NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Clay Millican made the quickest run since Mike Kloeber took over tuning duties on the Parts-Plus / Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Fuel Dragster, showing yet another sign of improvement for the small team. Millican ran a 3.698-second pass at 330.96-mph, beating his previous season best of 3.701 (Gainesville, March) to give him the provisional No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Millican is chasing his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and his first win. He appeared in the final of the most recent stop on tour, the Dodge NHRA Mile-High Nationals in Denver, and reached the semifinals at the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping.  

"Let's face it, us race car drivers love showing off and the team gave me a car that was really capable of showing off," said Millican. "The place was full and it got cold and I was so excited to go 3.69. That was our team's best run ever and Mike's first 3.60 ever. To go 3.69, that was really exciting and awesome for him. This is a brand-new team and it's unbelievable. The world had kind of written us of, I really should quit saying it because I keep saying it over and over again, but it has been really special."

Steve Torrence and Billy Torrence made nearly identical passes in the second qualifying session. Steve got the better of his father by a thousandth of a second, but the two ran identical speeds. Steve, who is the most recent winner on tour and the defending world champion, ran a 3.717-second pass at 325.85-mph. Steve is chasing the Western Swing Sweep and his first Sonoma win since 2017 and second overall. 

Nearly all of the 14 Top Fuel Dragsters that made passes on Friday were successful. Scott Palmer was the slowest of the 12 Top Fuelers in the 3-second zone, but even the Magic Dry Absorbent team can be proud of its 3.856-second run at 315.12-mph. That’s more than a tenth of a second off the top run of the session, but the middle of the pack is tightly bunched between the Torrence dragsters at 3.717 and Brittany Force at 3.785. 

Hometown racer Mike Salinas failed to take the Tree in time in the final qualifying session. He was the last car on the track and appeared poised to at least take a shot at Millican’s No. 1 status after making the best run of the first session. Leah Pritchett staged, but Salinas did not stage for the Tree timed out, disqualifying his run. 

Steve Faria also had an unsatisfying day of qualifying at Sonoma Raceway. He suffered a massive explosion right after hitting the gas and failed to reach the finish line under power. If can repair his car, he will get two more shots at the track beginning at 1:15 p.m. Pacific.