With all but one 2003 NHRA POWERade championship already decided, the 39th Automobile Club of Southern California Finals at the Fairplex in Pomona this weekend may lack the spine-tingling suspense of last minute heroics leading to season titles, but there will be other motivational factors at work which will add interest and drama to the season finale.

Here's a class-by-class look ahead.

Top Fuel
Larry Dixon has already polished up his acceptance speech for this year's NHRA POWERade Awards Ceremonies at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood Monday night. His second straight championship was never in serious jeopardy as he ran out to a substantial points lead early in the year and maintained it the rest of the way. But other drivers, particularly Kenny Bernstein and Tony Schumacher, have been the hottest properties in the category since September.

Schumacher has enjoyed a resurgence of performance since the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend, while Bernstein is roughly a half-round away from an impressive sixth-place points finish. These are definitely the two strongest teams in the class based on their recent successes and there's little doubt they each would like to end the season with a win, giving Dixon, the Kalittas, Darrell Russell and the rest of the Top Fuel field something to think about over the winter.

The $100,000 Budweiser Shootout will be held as part of qualifying on Saturday, another reason for the eight qualified drivers to step up as the curtain falls on the '03 schedule.

Funny Car

	Pedregon

Mystery, intrigue and the unknown still revolve around Team Castrol as the final race of the year arrives. Besides 12-time champion John Force, who will be wearing the Castrol colors next year and what other sponsorship agreements will change the look of Force's Mustangs? Is Tony Pedregon moving on after winning his first championship to join his brother, Cruz, and will Gary Densham stick with his plans to depart after this weekend?

Force's medical condition has improved over the past few days and his seriously injured hands will be evaluated on Thursday morning, at which time it will be determined if he will be racing in Pomona. Force wants to keep his 322-race qualifying streak alive while his team would love to give him one more victory this year -- a campaign which saw his 10-straight title run come to an end.

Tony Bartone, the former Alcohol Funny Car champion who raced in the Alcohol Dragster class this year, has been entered to drive Jim Dunn's K & N Funny Car this weekend, which substantiates rumors that Dunn's previous driver, Frank Pedregon, was about to leave the team. More mystery and intrigue to be sure in a class where what happens on the track this weekend will be competing head-on with what happens off of it.

Pro Stock
Newly crowned champion Greg Anderson can add even more accolades to his enormously dominant season this weekend with a victory. He is in position to break John Force's all-time record for round wins in a season (65) if he advances to and wins the semifinals. He already broke Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s Pro Stock round victory record two weeks ago in Las Vegas. Anderson could break the 12-year-old record of Darrell Alderman for most national event wins in a season (11) with a win in Pomona on Sunday.

Elsewhere, don't be surprised to see 10-time Pro Stock champion Bob Glidden driving a second car for Larry Morgan's Mopar team this weekend, which may fan the flames of the rumor mill as to what the alignment at Team Mopar may look like in 2004.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

	Scali

This championship is on the verge of being clinched by Geno Scali, who comes into Pomona with 1079 points, 117 ahead of second-place Angelle Savoie, who has 962. Scali will earn 10-points for making a qualifying attempt, giving him 1089. Should he not qualify, Savoie could overtake him by qualifying No. 1, winning the race and setting a national elapsed time record, thus earning 138 points for a total of 1100. A long shot at best.

Bill Stephens covers the NHRA for ESPN and ESPN.com.