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Larry Dixon, Jack Beckman, Allen Johnson, and Matt Smith are the opening-day qualifying leaders at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

The event is the middle leg of the annual Western Swing segment of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. After racing last weekend in Seattle, the teams will leave Wine Country Sunday and head east to Denver for the Swing’s conclusion in the challenging high-altitude conditions of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. After the Denver event, only one race, the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., will remain on the regular-season schedule before the Countdown to 1 playoffs begin Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis.

Larry Dixon

Friday ended one session early as a strict 10 p.m. curfew did not allow for the second session of Top Fuel, so Larry Dixon, whose Al-Anabi Racing machine ran 3.839 in the day’s first session, will head to bed as the provisional polesitter in Top Fuel. His 317.79 speed is a track record. Dixon, the current points leader, has four previous No. 1 efforts so far this season.

“The first run was great for us,” said Dixon. “I’m glad we got down the track and made a good run the first session. Alan [Johnson, team manager] and Jason [McCulloch, crew chief], they hit it good. It was a good run.

“Gosh, I’m just disappointed we didn’t get a chance to get on it tonight. We were running a little bit late, and to make it fair to everybody, they decided not to run any of the fuel cars. It’s a bummer. There were a lot of people on he stands and all that stuff, and we would have liked to have gone out there, but it is what it is.”

Antron Brown, who swept all three races in the Swing last year, is qualified No. 2 with his Matco Tools dragster with a 3.863 while Seattle field leader Doug Kalitta, who has won this event five times, is third in the Kalitta Air dragster with a 3.899. Brandon Bernstein’s Copart/Lucas Oil entry is fourth at 3.914.

Tony Schumacher (3.926), Steve Torrence (3.943), Morgan Lucas (3.966) and Rod Fuller, who is making his 2010 debut in theYas Marina dragster out of Abu Dhabi (3.977), round out the top eight.

Terry McMillen sits in the 12th spot overnight with a 4.066. Currently on the outside looking in are perennial qualifiers Cory McClenathan in the Fram flagship machine, David Grubnic, and Bob Vandergriff Jr. Seventeen Top Fuelers are battling for 16 spots.

Jack Beckman

Beckman is halfway to what would be his first No. 1 qualifying award of the season after booting the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Charger to both ends of the track record with a 4.063, 311.56-mph pass. Beckman’s season best is a trio of No. 3 berths, but he also owns two previous No. 1s in his career.

“We ran OK in the day session but we knew track was gonna get a little better tonight. I love the Bruton [Smith] tracks. We come here and there are no question marks about the track surface. By the time I was 250 feet into run, I knew it was going to be good. When it feels like it’s trying to shove you out of the back of the car, it’s good.

“I thought a 4.06 was great but I felt like we also tipped our hand on what the track would handle and I could see the all the guys behind us making adjustments. I thought it would be cool if everyone after us smoked the tires and we ended up No. 1 but I’m very surprised that we outlasted the 10 cars that ran after us. As for tomorrow, I think it will be extremely difficult for someone to get under that run. It’s possible, but it will be tough. As a driver I’m all about win lights but for the crew, its elapsed time and speed so it was awesome to see the crew guys go in and high-five [tuners] John Collins and Rahn Tobler.”

Veteran privateer Gary Densham is surprisingly in the No. 2 position, but his impressive 4.103 was costly as his Neal Investments/Lawson Rock & Oil machine suffered an engine explosion at the finish line that vaporized the car’s Impala body. Densham was not injured. Points leader John Force, a six-time winner here, is third with the Castrol GTX Mustang at 4.104 while Cruz Pedregon, a former two-time Sonoma winner, has his Snap-On Solara in the fourth spot after a 4.112.

A quartet of Fords round out the top eight with Bob Tasca III (4.130), Robert Hight (4.172), Ashley Force Hood (4.187), and Seattle winner Tim Wilkerson (4.188) holding down positions 5 through 8. Jeff Arend and the Kalitta/DHL Solara are 12th with a 4.253. Eighteen Funny Cars made passes Friday.

Allen Johnson

Johnson set both ends of the Pro Stock track record with a sparkling 6.545 pass at 210.77 mph with his Mopar Dodge Avenger as he continues to pressure seasonlong points and performance leader Mike Edwards. Johnson, the No. 1 qualifier earlier this season in Atlanta and Bristol, has qualified in the top four at 12 of the season’s first 14 events.

“That was pretty much an above-average run,” said Johnson. “It’s 300 feet [above sea level], so it’s the best conditions we’ve had in a while, other than the humidity. When the humidity rolls in, it slows us down a little on the mph, but the track’s awesome, the air’s awesome, and we made a decent run. Hopefully, that will hold.

“The morning session normally is the best session here, but will it get better than this because we were running late. I don’t know. It would have to get pretty good. As late as it was and as cool as it was tonight, I believe tomorrow it will be tough to take that away.”

Former world champ Jeg Coughlin, who won this race in 2003, sits No. 2 with the JEGS.com Cobalt after charting a 6.552 pass while Ron Krisher is third after coaxing a 6.565 from his Valvoline Cobalt. Greg Anderson, winner of the last two events plus the K&N Horsepower Challenge, remains red-hot with a fourth-ranked 6.570.

Reigning season champ Edwards, who led after the first session, dropped four spots to fifth despite improving from a 6.60 to a 6.574 and sits just a thousandth ahead of Johnny Gray’s 6.575. Bob Yonke has the No. 7 spot at 6.584 while Kurt Johnson, who won this event 10 years ago, anchors the quick eight at 6.595.

Defending event champ Jason Line’s Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac sits in the No. 12 spot with a 6.615. With 19 entries in the pits, there will be a battle Saturday to fill the field’s remaining opening spots.

Matt Smith

Smith, winner in Norwalk three weeks ago in the most recent event for Pro Stock Motorcycles, continued to be the class of the field in Sonoma. Smith, whose Al-Anabi Buell was the No. 2 qualifier after the first session, picked up six-hundredths in the evening session and rocketed to a 6.912 to take over the No. 1 spot. If it sticks it will be his third No. 1 of the season and the 18th of the former world champ’s career.

“When we came up, I thought we might be able to run about a 6.91 or .92,” said Smith. “The air got better and the track got tighter. We had to wait a while and if I knew we had to wait that long I might have put some more fuel into it and maybe we would have run a 6.89 or 6.90.

“We have three bikes here so I have my hands full but I’m happy with the way it went today. We had a little problem with GT’s [Tonglet] bike but we’ll have it fixed. Tomorrow morning, I could be really fast. Normally it’s cool and we get a tail wind and if that happens we will see some 6.8 runs for sure.”

Smith is followed on the grid by a pair of Suzuki riders, Craig Treble and Michael Phillips, who rode to respective passes of 6.919 and 6.926. Eddie Krawiec made it three different manufacturers in the top four when he rode his Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 6.928. Steve Johnson’s Lincoln Tech Suzuki occupies the fifth spot at 6.934 while reigning world champ Hector Arana sits in the No. 6 spot with his Lucas Oil Buell at 6.936. Jim Underdahl (6.965, Suzuki) and David Hope (6.989, Buell) round out the top eight.

Karen Stoffer’s Geico Suzuki holds down the No. 12 spot at 7.045. Twenty-two teams are battling for a spot in Sunday’s 16-bike field.