Pomona

Annie Lydens is accustomed to juggling a demanding academic schedule at Pomona College and her running career for Pomona-Pitzer with equally exceptional results. Lydens, a senior, has a 3.99 grade-point average while studying philosophy, politics and economics. She was chosen for internships the last two summers at NATO headquarters in Belgium and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the State Department. As an athlete, she finished third at the NCAA Division 3 cross-country championships last year.

Jack Beckman and Ron Capps impressively stared down their moments of truth in NHRA qualifying. Now, the funny car teammates have one last day at the Auto Club Finals at Pomona Raceway to decide who'll claim their first season points championship. Capps moved within two points of Beckman on Saturday, using his fourth and final qualifying run to move from 16th place to first with a time of 4.007 seconds at 319.29 mph. "This week has been a roller coaster just like our season," said Capps, a three-time points runner-up from Carslbad.

Ron Capps has more funny car victories than drag-racing greats Don Garlits and Don Prudhomme. He's raced for the most deep-pocketed NHRA owners. In his 18th season, Capps, 48, came to the Auto Club Finals in Pomona positioned for the coronation of his first season championship after winning two weeks ago in Las Vegas. But after a second failed qualifying run Friday, the most decorated driver without a season title is again looking at the possibility of coming up short. "We're not happy right now, we're backed into a corner," Capps, from Carlsbad, said as his crew worked on his car and veteran crew chief Rahn Tobler prepared for a likely all-night study session to address why the car suffered an aborted run. Capps dropped seven points behind funny car points leader and teammate Jack Beckman of Norco, when Beckman posted a top-qualifying speed of 319.75 mph in 4.025 seconds.

In elementary school, Courtney Force drew herself drag racing alongside her famous father, John Force. Among the highlights of her rookie season as an NHRA funny car driver, Courtney, now 24, has brought the picture to life three times — beating her father twice. "As a father, I was proud. As the team owner, I was happy she did her job. But as a driver, I wasn't happy," said John Force, 63, who has won 15 world championships and 134 events. With the NHRA season closing this weekend at the Auto Club Finals at Pomona, Courtney Force is heavily favored to earn the circuit's rookie-of-the-year award.

One way or another, it's likely that drag-racing mogul Don Schumacher will be smiling this weekend. Five of the leading contenders to win the championships in drag racing's two premier classes, top fuel and funny car, drive for Schumacher and those titles will be decided this weekend at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona. It's the season finale for the National Hot Rod Assn.'s Full Throttle Series, in which the top-fuel dragsters and funny cars - dubbed "nitro" cars because they run on nitromethane fuel - reach speeds above 300 mph in 1,000-foot races.

Antron Brown is on the cusp of history. The National Hot Rod Assn. top-fuel driver holds a 65-point lead on teammate Tony Schumacher heading into this weekend's season-ending Auto Club Finals at Fairplex in Pomona. Brown, a former standout junior-college sprinter from Indianapolis, can win not only his first top-fuel title, but become the circuit's first African American champion. The 36-year-old driver previously raced motorcycles on the NHRA tour after being selected a rider on a team owned by former NFL player Troy Vincent, who was married to Brown's cousin.

Los Alamitos Race Course and Fairplex Park in Pomona have been approached by the California Horse Racing Board and the Thoroughbred Owners of California to explore expansion of its facilities if Betfair Hollywood Park ends its racing and training facility for thoroughbreds. Both have held discussions with the racing board and TOC, according to a CHRB media advisory sent out Tuesday night. The Daily Racing Form reported that Los Alamitos is considering a $10-million expansion that would include lengthening its track, refurbishing a portion of its grandstand and adding 700 additional stalls.

They were the best of friends, a trio of college seniors just weeks shy of graduating from Cal Poly Pomona and bursting into the world. First there would be a celebratory trip to Las Vegas. A flight on a small plane was arranged, and Frank Brandt couldn't wait to take it. Then he got sick. Terribly sick. It hit hard enough that he told Dennis Midas and Michael Young to go on their own. Hours later, on a dark tarmac at Ontario airport, Midas and Young boarded a single-engine Piper PA-28.

Re "Tea party polices voter rolls," Sept. 27 It is disturbing to learn of the Republicans' plan to win by curtailing voting. In other words, they are depriving the poor and minorities of their voting rights. What I find absolutely horrendous is the lack of outrage by Republican leaders as they allow a basic right to be jeopardized so they can win. How hypocritical their brand of democracy must look to the rest of the world. Fran Gale Laguna Niguel Perhaps some independent Third World observers should come to the United States to ensure that a fair and open election takes place in November.

Pacific Standard Time will explore the origins of the Los Angeles art world through museum exhibitions throughout Southern California over the next six months. Times art reviewer Sharon Mizota has set the goal of seeing all of them. This is her latest report. The Pomona College Museum of Art has saved the best for last: the final installment of its Pacific Standard Time series, “It Happened at Pomona,” is the most engaging (often literally) and surprising of the three exhibitions.