It’s easy to be critical at times when an athlete, team, or sanctioning body/league ends up with less-than-popular outcomes.

But this time, National Hot Rod Association officials deserve a standing ovation and lengthy applause for doing everything humanly possible to hold the season-ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature stubbornly refused to cut NHRA a break all weekend, as a massive weather front that is not slated to end until Wednesday would not allow the season-ending and championship-deciding event to be held. That means the season’s official records will only show 19 races completed, rather than the scheduled 20 national events.

“NHRA officials have made the unfortunate decision on Sunday to cancel this weekend’s In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip due to persistent and adverse weather and unsafe track conditions,” the sanctioning body said in a statement. “After an exhaustive effort from the NHRA Safety Safari and following close consultation with safety officials this weekend, NHRA made the decision to cancel the race.”

It’s believed to be the first time in NHRA’s 74-year history that the season finale was not able to be held due to weather. There have been other instances where the finale may have needed an extra day or two to complete a season due to weather.

The Monstrous Storm Just Would Not Quit

Even when NHRA had what it thought would be a few hours of dry conditions Sunday morning, and worked feverishly to dry and prepare the track surface into raceable action, just when it seemed like cars would take to the track, the clouds again opened up, washing away all the hard prep work as well as the final hopes to complete the race.

“While we explored every possible option to complete the event this weekend, the safety of our competitors, teams, and fans remains the highest priority, which led to this difficult decision to cancel the event,” NHRA President Glen Cromwell said.

“We thank the incredible NHRA community – and especially the fans for braving the elements – for their unwavering support throughout this challenging weekend and during an unforgettable 2025 season.”

Championships Decided By Point Standings Coming Into This Weekend

With no on-track action all weekend, NHRA had no other choice but to cancel the event on Sunday and award the respective professional class championships based on the point standings coming into the event.

As a result, Doug Kalitta captured his second Top Fuel championship in three seasons, Austin Prock earned his second Funny Car crown in a row, Dallas Glenn earned his first Pro Stock title, and Richard Gadson earned his first Pro Stock Motorcycle championship, as well.

Not only were race fans deprived of watching the race either in person or on TV, several other storylines were left with unfinished endings:

• There was two-time Top Fuel champion Brittany Force, who had hoped to wrap up her career with one final win at her “home track” before stepping out of her dragster one last time to begin the next chapter of her life, starting a family with her new husband.
• There was also NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, who was set to compete in his final race for his own race team, Tony Stewart Racing. Stewart will race for Elite Motorsports next season, turning over his TSR dragster back to his wife, Leah Pruett, who stepped out of her car two years ago to start a family with Stewart.
• In Funny Car, Matt Hagan never gave up his bid to win a fifth championship, even with Prock holding a strong lead heading into the weekend. Had the race gone on as planned and Prock lost in the first round, Hagan potentially could have stolen the championship away if he had won all four elimination rounds.
• In Pro Stock, six-time champ Greg Anderson was faced with a similar situation as Hagan: if points leader Dallas Glenn had lost 8in the first round, Anderson would also have had to win all four elimination rounds to earn his seventh title.
• And one of the most disappointing situations of all, the highly anticipated showdown between Vance & Hines teammates Gadson and two-time defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Gaige Herrera, which likely would have come down to a winner-take-all finale, ended with Gadson winning the PSM title by a mere 21-point edge over Herrera.

While NHRA theoretically could have rescheduled the event and completed it next weekend – weather permitting – officials were faced with an extremely difficult conundrum: it had already scheduled and paid for Monday night’s annual championship awards banquet at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California.

However, in making the announcement that the final race was cancelled, NHRA did not acknowledge whether the awards banquet would indeed still take place on Monday night.