By Briar Starr, NHRA Staff Writer
As the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returned to action Friday afternoon for both rounds of qualifying, so did Mother Nature.
After the end of Q2 for Funny Car qualifying, dark clouds hovered over the track and eventually, the rains came down from the sky. As track drying began, more rain pursued and left the NHRA officials no choice but to call off the action for the rest of the day.
Even though rain canceled the rest of Friday’s activities, there was some racing that took place on the track in the early afternoon hours and saw some familiar places at the top of the board.
2022 Top Fuel Champion Brittany Force is currently at the No. 1 spot after posting a time of 3.699 at 336.99 mph.
“It felt really good to come out at the first race and the first run of the season and go to the top,” Force said. “It was incredible. We spent a lot of hours and a lot of days testing this off-season, and we kind of picked up where we left off last year. It’s the same group of guys and it’s a great start to the season.
“We always want to improve and that’s our motivation. We had five wins last season and we want more, and ultimately, we want a back-to-back championship. I look at that championship as motivation because we want to do it again.”
As for the other 2022 NHRA champion, Erica Enders, who won her fifth Pro Stock title in 2022 is first in the Pro Stock class with a pass of 6.538 at 208.84 mph thus continuing her dominance in the class.
“As far as my to-do list, we can start off with winning the Gatornationals,” Enders said. “I’m thrilled to be the provisional No. 1 qualifier tonight. We had one extra month in the off-season so we’re ready to go to battle and to defend our title.”
Meanwhile, there was some excitement in the Funny Car class as Bob Tasca III unveiled a new paint scheme on the starting line Friday afternoon featuring PPG colors. Not only were their new colors on Tasca’s machine, but there were also new people working on his Ford Mustang. Tasca posted the quickest time of 3.888 at 330.72 mph heading into Saturday’s qualifying.
“We lost all but two people on our team and we brought in Todd Okuhara and Aaron Brooks, and it’s exactly what my program needed,” Tasca said. “We didn’t do enough at the beginning and end of the season, and we need to make sure our car runs better at the beginning and the end of the season. I think you’re going to see a different Tasca Racing program going forward. I love the attitude of this team and their work ethic. I haven’t been this excited for a season in a long time.”
Wrapping the day’s action is the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. Fan favorite and longtime motorcycle competitor Steve Johnson held the fastest time after two sessions with an E.T. of 6.746 at 198.90 mph on his Suzuki bike.
“Our sport is so diverse and exciting,” Johnson said. “I would love to come out here and win a championship. I’ve seen the mistakes I’ve made, and the teams out here work so hard, so it’s not easy. We’ve got a lot of great new riders and it’s hard to ride these motorcycles perfectly. I rode pretty well today and, for me, it’s all about fundamentals and when you can concentrate on that, the motorcycle is going to have a really cool response.”
The full field rundown of Friday’s qualifying can be seen below. The action begins Saturday at 12 p.m./ET live on NHRA.TV. Additionally, for those that missed today’s qualifying, highlights will be shown Saturday morning on Fox Sports 1 at 11 a.m./ET.
Top Fuel — 1. Brittany Force, 3.699 seconds, 336.99 mph; 2. Doug Kalitta, 3.723, 327.82; 3. Leah Pruett, 3.724, 327.51; 4. Clay Millican, 3.728, 331.36; 5. Antron Brown, 3.734, 332.84; 6. Steve Torrence, 3.735, 333.49; 7. Austin Prock, 3.779, 324.44; 8. Josh Hart, 3.783, 310.84; 9. Tony Schumacher, 3.802, 320.97; 10. Scott Palmer, 3.870, 291.38; 11. Keith Murt, 4.198, 211.73; 12. Spencer Massey, 4.204, 202.18; 13. Shawn Langdon, 5.696, 115.87; 14. Justin Ashley, 6.166, 100.15; 15. Mike Salinas, 6.641, 87.94; 16. Doug Foley, 10.250, 96.39.
Funny Car — 1. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.888, 330.72; 2. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.898, 335.07; 3. J.R. Todd, Toyota Supra, 3.900, 329.99; 4. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.908, 329.99; 5. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.911, 331.28; 6. Ron Capps, Supra, 3.912, 329.18; 7. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.933, 282.95; 8. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.935, 323.35; 9. Paul Lee, Charger, 3.960, 324.51; 10. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.980, 324.28; 11. Alexis DeJoria, Supra, 3.997, 258.17; 12. Alex Laughlin, 4.076, 273.33; 13. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 4.121, 257.14; 14. John Smith, Charger, 4.178, 250.37; 15. Dave Richards, Mustang, 4.218, 236.30; 16. Terry Haddock, Mustang, 6.437, 108.56.
Pro Stock — 1. Erica Enders, Chevy Camaro, 6.538, 208.84; 2. Camrie Caruso, Camaro, 6.551, 209.98; 3. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.552, 209.52; 4. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.554, 210.01; 5. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.556, 210.18; 6. Cristian Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.558, 210.34; 7. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.560, 209.46; 8. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.563, 209.72; 9. Fernando Cuadra, Mustang, 6.569, 208.52; 10. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.572, 210.87; 11. Jerry Tucker, Camaro, 6.573, 209.30; 12. Fernando
Cuadra Jr., Mustang, 6.578, 208.71; 13. Larry Morgan, Camaro, 6.583, 209.01; 14. Kyle Koretsky, Camaro, 6.588, 209.79; 15. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.589, 208.30; 16. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.590, 207.85.
Not Qualified: 17. Chris McGaha,6.592, 209.26; 18. Alan Prusiensky, 6.620, 208.59; 19. Val Smeland, 6.625, 208.78; 20. Shane Tucker, broke.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.746, 198.90; 2. Chase VanSant, Suzuki, 6.747, 200.80; 3. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.749, 200.59; 4. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 6.776, 201.58; 5. Jianna Evaristo, Suzuki, 6.789, 198.61; 6. Angie Smith, EBR, 6.792, 196.90; 7. Eddie Krawiec, Suzuki, 6.803, 200.98; 8. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.823, 198.79; 9. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.824, 196.36; 10. Chip Ellis, EBR, 6.826, 199.37; 11. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.828, 198.41; 12. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.830, 197.31; 13. Joey Gladstone, Suzuki, 6.846, 195.56; 14. John Hall, Buell, 6.867, 197.86; 15. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.917, 195.39; 16. Ron Tornow, Victory, 6.922, 196.47.
Not Qualified: 17. Chris Bostick, 7.066, 191.10; 18. Malcolm Phillips Jr., 7.098, 192.66; 19. Lance Bonham, 7.401, 185.89.