NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The first day of qualifying at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is complete, and drivers in the professional categories proved that the unique format was a challenge they were happily willing to accept. After a thrilling day of four-by-four racing down the desert dragstrip, Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) were the provisional low qualifiers in their respective categories. 

Force, who qualified No. 1 at the season opener in Gainesville, currently fronts the Top Fuel field halfway through qualifying after a ripping pass of 3.697 in her David Grubnic-tuned Monster Energy dragster. Her first pass of 3.749 set the team up to grab the pole.

"It feels good to get back on track, and currently No. 1,” said Force, who qualified No. 1 at nearly half (10 of 22) of the races last year. “To run like that such a big improvement from Q1, going from a .74 to a .69, is huge for the team. When I crossed the finish line, it felt like a killer run. That's very exciting to do that, and the great thing is we get to more before going into raceday Sunday

"We did a lot of offseason testing, new things that we're putting in this mix, and we knew it was going to take us a little while until we found our footing and got back on track. We knew that going into the season, and it's coming around much quicker than we thought, which is good news. But in the long run, it'll set us up better, especially going into the end of the season in the Countdown.”

First-session leader Steve Torrence, a six-time winner in four-wide competitions in Las Vegas and Charlotte, sits second with his early 3.712, with Leah Pruett and the Code 3 Associates dragster in third with a 3.747 and points leader Justin Ashley in fourth at 3749.

Shawn Langdon (3.754), Tony Schumacher (3.763), Doug Kalitta (3.780), and Clay Millican (3.787) round out the top eight.

Pedregon, the Funny Car low qualifier at the Winternationals two weeks ago, has his John Collins-tuned Snap-on Tools Charger back in the No. 1 spot after a couple of fine passes of 3.910 and 3.934, which were the best and second-best passes, respectively, of the first two qualifying sessions.

"The track was really good, even with not a lot of cars running on it," he said. "And for us, it's been trying to back the car down. It's trying to run low e.t. on every run, and it's just all over the place. It's really just a matter of backing it down a little bit and trying to go down the track and just race smart. It's nice to have low e.t., but we're looking for that consistency.

"I'm just trying to drive it straighter because the car is really is all over the track. It’s like a bull trying to buck me off and I'm trying to hang on to it, but this isn’t my first rodeo. I told J.C., ‘Hey, don't back it down too much; I can handle it.’ The car’s a wild child, man, so I'm just trying to hang on and do my job.”

Alexis DeJoria, who made the final quad at last year’s event, looked solid with matching passes of 3.933 from her Del Worsham- and Nicky Boninfante-prepared Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota in each of the first two sessions, the second one being the best of Q2.

Eleven Funny Cars qualified in the threes on Friday, with Winternationals champ Matt Hagan (3.936), Bob Tasca III (3.938), Phoenix winner Robert Hight (3.942), John Force (3.945), Tim Wilkerson (3.967), and Bobby Bode III (3.976) holding down the rest of the top eight. 

Ron Capps (3.978), Paul Lee (3.982), and Alex Laughlin (3.996) also ran quicker than four seconds.

Chad Green sits on the bump spot with a 4.259 but can’t be comfortable with the likes of Blake Alexander, two-time Vegas four-wide winner J.R. Todd, and Jeff Diehl nipping at his heels.

Jeff Arend, currently qualified No. 15, is out for the balance of the event after a huge engine explosion on his first pass in Peter Russo’s Monte Carlo damaged the body and a large number of its parts.

Fresh off a Pro Stock win at the Winternationals in Pomona two weeks ago, Glenn kept the efficient pace in his RAD Torque-branded Chevrolet Camaro and found his way to the top of the pack with a pair of strong passes. He wheeled the KB Titan Racing-powered Chevy to a 6.633-second pass in the first qualifying round and followed up with an even better 6.629 at 206.07mph. The incoming points leader is in the hunt for the third low qualifier award of his career. 

"Matt [Hartford] and I had the best two cars in Pomona, and I think it just carried right on over," said Glenn. "This track just kind of agrees with me, from the starting line to my driving style, and the way the car is set up. I didn't expect to see that good of a run on Q2, because we made a really nice run Q1 and the air was worse. I figured we could probably duplicate it, maybe be a few thou' worse, but we were a few thou' better. Hopefully, that means there's even a little more left in it, because I think tomorrow morning is going to be the good run." 

Glenn, who is competing in the 40th Pro Stock race of his career this weekend in Las Vegas, is particularly fond of four-wide racing as he claimed the first Pro Stock win of his career at the 2021 Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals. 

"Racing four-wide, everyone says it's a driver's race, but it seems like all the drivers step up and perform better," said Glenn. "I know I change my style a little bit for four-wide. I almost rush myself a little bit in staging because I do kind of take a long time to stage. For four-wide, I try to make sure I don't dilly-dally around. Four-wide racing is a great time; it changes it up a little bit."

He's also a fan of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – it's where he won the very first national event trophy of his career. The win was in Super Gas at the spring Las Vegas race in 2011. 

"I love racing here," concluded Glenn. "Everything always seems to come together here. I've had a lot of good times here; hopefully, they continue through the rest of this weekend."

Hartford, Glenn's KB Titan teammate who won the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in Pomona, is No. 2 on the sheet with a 6.635, while Gainesville winner Troy Coughlin Jr. is No. 3 on a 6.636. Coughlin's Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield (6.639) is just behind in the No. 4 spot. Eight-time Las Vegas winner Greg Anderson is sits fifth (6.640), three-time four-wide finalist Mason McGaha is sixth (6.645), Phoenix victor Camrie Caruso is No. 7 (6.652), and Bo Butner rounds out the top eight in his Johnson's Horsepowered Garage Chevrolet. Reigning Pro Stock champion Erica Enders, a nine-time Las Vegas winner, is currently No. 9.