NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Story updated after round one

The first round of elimination at the Magic Dry Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals will feature two titanic clashes, the 100th career head-head-to-head meetings between Funny Car heroes John Force and Ron Capps and between Pro Stock giants Greg Anderson and Jeg Coughlin Jr.

The Funny Car clash matches the two winningest drivers in class history. Force, the 16-time NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car champion, has scored 149 victories in his career while Capps, the 2016 champion, has collected 60 victories.

Force leads the head-to-head score, 59-40.

According to NHRA statistician Lewis Bloom, this is the 20th first-round matchup between the duo, who first raced one another at the Dallas event in 1997. This is the seventh time they will face each other at this event. Force’s most recent of eight victories at this event, in 2005, came with a final-round victory over Capps.

(Only Cruz Pedregon and Force have raced more in the history of the NHRA, having squared off 105 times.)

Force qualified No. 8 with a 3.950 while Capps slotted ninth with a 3.951, which will give Force lane choice.

“I always have confidence no matter where we qualify,” said Capps. “You can race John Force any time on Sunday and it will feel like a final; it’s a big deal and it’s great for the fans.”

"You can never take Ron Capps for granted," said Force. "He's a champion and earned it the hard way, just like me. He'll hurt your feelings."

(Post round-one update: Force upped his lead in the rivalry to 60-40 after defeating Capps, 3.93 to 3.96.)

The Anderson vs. Coughlin battle is a matchup of the two winningest active drivers in the Pro Stock class. Anderson, a four-time NHRA world champ has 91 career tour victories while Coughlin, a five-time season titlist, has 61 wins in the class. (Warren Johnsson, who is currently not racing, has 97 victories.)

Entering the first round, Anderson held a 55-44 edge on his longtime rival. They are the only two drivers to have triple-digit head-to-head races.

The two greats have faced off in round one 27 times since they first squared off at the Houston event in 1999. They have raced three times at this event.

Coughlin qualified No. 7 with a 6.544 while Anderson was ranked No. 10 after a 6.564 best. Anderson’s qualifying struggles led to the KB Racing team to change engines overnight before facing Coughlin.

"There is something that isn't quite right about this one," said Anderson. "All signs point to that, so we're not going to worry about it here. We'll take this one home to work on it, and we'll go into [Sunday] with a fresh one. I'm confident that we'll be okay once we do that, and with the conditions about the same as what they were [Saturday], we should be able to make all the right adjustments."

Coughlin is ready, too.

"You've definitely got to mind your p's and q's, so to speak, and be on your best behavior when you race Greg,” he said. “We know the capability of that team over there and we know how good Greg is in the car. We will be up there to exceed his performance this time and get to the finish line first."

(Post round-one update:  Coughlin moved closed to evening the rivalry, beating Anderson, whose car bogged, with a 6.568. Coughlin, who was .001 on the Tree, now trails, 55-45.)