NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Mike Salinas, Jack Beckman, and Karen Stoffer are the early leaders after and abbreviated day of qualifying at zMax Dragway. Salinas, coming off his first national event win three weeks ago in Las Vegas, set the zMax Dragway track record with a 3.687 in his Scrappers dragster.

Three-second runs were tough to come by in Funny Car but not for Beckman, who unloaded a 3.891 from the Infinite Hero Dodge to move to the top of the qualifying sheet. Beckman also made the only 300-mph Funny Car run of the day with a 321.42 blast. The only other driver to receive a three-second time slip is current points leader Robert Hight, who shut off early, but still managed a 3.935 in his Auto Club Camaro.

Stoffer is on track for what could be the fourth low qualifier award of her long career after riding Jerry Savoie's Suzuki to a 6.864. Stoffer was three-thousandths quicker than Angie Smith, who finished the day in the No. 2 spot after a 6.867 on her Denso EBR and four-time champ Eddie Krawiec also found the 6.8s with a 6.894 on the Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson.

Jose Gonzalez, the defending event winner int he E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod series, finished the day in the No. 1 spot after driving his turbocharged Q89 Corvette to a 5.657. Erica Enders also back up her 260-mph pass from the recent Houston race with a 260.41 run in her Elite Motorsports Camaro.

Chris Powers leads the field in the Mountain Motor Pro Stock exhibition following a 6.244-second run.

TOP FUEL LOW QUALIFIER MIKE SALINAS: “The day was a little crazy with the wind. We knew the track would be a little tricky, and I actually saw Alan [Johnson, tuner] tune the car down so maybe it could have gone better. But we did exactly what we wanted to do, take the No. 1 spot, and broke the track record.”

On whether he thinks his e.t. will hold up through Saturday qualifying: “I don’t count our chickens before they hatch; we just take it one round at a time. We’re expecting everyone to step up because Steve [Torrence] and everyone will step up. [Antron Brown’s] car is back, which is nice, because we want to run these guys. I don’t want to win because the other guy smoked the tires. I want a true win. I don’t think there’s any honor in winning when the other guy smokes the tires.”

FUNNY CAR LOW QUALIFIER JACK BECKMAN: “When we towed up there, no one had made a respectable run. I think a 4.4 was the quick time at that point, but by 300 feet I knew. That thing was tuck and pulling; it was the quickest 60-foot [time, .850] that I’ve ever had. It had a lot more in it but just wore the clutch out and wound up dropping a hole [cylinder]. It was on a beast of a run.

“It feels good as a driver to see the look on the crew’s faces because they work just as hard whether we run No. 1 or 19th. It’s awesome to see the faces back in the pits. I don’t know that the 3.89 will hold, but it gives everyone something to shoot for.”

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE LOW QUALIFIER KAREN STOFFER: “Today was interesting; we never had weather like this before. We had rain, wind, hail, and then pollen on the track. With all the changes, the tune-up can get away from you. Thankfully, [crew chief] Tim Kulungian and the WAR team made changes and they adapted really quickly. Evening passes are different. We don’t make a lot of them. When I left, the bike felt good. I was hoping a good number would pop up and it did.

“The Four Wide is interesting because drag racing is a very mental sport. It compares to golf because you have to have a have a strong mind. With the four-wide it’s even more because the staging process is so different. You have to focus in order to make a good run. You have to have a very strong mind and be focus driven.”

QUALIFYING ROUND RECAPS

TOP FUEL

Q1 recap: Mike Salinas set a new zMAX Dragway track record, blasting his Scrappers Racing dragster to a 3.687, breaking the 3.689 mark set last year by Brittany Force.

Fresh off of his runner-up two weeks ago in Houston, Antron Brown raced to a 3.725 for the second position with Terry McMillen just a few ticks back at 3.728. Only Doug Kalitta (3.733) also made it down the track as the teams struggled like their Funny Car peers that ran before them.

FUNNY CAR

Q2 recap: Jack Beckman has the lead halfway through Funny Car qualifying after powering his Infinite Hero Dodge to a 3.891 under the lights at zMAX Dragway.

Points leader Robert Hight had the only other three-second pass, a 3.935 that could have been quicker but slowed before the finish line and coasted across at just 285 mph.

As good as those two were, all of the other teams struggled as Jeff Diehl’s 4.426 was the third best pass. Terry Haddock lost a solid 4.172 when the headers of his newly-sponsored ChecklistBoards.com Mustang scraped the guardwall just before the finish line.

Q1 recap: After what is undoubtedly the combined shortest and weirdest Funny Car qualifying session in history, Dale Creasy Jr. is the low qualifier with a 7.713-second elapsed time.

Only one grouping of three Funny Cars made it off the starting line after which NHRA officials called off the rest of the qualifying session due to high winds.

Creasy’s tire-smoking pass earned him the 7.713 elapsed time and the lead after Bob Gilbertson’s 5.164 lap was disqualified because he struck the timing blocks at the finish line. The other competitor, Bob Bode, backfired the supercharger at the hit and coasted to a stop without reaching the finish line.

All racing will be indefinitely on hold due to the winds, but a second qualifying session is slated to begin at 8 p.m., starting with Funny Car Q2.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Q1 recap: Karen Stoffer rode Jerry Savoie’s Suzuki to the top spot during Friday’s Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying. Stoffer, who joined Savoie’s White Alligator team this season, rode to a 6.864 to take the early lead. Stoffer is riding the same bike that LE Tonglet previously rode to a win at the 2016 zMax Four-Wide event.

Angie Smith and Eddie Krawiec also found the 6.8s to earn qualifying bonus points, while second-year pro Kelly Clontz made one of the best runs of her career with a 6.902 to land in the No. 4 spot.

The riders who have not qualified yet include world champs Matt Smith and Hector Arana Sr., who both shut off early. There are 19 riders competing for one of the 16 available spots.