Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gaige Herrera won the delayed final round from Las Vegas on Saturday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, also qualifying No. 1 to pull within a round of points leader Richard Gadson at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals.
Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) also qualified No. 1 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.
After excessive wind forced the Pro Stock Motorcycle final to Saturday in Pomona, Herrera made the most of it, defeating Gadson in the final round with a standout run of 6.701-seconds at 201.13 mph on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki, making a big move on Gadson in the championship race.
It was Herrera’s fourth victory of the season and his 32nd career win was certainly the biggest this season. The standout run kept Herrera alive in the title mix and thanks to qualifying No. 1 with a 6.673 at 201.76, the two-time world champion heads into eliminations only 28 points back of Gadson.
It sets up the possibility of a winner-take-all final round with Gadson, who qualified second, which would be a monumental matchup between the teammates.
“That was big for sure. I almost feel like that’s one of my all-time high wins right there. I definitely needed that and I’m pretty sure Richard’s over there sweating it a little bit right now,” Herrera said.
“To come here and battle it out, round by round, the Vegas final – there’s nothing better than racing for a championship at the very last race in Pomona. We’re both on opposite sides of the ladder, so hopefully we meet in the final.”
Gadson qualified second with a 6.713 at 200.00 and Matt Smith took third.
Funny Car’s Ron Capps qualified in the No. 1 spot for the fifth time this season on the strength of Friday’s 3.894 at 331.53 in his 12,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra.
Nobody else could dip into the 3.80s during qualifying, leaving Capps with an opportunity to pick up his fourth win of the season. He’ll open eliminations against Jim Campbell, looking to end a solid season on a good note.
“We can’t win the championship but we can make a big move,” Capps said. “I think we’re sixth, and we can go all the way to third pretty easily if we have a good day. It’s going to take a solid day for us to move up and end the year. We led the points all the regular season and then struggled a little bit. It’s a bit of a bummer to be at this point after seeing the three Wallys [wins] and then look around and I’m in sixth place at the end of the year. We love the Countdown, we love the excitement, but it’s part of it, and we just didn’t do well in those first four races [of the playoffs].
“I’d like to kick everybody’s ass tomorrow and just let [the championship battle] fall where it’s going to fall and celebrate over here.”
The championship race could come down to the wire, as points leader Matt Hagan qualified ninth and will open eliminations against Daniel Wilkerson. That sets up a potential second-round matchup with Capps. On the other side of the ladder, Jordan Vandergriff qualified seventh with a 3.943 at 327.66 and will open raceday against Jeff Arend. Vandergriff got bumped out of the field in the final session but jumped back in to remain in the title hunt.
He’ll need to go two rounds further than Hagan to win his first world title, while J.R. Todd, who qualified third with a 3.910 at 334.32, needs to win the race and have Hagan lose in the opening round and Vandergriff fall in one of the first three rounds.
Top Fuel’s Doug Kalitta goes into Sunday’s eliminations with an opportunity – albeit a small one – to win a second straight world championship after qualifying No. 1 thanks to Friday’s 3.677 at 340.39 in his 12,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster.
It’s Kalitta’s seventh No. 1 of the season – and the eighth straight top qualifier between teammate Shawn Langdon and Kalitta – as he also closed out qualifying with a strong 3.682.
Langdon, who qualified sixth, can clinch his second world title with a first-round win against Josh Hart. Should Hart get the upset win, Kalitta would need to win the race to pick up his third world title in four years. It’s an interesting dynamic with everything that is on the line, but Kalitta is simply focused on running well on Sunday.
“That was a great run for us last night and today, so I’m super proud of Alan [Johnson], Mac [Savage], and all my guys,” Kalitta said. “Alan kind of reminds all of us as the ‘master of Pomona’. I think it’s because he’s had such success here. I’m in a great spot, and I’m very fortunate to have my Mac Tools crew behind me. We’re going to go out there and plan on trying to win this race and just see how it all goes.
“I’m a round-by-round guy, and the first round is the round you don’t want to get beat. It’s just too early in the day. Once you get past that, then it takes a little of the pressure off, and then it’s just focusing on going rounds and hopefully getting a shot at the final. “
Maddi Gordon is second with a 3.679 at 342.11 and Tony Stewart qualified third after going 3.693 at 337.66.
Pro Stock’s Dallas Glenn will secure his second straight world championship when he stages the car during the opening round on Sunday thanks to qualifying No. 1 after his 6.512 at 208.42 in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro held up.
It was Glenn’s fifth No. 1 qualifier of the year, but more importantly, it ensures a first-round bye for the reigning world champion. By staging the car, he’ll earn a second straight world title.
Glenn struggled to open the Countdown to the Championship, but has been dominant as of late, winning the past two races and qualifying No. 1 for the third straight race.
“We weren’t taking it easy today,” Glenn said. “We definitely felt that No. 1 was still in jeopardy. So, if somebody puts down a good lap, they could definitely get it. It got pretty close there a couple times. Tomorrow night I’ll rest a lot easier. I’ve seen a lot of weird things happen here in Pomona. You never know what’s going to happen. So we’re trying to touch the car the least and just inspect everything, so we can just go up and make a nice, clean run tomorrow.
“The ultimate goal tomorrow is to go out and win the race. We definitely want to go out with an exclamation point. It’s definitely going to feel a lot better if we can go up there and collect two trophies instead of one.”
Greg Stanfield qualified second with a 6.515 at 210.41 and Matt Latino took third after going 6.515 at 209.39.
Eliminations for the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals begin at 11 a.m. PT on Sunday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
This story was originally published on November 14, 2026. 
