NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The opening day of qualifying Friday at the NHRA Carolina Nationals was a get-well kind of day for the No. 1 qualifiers who plan to use Saturday’s warmer conditions as raceday tune-ups for Sunday.

Brittany Force, who hasn’t failed to make at least one final round in a full season since her 2013 rookie campaign, looks ready to break that drought and a winless streak that goes back to the fall Las Vegas event of 2022. Her David Grubnic-tuned HendrickCars.com entry looked like vintage Force/Grubnic of 2012, going low in the first qualifying session the fighting back in Q2 to zoom back around those who took advantage of the cooler night session to finish the day still No. 1.

Shawn Reed, who surprisingly failed to qualify at last weekend’s event in Reding, Pa., raced to the No. 2 spot to assure there won’t be a repat of that while reigning world champ Doug Kalita, who DNQ’d two races ago, clocked a solid run for third place.

Four-time Funny Car world champ Matt Hagan and crew chief Dickie Venables found their mojo, too, duplicating Force’s feat by collecting all six bonus points as the low qualifier in both sessions. Hagan’s 3.832 eked past points leader Austin Prock’s 3.833 in dramatic style to cap their day. Hagan is coming off on back-to-back first-round losses at the last two events.

Pro Stock world champ Erica Enders, still stinging from a holeshot loss in the final round last weekend to teammate Aaron Stanfield, like was 2-for-2 in the best run category with her JHG Camaro with Stanfield in second and a resurgent Matt Hartford in third. With performance improvement likely out of the question, Enders vowed to use today’s two runs to re-hone her usually sharp reaction times.

Six-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Matt Smith qualified No. 1 and lopped a few points off of points leader Gaige Herrera’s slim lead. Smith was quickest in Q1 and second-quickest in Q2 behind Herrera, so the battle will rage on. Herrera’s teammate, Richard Gadson, runner-up last weekend, will be a factor against both drivers on Sunday.

2024 EVENT WINNERS

Doug Kalitta, Top Fuel; Bob Tasca III, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

MOST EVENT VICTORIES

Antron Brown, 3, TF; Robert Hight, 4, FC; Jason Line, 3 PS; Andrew Hines, 5, PSM.

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.647 seconds by Mike Salinas, Sept. '23; 338.00 mph by Salinas, Sept. '23.
Funny Car - 3.820 seconds by John Force, April '24; 338.34 mph by Bob Tasca III, April '24.
Pro Stock - 6.455 seconds by Jason Line, Mar. '15; 215.48 mph by Greg Anderson, Mar. '15.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.671 seconds by Gaige Herrera, April ‘24; 203.49 mph by Eddie Krawiec, May ‘21.

NATIONAL RECORDS

Top Fuel - 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. '19, Reading, Pa.; 338.94 mph by B. Force, Nov. '22, Pomona, Calif.
Funny Car - 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. '17, Brainerd; 339.87 mph by Robert Hight, July '17, Sonoma, Calif.
Pro Stock - 6.450 sec. by Erica Enders, March '22, Gainesville; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May '14, Englishtown. N.J.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Oct. '23, Gainesville, Fla.; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July '21, Sonoma, Calif.

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, Sept. 21
Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series eliminations at 8:00 a.m.
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series qualifying at 12:30 and 3:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, Sept. 22
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series eliminations begin at 12:00 p.m.

TELEVISION
Sunday, Sept. 22, FOX Sports 1 (FS1), will televise one and half hours of qualifying coverage at 1:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, Sept. 22, FOX Sports 1 (FS1) will televise three hours of finals coverage at 3:00 p.m. ET

TICKETS

Tickets are available online at www.zmaxdragway.com or call 800-455-FANS (3267).