’s podium celebration at Pomona. Antron Brown in Top Fuel and Greg Anderson in Pro Stock won world championships and the season-ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals to finish off an amazing 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. Championship runners-up Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the event to close their seasons. NHRA photo
DALTON OLSON: 2024 QLISPE RACEWAY PARK JUNIOR LIGHTNING CHAMPION
AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Washington — Things could. To have starter better for 2024 Qlispe Raceway Junior Lightning champion Dalton Olson.
“I started off the first race perfectly with a big win,” Olson wrote in an email.
But crucial to the championship were races four and five where challenges arose on Olson’s side, but things worked out in the long run anyway.
Olson ended up breaking the throttle slide on his carburetor, “Conveniently when we had two races in one day,” said Olson, a 16-year-old junior Moscow High School.
“Luck was on my side as I ended up in two finals that day,” Olson explained. “Just showing up the rest of the year was enough to carry it through, topping off the great year with another win,” Olson added.
This makes it back-to-back titles for Olson who claimed the 2023 title in a much closer battle as he edged Sahara Wendt 211-185. Overall, he’s won four titles in eight years of racing.
“I’m just grateful for this opportunity to be able to do this, all of this couldn’t be done without the help of my parents Doug and Lynne,” Olson said.
And he credits others at the race track for what they’ve contributed to his racing experience.
“I wouldn’t be as talented of a driver if it weren’t for the wonderful families you hear of often at QRP such as the Coopers, Riekens, Jennens, etc.,” Olson said.
He’s also gleaned experience from whom calls “My close friends from around the division, they’ve provided me with plenty of constructive criticism.”
“I’m ready for whatever is next,” he said, which could be a full-sized car. “I’m still eligible to run a junior for a year.”
“What’s next is still in the air, Olson indicated, but most definitely will be in the pro class in our mini dragster. Hopefully licensing in a full-size dragster early to mid-next year,” Olson said.
His junior dragster is for sale with information available by texting (208)669-3083.
Dalton Olson on the track. Dalton Olson photos
FAPPLE CUP REVISITED
Las Vegas, Nevada (Nov. 16) — Spokane’s Frankie Volz, Jr. qualified No. 8 and finished third in the Super Modified Shootout on the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The effort landed Volz the race’s “Hard Charger Award.”
Volz, who never drove the car until it was unloaded at the race track worked through a lot of issues getting the car set up for the success he experienced.
“The car wasn’t good at the first practice so we kept changing the setup and got it dialed,” Volz wrote in Facebook Messenger.
“I’m beyond happy with our finish,” Volz said. He noted the race with a 22-car field, featured some of the best drivers in the country. “A few of the all-stars were Kenny Hamilton, Davey Hamilton and East Coast super modified racer Otto Sitterly,” Volz added.
Frankie Volz Jr.’s car after earning third place and the Hard Charger Award at the Super Modified Shootout in Las Vegas.
