Matt Hagan's dreams came true on Sunday in Pomona. (NHRA)
Del Worsham, Matt Hagan, and Eddie Krawiec clinched NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series championships at the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. It's the first championship for both Worsham and Hagan and the second for Krawiec. Jason Line clinched his second Pro Stock championship two weeks ago, in Las Vegas. (Click here for the final unofficial standings)
Worsham made the transition from a 20-year career in Funny Car to Top Fuel look almost easy, winning a career-high seven times in his Brian Husen-tuned Al-Anabi dragster before the season finale. Beginning with his win at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals in March, the second race of the season, Worsham held the points lead for the balance of the 16-race regular season thanks to subsequent victories in Charlotte, Houston, Norwalk, Chicago, and Seattle.
He lost his points lead after a first-round stumble at the fall Charlotte event, but he continued to battle his way back. He lost the final round in Reading to Massey on a holeshot, a loss that was somewhat mitigated by the bonus points earned by setting the national record at 3.735 in defeat.
A crucial victory in Las Vegas, at the season’s penultimate event, pulled Worsham to within two points of Massey’s lead, setting up the showdown at the Finals that ended when they faced off in the semifinals and Worsham emerged the winner by just .004-second, a fittingly small margin given their yearlong battle.
After experiencing a heartbreaking loss in the opening round of the season finale last year and watching as John Force passed him in the points and won the title, Hagan sealed the deal this season when he defeated Cruz Pedregon in the semifinals to earn his first Funny Car world championship.
Hagan opened the 2011 season, his third full year in the NHRA Funny Car ranks, with a runner-up finish to Robert Hight at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, but after that, his DieHard-backed team struggled and spent much of the season mired near the fifth-place spot in the standings. However, once the Countdown playoffs began, Hagan quickly emerged as a driver to beat.
Hagan’s Tommy DeLago-led group made history at the first playoff race, in Charlotte, when they powered to the first three-second Funny Car pass ever in qualifying. They continued to dominate through race day, landing in the winner’s circle, the lone win by Hagan thus far this season. Hagan lost in the second round at the following four events, but his performances were enough to keep him in the top two spots in the standings.
Hagan entered the NHRA Finals first, holding a slim one-point advantage over Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman, but he was able to build that lead up to 12 points entering Sunday. Hagan further helped his cause when he defeated Beckman in the second round, then he secured the title with a semifinal victory over Pedregon, the last driver with a shot at the championship.
With his second-round victory , Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Krawiec became the weekend's first racer to clinch a Full Throttle championship at the season finale. Krawiec clinched the crown with his victory over outgoing champ LE Tonglet, 6.85 to 6.93.
Krawiec, who won his first championship two years ago without winning a single event, scored this year’s title in decidedly different fashion, winning four times this season aboard his Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson.
Krawiec opened the two-wheeled season with a victory at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, where he set the national speed record at 199.26 mph, the fastest run in NHRA history. Krawiec then added victories at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Charlotte, and at the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, which preceded by two weeks the season finale.
Rookie rider Hector Arana Jr. gave Krawiec all he could handle this season, scoring three wins, including the NHRA Arizona Nationals, the third-to-last race of the season, where he defeated Krawiec in the final round.
