NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The Camping World NHRA Drag Racing Series made its long-awaited return to Brainerd Int’l Raceway this weekend and Mike Salinas and Bob Tasca III earned the provisional pole positions after Friday’s nitro qualifying session at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.

The lone pro session scheduled for Friday was moved forward more than three hours in an effort to avoid incoming storms, but NHRA’s pros provided their own thunder with a barrage of competitive runs to begin the process of seeding the fields for Sunday’s final eliminations.

After the first of three runs, Salinas holds a five-hundredths edge over the rest of the field thanks to a 3.752, 326.08 in his Scrappers entry. Salinas, who has qualified in the top half of the field in nine of ten races including a season-best No. 2 in Epping, is on track for the seventh low qualifier award of his career if he can hang on to the top spot.

Salinas has steadily worked his way up the standings from No. 11 in Epping to his current ranking of No. 6, and if he can carry Friday’s momentum into Sunday’s eliminations, it’s he’ll have the ability to move up another spot or two in advance of the Countdown to the Championship which begins in Reading.

Pomona winner Leah Pruett continued her recent string of impressive runs by taking the Mopar dragster to a 3.783 that is good for the No. 2 position. Pruett is coming off a round one loss in Topeka last week but she finished the recent Western Swing with a win and a runner-up at the two California events, a sure sign that her team has put their early-season struggles behind them.

Justin Ashley is currently third with a 3.807 while Topeka winner Brittany Force appeared to have a shot to unseat Salinas from the top spot before her Monster Energy dragster slowed before the finish line to a 3.813 at just 286.98 mph. Equally as impressive was T.J. Zizzo who was making his first run in nearly a year in his Rust-Oleum dragster yet managed a very respectable 3.861 under the watchful eye of tuner Rahn Tobler.

Surprisingly, current points leader and three-time world champ Steve Torrence was one of the few nitro racers who did not make a good opening run in Brainerd. Torrence got off the starting line cleanly in his Capco Contractors dragster, but hazed the tires at mid-track and coasted to a 4.751 at just 149-mph.

As was the case in Top Fuel, almost every Funny Car that made a run on Friday crossed the finish line under power, a refreshing change from some of the one-shot Friday sessions at recent events but no one was quicker than Tasca, who wheeled his Motorcraft Quicklane Ford to a 3.941 at 326.63. Tasca led the Camping World Funny Car standings following his early-season win in Las Vegas but has slipped to No. 4 following a rough Western Swing that produced just two win lights and round one loss last week in Topeka.

If Tasca can hang on to the top spot, he’d pick up his second low qualifier award of the season and seventh of his career. Tasca was also the qualifying leader in Houston and was the No. 2 seed in Atlanta, where he beat John Force in the final round.

A total of seven drivers ventured into the three-second zone including Alexis DeJoria, who has come tantalizingly close to a win this season but is still looking to close the deal in her RoKit/Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota. DeJoria ran a 3.963, 297.22 to slide into the second spot behind Tasca.

Current points leader and Topeka winner John Force opened with a 3.968, 322.42 from his Peak/Blu Def Camaro. Force has been on a tear lately with a robust 12-4 record in elimination rounds since Epping. Force is also competing in his 801st career race this weekend, and should he make the final, it will mark the 2,000th elimination round of his career.

The rest of the top qualifiers included J.R. Todd (3.970), Robert Hight (3.971), Cruz Pedregon (3.995), Blake Alexander (3.995), and Paul Lee (4.004).

Qualifying will wrap up tomorrow with a pair of professional qualifying sessions scheduled for 2 p.m. 5:15 CT and final eliminations will take place at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning.