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 runner-ups Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the event to close their seasons.
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.”
The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series begins March 6-9 with the NHRA Gatornationals at legendary Gainesville Raceway.
