News, notes, quotes, and photos from the first day of Pro qualifying at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Updated throughout the day)

Long before the start of professional qualifying on Friday there was plenty of action at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway including the start of eliminations in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, and the start of qualifying in Congruity Pro Mod, Holley EFI Factory X, Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Mountain Motor Pro Stock, and  the Legends Nitro Funny Car series.

History was made in the Holley EFI Factory X class when Jesse Alexandra posted the class’s first official six second run with a 6.997  in his supercharged Camaro.

Pro Stock Motorcycle Q1

The race for the championship in Pro Stock Motorcycle is far from over although reigning world champ Gaige Herrera leads six-time champion Matt Smith by 62 points. With eight rounds remaining in the season, and points-and-a-half available in Pomona, Smith has his fate in his own hands.

Smith added three qualifying bonus points to his total after running a 6.825 on his Denso Buell to lead the first session. Smith picked up just one point on Herrera, who was second quickest at 6.846 aboard the RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki.  

“Mission accomplished. This is an awesome start to the weekend,” said Smith. “The bike was going left and I was fighting and fighting and fighting to keep it straight but otherwise it was a good run. We think we found the problem from Dallas where it wasn’t shifting.”

Smith’s wife, Angie, also snagged a qualifying point thanks to a 6.850 on her pink Denso Buell.

Jianna Evaristo, Richard Gadson, Marc Ingwersen, and Chase Van Sant also found the 6.8s during the first of four qualifying rounds.

Steve Johnson, who had a great bike at the most recent event in Dallas, was pushed off the starting line after encountering a problem with his Suzuki. Hector Arana Jr. was also sidelined as his GETTRX Buell was also pushed off the starting line. Arana’s team quickly diagnosed the issue as clutch related, which prevented them from posting a run.

Pro Stock  Q1

Surprisingly, the low qualifier in Pro Stock after the first session is not one of the championship contenders. Instead, it’s David Cuadra who drove his Corral Boots entry to a 6.605 that was not bettered by and of the other 18 cars that made runs on Friday afternoon. Cuadra noted that the run was “straight and really smooth” as he also crossed the finish line before his brother, Fernando Jr.

Aaron Stanfield was second-quickest with a 6.615, just a thousandth of a second ahead of championship leader Dallas Glenn’s 6.616. Glenn enters the Las Vegas race with a 53-point lead over Stanfield as both drivers are seeking their first professional championships.

The top of the field is extremely close with Greg Anderson, Erica Enders Cory Reed, Camrie Caruso, and Jeg Coughlin Jr., rounding out a top half of the field that is separated by just .030-second.

The 16-car bump spot is held by Cristian Cuadra at 6.705 and it’s sure to get quicker as there are three more qualifying runs remaining before Sunday’s final eliminations.  

Funny Car Q3

As we kick off Funny Car qualifying for the first of four qualifying sessions to be conducted under great conditions with 20 cars in competition, the talk of the sport’s first all-three-second Funny Car field is floating around. The record bump spot still stands at 4.005, set five years ago at the U.S. Nationals with 15 cars in the threes and only Justin Schriefer in the fours. Is this the weekend it finally happens?

We got more than halfway there in the first session with 10 cars running in the threes, fronted by points leader Austin Prock (3.843) and teammate Jack Beckman (3.859), a side-by-pass with team owner John Force standing on the starting line watching, his first appearance at an event since his terrible crash in Richmond earlier this year.

Ron Capps (3.860), Paul Lee (3.879), and J.R. Todd (3.898) also ran in the 3-8-second zone with Cruz Pedregon (3.904), Daniel Wilkerson (3.936), Dave Richards (3.970), Alexis DeJoria (3.995). and Jason Rupert (3.996) rounding out the sub-four-second parade.

DeJoria, who’s had more than her fair share of scares at this track, had another when her Bandero Café Toyota sideswiped the left guardwall after her pass.

Veteran Funny Car handler John Hale saddled up in the Winefsky family’s new Nitro Moose entry but had to shut off after the burnout when the throttle hung open at higher-than-ideal idle. The plan is for Dylan Winefsky to license in this car on Monday after the event,

Top Fuel Q1

The Top Fuelers as a whole did not match the performance of their bodied cousins but Brittany Force, who has a history of great success in Las Vegas, did raise eyebrows with her field-leading 3.675, just two-hundredths off her track record.

Shawn Langdon grabbed the No. 2 spot to kick off the kind of big weekend he’s going to need to climb into the championship fight with a 3.705. Four-time world champ Steve Torrence sits third with a 3.714 just ahead of points leader Justin Ashley’s 3.726.

Clay Millican, who is rocking an Evel Knievel paint scheme and firesuit, blasted to a 3.738 with Evel’s son, Kelly, watching from the starting line just a half hour up the road from dad’s crazy wipeout at Caesar’s Palace in 1967.

Shawn Reed (3.751), Tony Stewart (3.781), and  Billy Torrence (3.787) round out the top eight, and world champ Doug Kalitta sits on the soft bump spot of 4.670 with three sessions remaining.

Pro Stock Motorcycle Q2

There was significant improvement across the board in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class following the second of four qualifying runs in Las Vegas.

Matt Smith continued to put forth his best effort to catch leader Gaige Herrera with a 6.822 to pace the field aboard his Denso Buell. Smith picked up three bonus points for the best run of the session while Herrera slowed to a 7.11 following apparent engine damage.

Richard Gadson remained consistent by riding his RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki to a 6.864 while Angie Smith also grabbed a bonus point with a 6.866.

Hector Arana and Steve Johnson, two riders who did not make runs in the first session, quickly made up for lost time with representative passes to seal their spots in the field. Arana rode his GETTRX Buell to a 6.949 while Johnson was close with a 6.959.

There are 16 bikes in Las Vegas so there won’t be any non qualifiers but for now, all 16 have run 7.21 seconds or quicker.

Pro Stock Q2

Progress in Pro Stock continues to be measured in thousandths of a second as the field in Las Vegas continues to get tighter and tighter.

Greg Anderson, fighting for his fifth world title, became the first (and so far only) driver to venture into the 6.5s with a 6.597, 207.02 in his HendrickCars.com Camaro. Anderson picked up three bonus points while fellow contender Aaron Stanfield grabbed to after a 6.609.

David Cuadra, the Q1 leader, remained consistent with a 6.613 while Dallas Glenn was also solid at 6.615.

One other driver who made an impressive move is Jeg Coughlin Jr., who not only won the most recent event in Dallas, but also the Spring 4-Wide event held earlier this season in Las Vegas.  Coughlin ran a 6.813 that he called “effortless” and he added a .005 reaction time that might be a cause for concern among his competitors.

Chris McGaha ended the day on the bump spot with a 6.669 in his Harlow Sammons Camaro while Kenny Delco, Derick Reese, and Joey Grose are not qualified.

Funny Car Q2

We added two more Funny Cars to the three-second list in Q2 with Blake Alexander (3.887) and Matt Hagan (3.899) not only cracking the code but also running in the 3.80s. The field now has 12 three-second runners, seven of which are in the 3.80s.

Paul Lee had the quickest run of the session with a 3.866, backing up his earlier 3.879, but he’s only fourth of the qualifying list behind Austin Prock and Jack Beckman, neither of whom made it down the track, and Ron Capps. Who also could not match or better his opening effort.

Alexander and Hagan got the remaining bonus points.

Alexis DeJoria had to switch bodies after her shunt with the guardwall in Q1, switching back to the white Bandero shell for Q2, but the car still made the same move to the left and crossed the centerline past the finish line after an improved 3.92 pass.

Dave Richards, who didn’t make his first three-second run of the season until the previous event, the Texas NHRA FallNationals where he not only made their first three-second run of the year but followed it up with a career best elapsed time of 3.920 seconds, has two more threes this weekend, following up his Q1 pass of 3.97 with a 3.99. The BlueBird team is currently sitting 12th in the Funny Car standings, just 81 points out of the top 10.

Normal three-second runners Bob Tasca III and Chad Green haven’t got there yet but should to bring us to 14 three-second entries, and Steven Densham (4.017) and Jef Diehl (4.039) have run in the threes before and are on the verge this weekend.

Top Fuel Q2

A lot of teams took big swings in the cool conditions and only a few connected, with world champ Doug Kalitta leading the way with a 3.707 that moved him to the No. 3 spot behind first-session leaders Brittany Force and Shawn Langdon.. Spencer Massey made a great run of 3.72 in Krista Baldwin’s car, a new best for that team, and Antron Brown cracked off a 3.735.

Top Fuel rookie Travis Shumake made his return to the sport for the first time since the Norwalk event, this time with impressive backing from Gillette Labs. Shumake punched out a fine 3.897 on his first pass of the event to provisionally make the field with what was the fourth best pass of the session.

Will Smith sits on the bump after a fiery yet improved 4.053 in Luigi Novelli’s car with Scott Palmer and JCM Racing teammates ida Zetterström and Tony Schumacher unexpectedly on the outside looking in with two sessions remaining Saturday.