NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

After a dazzling and history-making Friday night, the No. 1 qualifying positions in all four classes are probably set based on the warm weather forecast for today, so the focus will be on working on tune-ups for what is expected to be an even more toasty Sunday.

While it’s fairly certain that Brittany Force (3.667) and teammate Austin Prock (3.813) will remain atop the Top Fuel and Funny Car fields, there’s work to be done in both classes as 19 cars are entered to battle for the 16-car fields.

Reigning Top Fuel champ Doug Kalitta and rookie of the year favorite Tony Stewart are both on the outside looking in halfway through qualifying; the good news for both is that the bump spot is just 4.55 seconds, held by Cameron Ferre entering the day.

The bump spot in Funny Car is a little tougher with a 4.100 held by Texan Buddy Hull but Jeff Diehl, Buddy Hull, and Chris King are all capable of going quicker under normal conditions. The heat may throw a monkey wrench into those plans.

While the naturally-aspirated Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle entries sometimes are harder to gauge in the hot weather than you would expect, it’s a good bet that both Greg Anderson in Pro Stock and points leader Gaige Herrera in Pro Stock Motorcycle will enter Sunday’s final eliminations still in the No. 1 spot.

Anderson’s lead over world champ Erica Enders was just .002-second, the same distance that separated No. 1 and 2 in points, Dallas Glenn and Aaron Stanfield for the fourth and fifth spots with David Cuadra unexpectedly between them all in third. But it’s all testament to just how close the class is and should stay even in the heat,

Herrera, meanwhile, holds a solid two-hundredths on the bike field, erasing the knock against the Vance & Hines RevZilla team about their struggles in hot weather, which it’s certain will be revived Sunday, when the mercury is expected to soar to 97 degrees. Herrera’s closest challenger, six-time champ Matt Smith, had an off day. landing just ninth after day one., so has some work to do to get comfortable for Sunday.

EVENT STATISTICS

2023 EVENT WINNERS: Leah Pruett, Top Fuel; Matt Hagan, Funny Car; Erica Enders, Pro Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle

MOST VICTORIES: Tony Schumacher, 6, TF; John Force, 7, FC; Greg Anderson, 6, PS; Eddie Krawiec and Jerry Savoie, 3, PSM

TRACK RECORDS

Top Fuel – 3.636 seconds by Steve Torrence, Oct. '23; 338.40 mph by Justin Ashley, Oct. '23

Funny Car – 3.813 seconds by Austin Prock, Oct. '24; 338.60 mph by Hight, Oct. '17

Pro Stock – 6.457 seconds by Greg Anderson, Oct. '15; 214.59 mph by Anderson, Oct. '15

Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.627 seconds by Gaige Herrera, Oct. '23; 204.16 mph by Herrera, Oct. '23

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, Oct. 12
LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations at 8:00 a.m.; Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car eliminations at 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Holley EFI Factory X qualifying at 2 p.m. and eliminations at 5:25 p.m.; MISSION FOODS SERIES qualifying at 12 noon and 3 p.m.

SUNDAY, Oct. 13
MISSION FOODS SERIES eliminations at 12 noon

TELEVISION

SUNDAY, Oct. 13
FS1 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 2 p.m. ET followed by three hours of finals coverage at 4 p.m. ET

TICKETS

To purchase tickets to the Texas NHRA FallNationals, click here.