NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Nighttime qualifying has long been a highlight of the NHRA Route 66 Nationals and this year's edition of Friday Night Lights did not disappoint. Las Vegas winner Mike Salinas delivered the best run of the night by driving his Scrappers dragster to a 3.69 to take the provisional pole in Top Fuel. Salinas, who was also the low qualifier in Las Vegas and Charlotte, is a full six-hundredths ahead of No .2 qualifier Antron Brown and third-ranked Steve Torrence. There are 21 dragsters attempting to qualify for the 16-car Top Fuel field.

Capps is the winner of the last two NHRA races in Atlanta and Richmond and in both of those events he was driving the special edition black NAPA Brakes Dodge so it's no surprise that his DSR chassis is also cloaked in that body here. Capps was the only driver to venture into the 3.8s with a 3.893 and he leads Kalitta Racing teammates J.R. Todd and Shawn Langdon. All told, 10 Funny Cars have run in the three-second zone and the bump is a robust 4.06 by Paul Lee's McLeod Clutches entry. Championship leader Robert Hight is one of the few who is still looking to run in the threes with a 4.032 best.

Just a thousandth of a second separates KB Racing teammates Line and Greg Anderson in the battle for the top spot in Pro Stock. Line currently has the No. 1 seed with a 6.582 to Anderson's 6.583. Line was the low qualifier at the most recent NHRA event in Richmond, Va. and should he hold on to the top spot, it will be the 55th time in his career that he's led a Pro Stock field. After Line and Anderson, Matt Hartford, Fernando Cuadra, and Deric Kramer are the Pro Stock leaders.

Krawiec clipped reigning world champ Matt Smith by two-thousandths to take the provisional pole in Pro Stock Motorcycle. The four-time series champ rode his Harley-Davidson to a 6.835 to hold off Smith's 6.837. Las Vegas winner Hector Arana Jr. is also in the mix with a 6.837 on his Lucas Oil Buell and Andrew Hines and Hector Arana Sr. round out the top five.

Funny Car low qualifier Ron Capps: "To do it the first session and half it hold is impressive. I shut it off about a car length early so it was on a little bit better run. I was Tobler [Rahn, crew chief] come back a bunch between runs and keep de-tuning the car as the session went on. I think he went up there to run 3.85 or 3.86 but by the time it was our turn to run, he just wanted to get down the track. We just went up to try and repeat.

"Usually when you see cars go out and shut off and you don't see smoke, that's tire shake. We should all know better coming to Route 66. This place, you can throw everything at it in good conditions and tonight we had that. I think everyone went up there not tuned up enough .Normally we' d have seen 3.83s and 3.85s and that's pretty good considering the track prep."

Pro Stock low qualifier Jason Line: “This racetrack is always great. The starting line is super good and it was again today. We tend to underestimate it but we got after it and made a good run. We’re fortunate enough to be on the pole and my teammate is right behind me. A good day for the Summit team. All of our cars have been running good just a couple of things have kept Greg and myself from the winner’s circle. Hopefully, we can end that drought here. This track has been good to me. It’s the first place I ever won a [Pro Stock] race at so I kind of have a special bond with this place.

“No one wants to go to bed on Friday night not having a good run. Then, you are under pressure and you tent to not think as well, and you do desperation moves. Tonight, I’ll sleep well.”

Pro Stock Motorcycle low qualifier Eddie Krawiec: “I’m fresh on a new chassis. Angelle [Sampey] and Andrew [Hines] have been running it pretty much the whole season with good luck. We kind of retired the old girl, my bike, I hated to get ride of it. I’ve been riding it the last eight years and it’s treated me well. It was time to move on to the new stuff. Matt Hines is the guy who drew it up and developed it and Mike Mullaney is the guy who built it. We have a great group of individuals in the shop to get it done so we could debut it in Richmond. Andrew’s bike is in a window right now. He’s been killing it out there. If I can get mine in a window, I think it will run just as good.

“We expect to come out here and run well because that’s what we do. Look at the top bikes out here separated by a few thousandths of a second. The class has great competition. Right now, you have to be on your game. It doesn’t matter how good of a motorcycle you have. If you’re not riding it well, you’re not going to win.”