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The world's oldest, biggest, richest, and most prestigious drag race roared to life for the 55th time Friday at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis where Larry Dixon, Robert Hight, Mike Edwards, and Hector Arana lead the first-day fields at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Eager Indy fans were treated to under the lights nitro qualifying and all of the header-flame drama that it provides at the conclusion of a long day of racing.

The event is the 18th and final race of the regular season of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and with two top seeds – and the important bonus points that accompany them – and several playoffs berths for the upcoming six-race Countdown to 1 still available, the stakes are doubly high for many teams.

Larry Dixon

Dixon, the only driver other than seven-time Indy champ Tony Schumacher to win the U.S. Nationals this decade, stepped to the forefront in his bid for a third Indy win in eight years and his fourth overall when he powered his Jason McCulloch-tuned Alan Johnson racing/Al-Anabi dragster to a 3.850 in the final pairing of the evening.

"It's nice to get down the track and know you have a car that will stay in the top 12," said Dixon, who owns four No. 1s this season. "It was a long day for the team. I think we made more changes in the clutch in the staging lanes than we did all day in the pits. We're happy with the run, and I think tomorrow night's session will really determine who gets the pole."
 
"I haven't gotten past trying to perform under the pressure of Alan Johnson to get to [Sheikh] Khalid [Al Thani]," said Dixon, when asked about the pressure to perform in the presence of the team co-owner. "He's a lot easier to please than Alan. Khalid told me he owns Pro Mods, so he's seen everything."

Dixon's run supplanted the efforts of another former Indy champ, Cory McClenathan, whose 3.863 in the Fram Tough Guard rail had been the No. 1 qualifier. "Hot Rod" Fuller, in just his third outing of the season, is qualified third in the Bob Vandergriff Jr.-owned MacAllister Cat-backed dragster. Points leader Antron Brown, who was in the lane alongside Dixon, is qualified fourth with a 3.912. Brandon Bernstein, the 2006 runner-up here, is qualified fifth while Bruce Litton, whose shop is just across the highway from the track, is sixth.

The evening was about a draw for Clay Millican and Joe Hartley, who are battling one another for the 10th and final berth in the Countdown to 1 field. Hartly smoked the tires at the hit and banged the blower while Millican could muster just a 4.30 from his LifeLock Racing machine. Twenty-one teams are tyring to make the 16-car Top Fuel field.

Robert Hight

Hight, sitting in 12th position two spots outside the Countdown top 10, raced the Automobile Club of Southern California Mustang to the top of the Funny Car field after being reunited with crew chief Jimmy Prock in the wake of the illness and absence of John Force Racing tuning patriarch Austin Coil. Hight, the defending event champ, had been in the Coil-tuned Mustang of teammate John Force in Reading, but switched back after Coil took ill Thursday.

  “This is definitely a great start to a big, big weekend for the Auto Club team,” said Hight. “We’ve dug ourselves a huge hole, and what’s amazing is we’re within striking distance, two rounds. It’s going to be important to outqualify Cruz [Pedregon] and [Matt] Hagan because qualifying points could put me behind and make it to where I have to make up three rounds. It’s 38 points now. That’s two rounds, so we want to keep it under 40, and this was definitely a good start.

“Tomorrow, we’re after Top Fuel, so we’re going to be running when it’s a little darker, a little later, and a little cooler. And as the weekend goes on, more cars run, and the track gets a little better. Tomorrow night, I’m betting that that 4.10 will not hold up, so we’re going to have to step up a little tomorrow night if we want to maintain the top spot. This definitely gives us an opportunity to press a little harder tomorrow night because we’re in the show. You know Jimmy Prock, that’s his forte. We’ll be trying to run a 4.0 tomorrow night, I guarantee it.”

Hight's teammate, Mike Neff, zoomed the Drive One Mustang into the No. 2 spot with a 4.113, just ahead of the guy trying to fend off Hight's bid, 10th-place Cruz Pedregon, who ran 4.124 in his Advance Auto Parts Toyota. Ashley Force Hood made it three JFR Mustangs in the top four when he steered the Castrol GTX Mustang to a 4.138 time.

Matt Hagan, the other driver embroiled with Hight and Pedregon in the playoff battle, qualified his Shelor.com Dodge sixth with a 4.171, between the Fords of Bob Tasca III (4.158) and John Force (4.176). Jeff Arend rounds out the top eight with the DHL Toyota at 4.184. Eighteen Funny Cars are on hand trying for the 16 available slots.

Mike Edwards

Edwards has qualified No. 1 nine times in the season's first 17 events, so it's no great surprise that his A.R.T./Young Life Pontiac is again at the head of the class, even though it's only after one of five scheduled sessions. Edwards clocked a 6.624 to hold the first-day lead.

“It’s a long way to go to be No. 1 on Sunday,” said Edwards. “Four more runs, and there are a lot of good cars. We’re just getting started and I’m sure that won’t hold up. We’ll have to keep battling away and try to make the best adjustments we can, race the track, and see what comes up.

We made the same adjustments and prepared ourselves the same way as if it were just another race. It’s Indy, the U.S. Nationals, but for the car, your set-up is just another run. You go out there and you give it your best shot. We made a really good run and my guys did a great job again, but I don’t think the engine ran as good as we thought we should have. We saw a 208-mph [run] out there and we ran 207.66, so we’ve got some work to do.”

Five-time Indy winner Greg Anderson is in the second position with the Summit Racing Pontiac after clocking a 6.635 at 208.30, top speed of the meet so far, and teammate Jason Line is right in his shadow with a 6.639. Allen Johnson has the field's quickest Mopar with a 6.645, good for the No. 4 spot.

Ron Krisher is qualified fifth at 6.652, just ahead of the field's pleasant surprise, Steve Speiss, who occupies the No. 6 position with a 6.663. Vinnie Deceglie (6.668) and Greg Stanfield (6.669) round out the top eight.

Rodger Brodgon's Charter Communications Pontiac is in the 12th spot with a 6.684. Thirty drivers attempted qualifying passes today, and Countdown hopeful Johnny Gray occupies the final spot with a shutoff 12-second pass.

Hector Arana

Arana, No. 1 qualifier at the last two races and at four of the last six, is in the lead to grab yet another pole position following Friday's lone pass. He powered his Lucas Oil Buell to a 6.985 to front a pack of 25 hopeful qualifiers Friday.

"We just freshened up our engine, so we have zero runs on that motor [before the run], so I was a really nervous because I didn't know what it was going to do," said Arana. "I saw several guys laying 7.0s and I was wondering who was going to be the first to run 6.90s.

"The run felt alright; it wasn't the perfect run, but I'll take a 6.98 for the first hit at the U.S. Nationals. This is my hometown now, so I want to do good."

There's manufacturer parity atop the field as Andrew Hines, last year's runner-up, qualified his Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley Davidson second with a 6.989, just .004-second behind Arana while 2006 event winner Matt Smith is third aboard the NitroFish Suzuki after clocking a 7.018.

Michael Phillips, who is on the verge of locking up his spot in the Countdown to 1 playoffs, looks solid after a 7.023 with his Suzuki while Hines' Harley teammate, reigning world champ Eddie Krawiec, is fifth at 7.054. Karen Stoffer, who is trying to hanging onto the final spot in the Countdown, lost her Friday pass when Shawn Gann took out the top-end lights ahead of her, invalidating her time. Steve Johnson, the other Countdown hopeful, is qualified 12th with a 7.150. Angie McBride, aboard one of three Matt Smith entries at the event, holds the 12th spot at 7.157.