(Scott Bessee photo)

Funny Car’s Robert Hight raced to his third career NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world title and second in three years on Sunday, Nov. 17, at Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona. Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also claimed world championships.

The race winners of the final event of the 2019 season were Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Jianna Salinas (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Kalitta’s engine let go during his match with Ashley after Ashley’s chutes popped out just as Kalitta’s had done at Las Vegas.  (Scott Bessee photo)

Doug Kalitta ended the season just three points behind Torrence. In the final he beat teammate Richie Crampton after eliminating Terry McMillen, Justin Ashley and Leah Pritchett. Kalitta also won the 2019 season opener at Pomona.

Jack Beckman ends 2019 as the highest-ranked DSR driver, which allows him the opportunity to select a Dodge SRT high-performance vehicle to drive for a year. (Scott Bessee photo)

“Fast” Jack Beckman got his second win of the season and his first Funny Car win at Pomona. Making quick work of a shut-off John Hale, Beckman went on to defeat J.R. Todd and Blake Alexander before meeting Robert Hight in the final. Beckman made his fifth consecutive three-second pass of 3.920 seconds – the quickest Funny Car E.T. of race day – to secure his first Pomona victory, but he came up just eight points short of earning his second Funny Car title.

New Pro Stock champion Enders’ teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. gave Elite Motorsports a perfect day as he picked up his second win of the year by getting past Joey Grose, Aaron Stanfield, Bo Butner and Fernando Cuadra. Coughlin finished No. 2 in points. (Ron Lewis photo)

Andrew Hines held on for the championship despite a disappointing red-light against Jianna Salinas in the first round. Salinas, daughter of Top Fuel driver Mike Salinas, was Cinderella this day as she went on to oust Steve Johnson and Matt Smith before meeting Jerry Savoie in the final. Savoie’s bike had mechanical problems and Ms. Salinas got her first win. If Savoie had won the final, he would have become the PSM champion.  (Ron Lewis photos)  [11/18/19]

Steve Torrence held on to win the NHRA Top Fuel championship, but not before he was involved in a controversial incident after his first-round match with Cameron Ferre. Ferre deep-staged against Torrence and was off the line first with a .072 RT while Torrence had a .0142, but Torrence was ahead by the time the pair reached the tree and went on for the win. Torrence confronted Ferre at the top end but -- after shaking his hand -- shoved the young driver backwards with a hand to his face. The cooler heads of Capco crewmen intervened.

After a talk with NHRA VP of Racing Administration, Josh Peterson, Torrence later apologized to Ferre and the fans for his unwarranted behavior. The Agent must emphasize that Ferre did nothing wrong in deep-staging and Torrence WON the round. Come on, now.  [11/18/19]

The Bloodhound land speed team rolled out the car and went for it. They were out to breach 600 MPH and finish their testing in South Africa. They did so with resounding success, and achieved a Top Speed of 628 mph.

They will now pack up and go home to England, assess everything and get ready to break the old record of 763 set in October 1997 by Andy Green.

Our own Tom McCarthy will bring us a closer look at the team’s most recent efforts in next month’s DRO.  [11/18/19]