NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The final day of qualifying for the NHRA Arizona Nationals will not only set the fields for Sunday’s final eliminations but also will be highlighted by the inaugural running of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge during the day’s two qualifying sessions.

The Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge pits the semifinalists from the previous event in a series of rematches for cash and bonus points with all runs also counting towards qualifying. The winners of those two semifinal rematches will face off in the final qualifying session for the largest share of the spoils.

In Top Fuel, eventual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals winner Mike Salinas will face off again with Leah Pruett, while Doug Kalitta will hope to reverse the outcome of the Gainesville event by beating Steve Torrence.

Coming into Saturday,Kalitta and Salinas look like clear favorites. Kalitta qualified his Mac Tools dragster No. 1 in the Arizona Nationals field with a 3.679 while Torrence is fifth with a 3.724 Salinas, last year's NHRA Arizona Nationals champ, seems to have the upper hand, but only slightly, against Pruett. Salinas' Scrappers Racing entry ran 3.689 to qualify No. 2 in the event field, while Pruett is seventh at 3.737, giving Salnas lane choice for their rematch,

The Funny Car portion of the Challenge will give Alexis DeJoria the chance for a little revenge on Gatornationals champ Matt Hagan while Gainesville runner-up J.R. Todd hopes to again turn on the win light against Chad Green.

After Friday’s lone qualifying session, Green certainly looks to have the best handle on what was a tricky track Friday, taking his Daniel Wilkerson-tuned Bond Coat entry to a 3.952 that has him qualified No. 2 in the Arizona nationals field. His opponent, Todd, didn't; take it down the track under power, nor did Hagan or DeJoria, making the opening pairings an interesting mix.

Gatornationals winner Troy Coughlin Jr., who was the runner-up at the Arizona Nationals last year, will also take part in today’s #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in Pro Stock, pitted again against Dallas Glenn, while Gatornationals runner-up Mason McGaha will again try to beat the class’ most prolific winner, Greg Anderson, in their rematch.

Coming into Saturday, Glenn is the quickest of the four Challenge competitors after clocking a 6.556 that placed him third in the field behind surprise leader Fernando Cuadra Jr. and Kyle Koretsky, His opponent, Coughlin, posted a 6.571. Anderson had Friday's eighth quickest car with a 6.577, almost two- hundredths quicker than McGahan's 11th-ranked 6.586.

2022 EVENT WINNERS

Mike Salinas, Top Fuel; Robert Hight, Funny Car; Aaron Stanfield, Pro Stock

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel
3.643 seconds by Brittany Force Feb. '20; 
337.92 mph by Force, Feb. '20.

Funny Car 
3.823 seconds by Matt Hagan, Feb. '22; 
337.16 mph by Courtney Force, Feb. '18.

Pro Stock
6.498 seconds by Mike Edwards, Feb. '13;
213.77 mph by Edwards, Feb. '13.

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, February 25- Lucas Oil Series eliminations at 8 a.m. Camping World Series Pro Stock qualifying at noon and 3 p.m. Camping World Series Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. 

SUNDAY, February 26 - Pre-race ceremony, 10 a.m. Camping World Series eliminations begin at 11 a.m

TELEVISION SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, Feb. 26, FS1 will televise two hour of qualifying highlights at noon (ET) 
SUNDAY, Feb.26, FS1 will televise three hours of finals coverage at 7 p.m. (ET)

Or watch all day on NHRA.tv