Sat, 14 Nov 2015, 22:24 PM Worsham, Beckman and Johnson Jr. Battle for Funny Car Crown

Courtesy of NHRA Communications Photo copyright 2015 Auto Imagery, Inc. Capps, Brown, Anderson and Savoie Qualifying No. 1

POMONA, Calif. --

Del Worsham and Jack Beckman

Del Worsham, Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson Jr. will decide the NHRA Funny Car world championship Sunday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals.

Worsham and Beckman, who have battled for the title during the six-race Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, gave fans at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona a sneak preview of what tomorrow's 11 a.m. eliminations could bring by closing out qualifying with a powerful side-by-side 3.89-second race.

Series leader Worsham will take a 36-point lead over Beckman into racing tomorrow. Friday qualifying leader Johnson, who is a long shot at 96 points back, needs to have his two rivals lose early and then win the race and set a national record to have any chance at the title.

Worsham, who qualified third, will meet Tony Pedregon in the opening round and No. 2 qualifier Beckman will face Chad Head. Beckman, who entered the playoffs as the top seed and had a record-setting regular season and had the quicker car in tonight's thrilling final run, will need to go two rounds more than Worsham, who got hot with three wins in the Countdown playoffs, to win the series crown.

"It was a great qualifying effort for the DHL Toyota team," said Worsham, who could meet Beckman in a critical semifinal matchup if the two drivers advance through the first two round. "We have the Camry running strong and I am proud of our effort. We will go into tomorrow and lay it all out on the line."

Said Beckman: "It's an unbelievable time to be a fan of nitro Funny Car. I really like the position that we are in. It's nerve racking because we aren't leading the points, we have to be two rounds better than another car to capture the championship. And this is the scenario where its fourth down, the clock has almost run out and you're going to get the ball again and you have to be perfect. And I think we can be perfect."

Ron Capps (Funny Car), Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were No. 1 qualifiers in their categories at the NHRA season-finale near Los Angeles.

Newly crowned Top Fuel world champ Brown took his seventh No. 1 of the season and 44th of his career by posting a 3.721 at 326.71 in his dragster. He will meet veteran racer Cory McClenathan in round one as he goes for his eighth win of the season.

Anderson powered to his fifth No. 1 of the season and 80th of his career in Pro Stock, clocking a 6.490 at 213.03 in a Chevrolet Camaro. It is his ninth No. 1 at Pomona and he will face Matt Hartford in the opening round as he tries to lock down the second position in the points order.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, championship hopeful Savoie rode to his third No. 1 qualifying performance in a row and fourth in the Countdown playoffs, posting a 6.803 at 197.51 on a Suzuki. He will meet Mike Berry in the first round as he tries to overcome a 38 point deficit to series leader Andrew Hines.

Friday leader Karen Stoffer dropped to second in the final order with a best of 6.823 at 196.36 and will face Jim Underdahl in the opening round. Series leader Hines qualified fifth with a 6.837 at 195.73 on his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson and he will meet Michal Ray in round one. Title long shot Eddie Krawiec qualified eighth and will face Scotty Pollacheck in the opener.

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