POMONA, Calif. -- Funny Car championship long shot Tommy Johnson Jr. raced to the qualifying lead Friday in the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals.
Johnson powered his Dodge Charger R/T to a track-record run 3.917 seconds at 324.67 mph at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona near Los Angeles to take the top spot. Johnson gained three points on series leader Del Worsham and second-place Jack Beckman. Johnson is 94 points behind Worsham.
"We knew the performance of the car was there and the guys have done a good job of picking at it and getting better and better," Johnson said.