The 2025 NHRA season featured the full slate of drag racing action across Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle, with drivers like Doug Kalitta leading the Top Fuel standings and Austin Prock topping the Funny Car points board heading into the final events. The year included 20 major events for Top Fuel and Funny Car, and greater emphasis on high-stakes points battles and expanded playoff formats. The stage for an epic finale weekend was set, but Mother Nature had different plans.

On Thursday, professional qualifications were hindered due to bad weather. Friday saw the same fate. On Saturday, the qualifications were canceled. And now, Sunday also sees the same fate, due to rain and track conditions, leaving the season to quietly conclude without a real final showdown.

Rain robs NHRA of epic Pomona finish

The NHRA season was supposed to come to a blazing end this weekend at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, a drag racing classic where championships are decided and hearts are won. But persistent rain and unsafe track conditions forced NHRA officials to cancel Saturday’s qualifying runs, a major gut punch for fans, teams, and drivers alike.

By the time the skies cleared, NHRA made the tough call: elimination rounds would proceed on Sunday, but the entire qualifying session would be scrapped. That meant the starting fields for the final day were determined not by who earned their way in on the strip, but purely by championship points standings. For die-hard fans, that shift felt like a letdown; racing is supposed to be won in the heat of competition, not by default.

Because of that change, several championships were clinched in a way no one really wanted. Funny Car driver Austin Prock, Pro Stock’s Dallas Glenn, and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Richard Gadson all locked up their 2025 titles based on their point leads heading into eliminations. It’s a huge achievement for each driver, but it comes with the bittersweet taste of knowing they never got to race the final session to earn it on the strip.

Meanwhile, in Top Fuel, Doug Kalitta secured the championship early, before eliminations even began. His dominance throughout the season made it possible: his points cushion was so comfortable that the rainout essentially handed him the crown. For someone who’s battled in high-pressure moments before, this was a more relaxed way to win, but not the Hollywood finish fans dream of.

You could hear the disappointment in the paddock. Drivers and crew gathered, waiting to see if Sunday would bring redemption, but for many, the storytelling moment of a final, rain-soaked “winner take all” showdown was gone. As one racing journalist put it, the weather stole not just qualifying laps, but the emotional crescendo of what should have been a spectacular championship weekend.

Tony Stewart’s TSR also suffered, as the former lost in elimination based on points.

At the end of the day, the 2025 NHRA season will be remembered more for its washout than its races. The champions are crowned, the hardware is going home, but for the fans who showed up, the teams who prepped, and the drivers who wanted to race for the checkered flag, it’s a finish that feels unfinished.

Just like the quiet wrap to a rain-shortened year, the sport waves goodbye to one of its all-time greats in a similarly subdued moment. This isn’t the only bad news that came to the NHRA fans’ way.

NHRA icon retires after brain injury

NHRA drag racing icon John Force, a 16-time Funny Car champion and the most successful driver in the sport’s history with 157 wins, officially announced his retirement from driving at the age of 76 on Thursday.

The decision comes over a year after Force suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a fiery high-speed crash at Virginia Motorsports Park in June 2024.

The announcement marks the end of an incredible career that has spanned nearly four decades and made him the biggest star in drag racing. “But it’s time for me to retire. It all made sense to me, even though I knew I had medical stuff that I had to address, that do I want to get back in the car and get hit in the head? And I don’t.”

While he is stepping away from the cockpit, Force confirmed he will continue to oversee his racing empire, John Force Racing. The announcement marks the end of an incredible career that has spanned nearly four decades and made him the biggest star in drag racing.

It’s a poignant close to the season’s washed-out finale, trading thunder down the strip for a thoughtful bow out. Force’s exit after health scares mirrors the anti-climactic Pomona rainout, no final roar, just a quiet shift to the next chapter, with his team carrying the torch.