Justin Humphreys has displayed sparks of brilliance in his first NHRA Pro Stock season, but he was shining brightly Sunday evening following his runner-up finish in the Auto Club Finals, the 23rd and last, 2007 race.
He started the day from the No. 15 qualifying spot, but that didn’t stop him from ending the championship hopes of three-time champion and point leader Greg Anderson and Countdown to 1 driver Allen Johnson in the first two rounds. He defeated Tom Hammonds in the semifinals and came within seven-thousandths of a second of his first victory in the title round against new champion Jeg Coughlin.
Humphreys, 30, used a. 025-second reaction time to gain the advantage but it took the weekend’s quickest run by Coughlin, 6.638 seconds, to get the win light by the slim margin. Humphreys was timed in 6.662 seconds at 207.27 mph.
“We couldn’t find a better place to get our first final here at Pomona in front of all the fans, ” said a smiling Humphreys. “We got past two of the Countdown’s top four guys and tried to get around the third one.
“We can’t complain. We struggled in qualifying and came out on Sunday and made four pretty decent runs, but we came up a little short. ”
Humphreys’ performance turn-around began when Pro Stock icon Bob Glidden joined the team and veteran engine builder Richard Maskin. Glidden is a 10-time Pro Stock champion
“We struggled early and things kept getting better and better, ” said Humphreys of the RaceRedi Motorsports/Knoll Gas&Energy Pontiac GTO. “In the past six-to-eight races things have gotten really good. To come here and end on a good note gets us excited about ’08. ”
