{"id":21109,"date":"2015-11-16T11:47:09","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T19:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=21109"},"modified":"2018-08-16T12:38:19","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T19:38:19","slug":"worsham-and-hines-clinch-mello-yello-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/worsham-and-hines-clinch-mello-yello-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Worsham and Hines Clinch Mello Yello Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

Del Worsham can finally relax after winning his first NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car championship, taking down Jack Beckman in the semi-finals and Tommy Johnson, Jr. in the finals to end the season like a champion at the\u00a0Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway.<\/p>\n

The Kalitta Motorsports DHL team honored Scott Kalitta’s legendary accomplishments with two Top Fuel titles in 1994-45 and his memory\u00a0escalated them to the team’s first championship since his untimely passing in 2006 at Englishtown.<\/p>\n

Top Fuel\u2019s Shawn Langdon made it a clean sweep in Top Fuel, winning the NHRA Finals and the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona, beating a defiant Antron Brown in a very close finale to the season.<\/p>\n

Allen Johnson ended the Pro Stock carbureted era with his win, defeating a spry Vincent Nobile, and Eddie Krawiec beat Pro Stock Motorcycle\u2019s Matt Smith in the two-wheel finale.<\/p>\n

FUNNY CAR<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

The chase in the Funny Car Countdown to the Championship came to a conclusion with Del Worsham getting his first championship in that category, adding to his 2011 Top Fuel title. This\u00a0now places him in a very elite group, joining Gary Scelzi and legend Kenny Bernstein as the only NHRA drivers to win championships in both Funny Car and Top Fuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an amazing feeling,\u201d beamed Worsham. \u00a0\u201cI have been here before, not that did me any good up there today.\u00a0 It felt like it was 25 years ago, and I was making my first run.\u00a0 The team has been behind me, regardless of the situation.\u00a0 We are racing for Scott, Connie and the entire Kalitta Motorsports family.\u00a0 Nicky Boninfante, Jon Oberhofer, Dave Boyer and the entire DHL team, the job they have done has been incredible. They have not made a mistake since September.\u201d<\/p>\n

Known as the best car that hadn\u2019t won in 2015, Worsham worked his way to the top by winning four of the six races in the Countdown, bringing Toyota the first championship since 2008 when Gary Scelzi did it first.<\/p>\n

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEverytime I get inside this DHL Toyota Camry I see his [Scott Kalitta\u2019s] name.\u00a0 I hop in and think about Scott, and his sons: Colin and Corey,\u201d said Worsham winning his 13th<\/sup> race in Funny Car and 38th<\/sup> overall.<\/p>\n

Worsham\u2019s day began with taking out Tony Pedregon and later Robert Hight, setting up the matchup of the year between Beckman and Worsham with the winner taking home the champion\u2019s trophy.<\/p>\n

Beckman had already reset the National Elapsed Time Record, lowering it to 3.884 seconds and had the 20 points bonus in reserve, but it wasn\u2019t needed.<\/p>\n

In the most anticipated race of the weekend, Worsham peeled out in the semifinals, leaving Beckman in his wake and running at time of 3.920 seconds, 327.35 mph after Beckman suffered tire shake that led to him having to back pedal to no avail, ending his season.<\/p>\n

In the finals, Worsham again dominated the run, ending the season with two trophies and beating Tommy Johnson, Jr. after running 3.900 seconds, 328.14 mph to him time of 4.023 seconds, 305.42 mph.<\/p>\n

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

Worsham won by 56-points and Beckman reset the National ET record three times and now stands at 3.884 seconds.<\/p>\n

TOP FUEL<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

Hometown hero and local southern Californian, Shawn Langdon, finds the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona to be a\u00a0special place.\u00a0 It was the site of his first major drag race with his dad, where he won the Junior dragster title in 1997, became Super Comp champion in 2007, and in 2013 was crowed Top Fuel champion.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Langdon book-ended the year, kicking it off by\u00a0winning the season opening Winternationals and winning again on Sunday for his only two wins of the season.\u00a0 The twist, however is that Langdon won in February driving for Alan Johnson Racing and returned to the winner\u2019s circle in November piloting the Don Schumacher dragster.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t an easy road for the Mira Loma, Ca. native to get to the top of the elimination ladder, winning on a slight hole shot over Larry Dixon first round and then Clay Millican in the quarterfinals setting up a great matchup with Doug Kalitta.\u00a0 Langdon just lengthened his distance, driving around Kalitta and taking the win with his time 3.763 seconds to Kalitta\u2019s pass of 3.781 seconds.<\/p>\n

Earning his 11th<\/sup> career Wally, Langdon took down a very determined, two-time Top Fuel champion, Antron Brown in a close battle of 3.715 seconds, 332.43 mph to his time of 3.732 seconds, 326.73 mph.<\/p>\n

“I love this track,” Shawn said.\u00a0 “This track has always kind of had a special place in my heart just because I grew up around the corner from here.\u00a0 As a kid, I was always out here watching my heroes race.\u00a0 I started my junior dragster career out there, raced a lot of sportsman classes.\u00a0 So many great memories out at this racetrack.<\/p>\n

“Fortunately it just makes it that much sweeter that I’ve luckily had a good career here and with all of my friends and family that come out, it makes it sweet.\u00a0 It’s just a great opportunity and I have to thank Don Schumacher for giving me an opportunity that he didn’t have to.\u00a0 They gave me a great race car today.”<\/p>\n

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

Langdon will finish the season in sixth place.\u00a0 Antron Brown stretched out his NHRA Championship lead to 231 points over Tony Schumacher with Richie Crampton grabbing third at Pomona.<\/p>\n

PRO STOCK<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

Allen Johnson ended his 20th season behind the wheel of a Mopar-powered NHRA Pro Stock car and found a perfect way to celebrate winning the final carburetor powered race for the division at the NHRA Auto Club Finals.<\/p>\n

For Johnson, the victory was the second for the J&J Racing driver and team owner at the NHRA Finals (2012), his second of the season after five final-round appearances, and the 26th overall victory of his career. \u00a0The win also pushed Johnson, the 2012 Pro Stock World Champion, to third in the final championship standings, his fourth top-five performance in the last five years and his tenth consecutive finish in the top-ten.<\/p>\n

Starting his day in the No. 11 seed, Johnson had to upset Jonathan Gray first round and his brother, Shane in the quarterfinals.\u00a0 Then he played Erica Enders, matching her starting lone prowess cutting a light of .005, beating her on a hole-shot retiring the two-time champion for the season.<\/p>\n

Matched against former teammate Vincent Nobile in the final \u2014 the 56th of Johnson\u2019s career \u2014 AJ crowned his weekend with another holeshot win. \u00a0Johnson\u2019s .011 reaction time overcame his slower 6.541 second, 210.18 mph pass, besting Nobile\u2019s .033 reaction and 6.540\/211.938 run. \u00a0In all four rounds on his road to victory, Johnson was first off the starting line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe dug down deep and got it done to give my family, the team and Mopar the win in the final race of the year and to cap off twenty years like this is special,\u201d said Johnson, who has now advanced to the money round at the NHRA Finals in three of the last four seasons (2012, 2013, and 2015). \u00a0\u201cI had to step up my game for this race day after being up and down through the entire Countdown and I wanted to finish the year on a high. \u00a0We struggled to get traction in our car through qualifying and even the first three rounds. \u00a0Right before the final round, we found that we had a bent piece on the car and fixed it and ran straight down the track to win it. The team doesn\u2019t ever give up. \u00a0We\u2019ve been out here for 20 years with Mopar and what a great sponsor they are. \u00a0The Mopar fans are fanatics and they\u2019ve always been here with us. \u00a0It\u2019s been an unbelievable ride with my dad [Roy Johnson] for 20 great years. \u00a0We\u2019re not sure what next year holds for us, but we hope to be out here racing again in the Dodge Dart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

Erica Enders ended her title season pushing her lead to 220 points over Greg Anderson and Chris McGaha.<\/p>\n

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

Eddie Krawiec closed the Pro Stock Motorcycle season with a victory and earned a second place points finish when he defeated two-time champ, Matt Smith in the final round.\u00a0 Krawiec rode his Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 6.846 at 192.58 to finish in front of Matt Smith\u2019s Victory Gunner, which trailed with a 6.888 at 194.21. \u00a0It was Krawiec\u2019s fourth victory of the season, fourth at Pomona and 31st of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been to eight finals in a row here in Pomona, so this track has treated me well,\u201d Krawiec said. \u00a0\u201cIt is also a big deal for us to get the 75th win for Harley-Davidson.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NHRA<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Andrew Hines claimed his second consecutive and fifth overall world championship title in Pro Stock Motorcycle when his closest rival, Louisiana alligator farmer Jerry Savoie, lost in the second round. \u00a0Hines, who pocketed $75,000 for the title, is the youngest driver in NHRA history to win five world championships and continues the amazing domination by the Vance & Hines team in the two-wheel category.\u00a0 He won by 43 over Krawiec and 58 over Savoie.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy outstanding Harley-Davidson team did a great job of keeping me focused and keeping the pressure off of me,\u201d said Hines, who won four races during the season atop his Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson, including three in the Countdown playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was awesome that my wife [Tanya] got to give me a kiss right before I ran, and thanks to my teammate for helping to get the job done. \u00a0I guess we put the fear of Harley into them. \u00a0Five championships are pretty awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 23-race 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season opens Feb. 11-14 with the Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2015 NHRA Mellow Yello Drag Racing Series ended with Worsham and Hines taking championships.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,3399,22],"tags":[553,82,1974,1943,79,511,2,1120,3477,161,887,1258,251,80,7,1750,608,440,3723,81,956,607,1022],"class_list":["post-21109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-nhra","category-event-coverage","tag-allen-johnson","tag-antron-brown","tag-chris-mcgaha","tag-clay-millican","tag-del-worsham","tag-doug-kalitta","tag-drag-racing","tag-eddie-krawiec","tag-erica-enders","tag-event-coverage-2","tag-greg-anderson","tag-jack-beckman","tag-larry-dixon","tag-matt-smith","tag-nhra","tag-nhra-mello-yello-drag-racing-series","tag-richie-crampton","tag-robert-hight","tag-scott-kalitta","tag-shawn-langdon","tag-tommy-johnson-jr","tag-tony-pedregon","tag-vincent-nobile"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/featuredimage23.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-5ut","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21109"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21449,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21109\/revisions\/21449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}