B. Force, Capps, M. Smith Clinch World Titles; Prock Pedregon, Anderson and A. Smith Get Wins at Auto Club NHRA Finals
Brittany Force captured her second career world title last Sunday, wrapping up a spectacular season with a Top Fuel world championship after a first-round victory at the 57th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) both clinched world championships at the 22nd and final event in the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Austin Prock (Top Fuel), Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angie Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the sixth race in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs to cap off a spectacular 2022 season.
Force qualified No. 1 in her 11,000hp Monster Energy dragster and then earned the championship with her run of 3.701 seconds at 334.90 mph in the opening round of eliminations.
Capps earned his second straight world title by finishing as the runner-up on Sunday in his 11,000hp NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra. It is his third world championship, which was helped by a shocking second-round loss from Robert Hight on Sunday, who finished second overall on the strength of eight wins.
Matt Smith earned his third straight world title in Pro Stock Motorcycle and sixth overall with a victory in the first round on his Denso Auto Parts Buell.
In the Top Fuel final round, Prock finished off his impressive run in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, winning for the second time in the postseason by going 3.641 seconds at 336.23 mph in the final round in his 11,000hp Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster. The career-best run sent him past Antron Brown and to his third career victory, also vaulting him to third in points to finish off the year.
Pedregon won his first race of the year and set a string of career-bests along the way. The topper was a 3.839 at 335.65 in his 11,000hp Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the final round against Capps.
Anderson didn’t grab a championship this year in Pro Stock, as Erica Enders rolled to her fifth title, but he did close out 2022 with a victory in Pomona, getting past Enders in the final round with a pass of 6.516 at 210.31 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Angie Smith helped the team finish the season with a victory for the third straight year, knocking off Joey Gladstone with a 6.749 at 199.55 on her Denso Auto Parts Buell.
The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season begins March 9–12 with the 54th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at historic Gainesville Raceway.
MAHLE Motorsport Introduces 2023 Application Guide
MAHLE Motorsport has announced the availability of the company’s new 2023 Application Guide. The 38-page application guide features all of the company’s high-performance PowerPak piston sets and Pro Series Race pistons, and provides complete product information for seven new PowerPak sets in addition to multiple new rings, pins, and rails.
The PowerPak sets featured in the guide include a broad selection of SBC, LS, BBC, SBF, Ford Modular PowerPaks, and a growing list of Hemi, Powerstroke, and Diesel PowerPak sets. MAHLE Motorsport also offers PowerPak sets for many imports and sport compacts, including Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, Ford EcoBoost, BMW, Audi, VW and Toyota applications. The guide also includes a section on ring gap instructions with illustrations and samples based on the high-performance street, circle track/drag racing, turbo/supercharger, diesel turbocharged and more.
The new application guide is available to download now, or can be picked up at the 2022 PRI Trade Show at booth #1601.
For more racing news, visit Performance Racing Industry’s (PRI) website.