Tue, 18 Oct 2011, 04:52 PM NHRA Heads 'Home' to Crown 2011 Series Champions at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona

Courtesy of NHRA Communications 15-time Champ John Force will be the Featured Legend at 60th Anniversary Season's Final

POMONA, Calif. -- Race

John Force

The NHRA's season-long 60th Anniversary celebration will come to a close by honoring one of the sport's biggest names at the championship-deciding final race of the 2011 season at its 'home,' Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Nov. 10-13.

The most successful Funny Car pilot in NHRA history, John Force, will be honored at the track where he clinched his 15th world championship just one year ago. The Southern California native is easily one of the most recognized names in the sport and will be celebrated for all of his contributions to the great sport of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing.

Among the highlights of NHRA's 60th anniversary-themed activities at the Auto Club NHRA Finals will be meet-and-greets and autograph sessions with Force, the highly popular Track Walk with a Legend (featuring Force), a car corral featuring dozens of vintage and nostalgia cars from John Force's collection, and the final round of the Don Garlits-Darrell Gwynn match races in specially designed dragsters.

Iconic Auto Club Raceway, located as it is in the heart of Hot Rodding-crazed Southern California where NHRA was founded on March 13, 1951, is where NHRA kicked off its 60th anniversary season in February and will provide the fitting backdrop for NHRA to close out one of its most exciting seasons in its 60-year history.

Not only will fans get to interact with NHRA Legend Force, they will get to be a part of history as champions are crowned at the final race of the season. With the tight point battles all four pro classes, fans will not be disappointed with the drama and intensity of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.

In addition to having the chance to be live and in person to see the 2011 championships won and 2011 champions crowned, fans with tickets to the 2011 Auto Club NHRA Finals will have one last chance to take the nostalgic walk down NHRA Memory Lane that fans from coast to coast have reveled in all year long and this time.

In an effort to introduce the next generation of drag racing fans to the sport, the NHRA announced that children 12-and-under can receive free tickets to the 2011 Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. To take advantage of the offer, that is good on both reserved and general admission tickets when the child is accompanied by an adult, visit www.NHRATIX.com.

The Auto Club NHRA Finals, Nov. 10-13 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, will mark the 22nd and final stop in NHRA's year-long celebration that has paid homage to the evolution of the hot rod, the impact of the sport's legendary racers, and the lifeblood provided by the many millions of loyal and passionate NHRA fans.

NHRA's season-long trip through the annals of its rich history has extended beyond the race track to the desktops, laptops and handheld devices of NHRA fans via the NHRA Facebook page. Throughout the 2011 season, NHRA has enlisted the expertise of the fans of the NHRA Facebook page to help determine the greatest moments from the first 60 years of NHRA drag racing. Voting has narrowed the original list of 60 Greatest Moments to 20 and now to 10. NHRA fans are now challenged to come up with the Greatest Moment and the announcement of their selection will be made during pre-race at the Auto Club NHRA Finals on Nov. 13.