POMONA - Kenny Bernstein had no idea coming into the 2003 NHRA season that he would end the year with a victory.

On Sunday, Bernstein ended an unlikely second "final season" with a wild victory over Scott Kalitta to win the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway.

The final quickly turned into a pedal-fest with both drivers smoking the tires right off the line.

Bernstein was able to carry his momentum better than Kalitta, though, hitting the throttle pedal seven times down the quarter-mile and sliding all over the place along the way. Bernstein's winning time was a meager 6.039 seconds at 194.41 mph to a losing 14.656 at 56.68 to Kalitta.

"At one point, I just quit counting," Bernstein said. "I got sideways so many times and thought I was going to flip over so many times, I just gave up once I got down to the end. At one point I thought, 'This is just

great. You're going to crash in your final race.'"

Bernstein, a legend in drag racing with six career nitro titles to his credit, had retired at the end of 2002, handing the keys of his Budweiser Top Fuel dragster to son Brandon. The younger Bernstein shone in eight events in the car, winning three times and briefly holding the points lead. However, Brandon suffered a major back injury in a crash in Memphis, forcing the elder Bernstein to jump back into the seat.

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Once he got back in, Sunday's action gave Bernstein another chance to go out in style. During his first retirement in 2002, he lost in the first round of the finals, ending his career with a whimper. This time, things went much better, clinching his fourth straight win to end the year.

"Obviously, going out in the first round last year was a bummer," Bernstein said. "If this was the way the last race was going to go, and it should be (the last one), then I'm tickled by the way things turned out."

Apart from the wild finish, the other big storyline of the day in Top Fuel was the astounding times being run by Tony Schumacher and Scott Kalitta.

On the weekend, Schumacher - driving the US Army dragster tuned by Santa Maria's Alan Johnson - ran seven consecutive 4.4-second passes; the streak finally ended in the semifinals in a loss to Scott Kalitta, with Schumacher's 4.508 losing to Kalitta's 4.521 at 330.63. Kalitta was just as impressive, running a 4.51 in the first round, a 4.49 in the quarterfinals and a 4.521 to beat Schumacher in the semis.

Fans of the odd and unusual got their kind of race in the Funny Car finale between 'teammates' Del Worsham and Cory Lee. Worsham, driving for his father's Checker Schuck Kragen team, jumped the start for a red light, handing an apparent win to Lee, driving a car that the Worsham family has an owning interest in.

However, Lee swung wildly on his run and crossed the center line, taking the 1/8-mile cone out and disqualifying him from his first career victory.

"What a crazy way to win, huh?" said Worsham, joined by infant daughter Katelyn in the press conference. "I knew I red-lit, and I felt really bad about it. I started apologizing to the crew on the radio, but they weren't saying anything. Then somebody said, "Dude, you won! Cory just crossed the center line!", I was glad we won, but it was bittersweet that it happened like it did."

Greg Anderson finished off a season of complete domination with a victory over Kurt Johnson in the Pro Stock final, marking Anderson's 12th event win in 23 tries in 2003. Anderson also set an NHRA record for round wins, sweeping the day for his 67th round win, two more than John Force put together in Funny Car in 1996.

"That's the way to cap it off. What a year," Anderson said. "Now we can party. That's the perfect way to end the season."

Craig Treble, like Anderson and Bernstein, kept the trend of back-to-back winners alive by repeating his winning performance from Las Vegas, beating Angelle Savoie in the Pro Stock Bike final when Savoie lit up the red light.

"This feels just awesome," Treble said. "I can't say enough about the job that Terry Vance and Byron Hines (Treble's bike supplier) have done. I owe everything to them."

Despite the red light, it marked the 49th time in 105 career events that Savoie - the outgoing three-time defending champ had reached the final round.

In a rather interesting promotion, Top Fuel driver Doug Herbert gave away a car he used in several events during the 2003 season. John Herring, a 31-year-old construction-company owner from Elizabeth City, N.C., won the car in a drawing held before the finals.

Herring competes in tractor-pull events at home, and now owns a fully stocked Murf McKinney Top Fuel dragster.

November 10, 2003