The battle continued as John Force closed the gap against Matt Hagan in the Funny Car class. Force and Hagan were match in the final round, but the 14-time Champion grabbed a win cutting his point deficit to 37 heading to the final event of the year.
Force spoke of Hagan, saying, “He’s a great racer. I love the kid’s personality. We talked every round before we raced. He’s got big money behind him and he’s got a great team.”
Larry Dixon had reason to feel more comfort in his points lead when Cory McClenathan broke a valve and dropped a cylinder in round one. Unfortunately, Dixon only gained 20 points because he was victim of a dropped cylinder in round two against Dom Lagana.
Lagana skated to the finals in Top Fuel against Tony Schumacher, who qualified No. 1, Lagana was defeated. Schumacher reached his eighth final of the season and 103rd of his career. Dixon leads Schumacher by 85 points in the Top Fuel point standings.
In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson defeated teammate Jason Line in the final round. It was an emotional final, as team owner Ken Black sat near the starting line for first time this season due to health issues. Anderson ran a 6.654 to Line’s 6.656, giving him the points lead over Mike Edward by 115.
Anderson said, “I couldn’t have drawn up this weekend on paper any better than what happened today.”
L.E. Tonglet took his Pro Stock Motorcycle to the finals for the fifth straight time. Tonglet is now second in points to Andrew Hines with a point deficit of 34.
Tonglet said, “ I don’t want to wake up.” He continued, saying, “It’s just been an awesome year since Indy. We came into the Countdown in seventh and after Indy we were No. 2. We just need to keep our heads on straight and see what happens.”
Now the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series moves to the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA finals in two weeks.
