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Matt Hagan powered to the Funny Car provisional No. 1 qualifier Friday at the 16th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals.

Leah Pritchett (Top Fuel), Drew Skillman (Pro Stock), and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were the qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the 23rd race of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The NHRA Toyota Nationals is the fifth race of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship.

Hagan ran a elapsed time track record 3.872-second pass at 329.18 mph in his Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T for the qualifying lead at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Currently third in points, Hagan has raced to five No. 1 qualifiers this season.

Matt Hagan

Leah Pritchett

“I think today was pretty cool because we had cloud cover,” Hagan said. “The track was tight; it was good out there. The groove is very narrow so you have to watch what you’re doing. All in all we had a good day, and tomorrow is another day, so we come back out tomorrow and fight hard again and just try to scoop up as much points as we can.”

Sixteen-time Funny Car world champion John Force qualified second after pushing his Peak Antifreeze Chevy Camaro to a 3.872 at a track record speed of 331.94. Force’s speed was also a career best. Points leader Ron Capps is currently third.

Pritchett piloted her Pennzoil Top Fuel dragster to a 3.705 pass at 326.63 during the second qualifying session to set the track elapsed time record. She will be racing for her second No. 1 qualifier of the season and of her Top Fuel career.

“Talk about living a dream right now and being with the best team out there and the best people in my crew,” Pritchett said. “I’m enjoying it. We are keeping our head down, but you have to enjoy it for a little bit. Learn from what we just did and move on and just consistently do that over and over again, and that’s what we’ve been doing these last races. Vegas has always been kind of good to me; our car number is 777 so just going to keep rolling with it and staying focused and staying in the zone.”

Currently qualified in second is Doug Kalitta, followed by reigning world champion and current points leader Antron Brown. Kalitta currently trails Brown in points by 150.

Drew Skillman

Jerry Savoie

In Pro Stock, 2015 Road to the Future Award winner Skillman scored a 6.681 run at 204.94 in his Chevy Camaro during the second qualifying session. Skillman is looking for his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and fourth of his career.

“We had a rough start. We’re getting a good run now,” said Skillman, who won the most recent race in Dallas. “We are starting to learn the car a little better. We struggled really bad at the beginning of the Countdown, and we think we are going a better direction, as it showed now. We’re hopeful for the future.”

Skillman’s time puts him ahead of Shane Gray in the No. 2 spot and points leader Jason Line in third.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Savoie rode to a 6.904 pass at 192.66 on his Savoie’s Alligator Farm Suzuki in Friday’s first qualifying session to hold the provisional top spot. Savoie has one No. 1 qualifier this season and six in his career.

“With the points deal, I’m going to say like we say in Louisiana, we say, ‘mo points,’ and we take them all if they give them to us. As a rider, you try to do the same thing every time. It’s up to the crew and the crew chief to put the tune-up in it. Tim [Kulungian] and the guys, they are great. They keep it together.”

The Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team of Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines hold the second and third spots, respectively.

Qualifying for the NHRA Toyota Nationals continues Saturday at 11:45 a.m.

Michael Biehle II powered to the qualifying lead Friday in the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the event. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is presented by Aeromotive Inc. This is the final NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Series race of the 2016 season.

Biehle posted a run of 5.848 seconds at 251.86 mph in his ’67 Mustang during the first of two qualifying attempts. He was able to retain the No. 1 qualifying position through the end of the second session. Biehle has yet to record a No. 1 qualifying position this season.

"It feels awesome. We've never held a No. 1 position this long,” said Biehle. “We've had a good race car all year. We're just happy to be here, and it's awesome to be No. 1."

Current points leader Rickie Smith is qualified sixth in his ’15 Camaro with his 5.909 run at 245.00. Troy Coughlin, who is second in points, is currently fifth with his 5.907 pass at 248.93.

Bob Rahaim is qualified second at 5.868 at 244.56, and Todd Tutterow is third at 5.881 at 243.02.  
 
The final qualifying session for the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the NHRA Toyota Nationals will be held Saturday, Oct. 29, at 1:30 p.m. before the first round of eliminations begins at 5:30 p.m.