JOLIET, Ill. – Funny Car driver Ron Capps landed the provisional qualifying lead Friday evening at the 22nd annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.
Coming off of back-to-back wins, Capps is seeking his first No. 1 qualifier of the season.
Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional qualifying leaders in their respective categories for the ninth of 24 events on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
Capps paced the Funny Car category Friday evening with a run of 3.893 seconds at 326.00 mph in his NAPA Brakes Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.
“To go No. 1 in the first session and have it hold was pretty cool,” said Capps. “In the first run, I actually shut off about a car length early so it was on a little bit better run. Then in the next session, (Rahn) Tobler (crew chief) kept coming back and de-tuning it. In the end, he just made it so it would just go down the track.”
Salinas finished atop the qualifying order in Top Fuel with a 3.693-second run at 328.30 mph in the second qualifying session of the day. He is looking for his third No. 1 qualifier of the season in his Scrappers Racing dragster. Antron Brown finished the day in second position after his pass of 3.753 seconds at 320.74 mph.
In Pro Stock, Line has the provisional lead in the category with his run of 6.582 seconds at 207.56 mph. He is looking for his second No. 1 qualifier of the season in his KB Racing/Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro. His KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson currently sits second with a pass of 6.583 seconds at 207.50 mph.
Krawiec sits atop Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying board after his pass of 6.835 seconds at 196.87 mph on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Street Rod. Defending world champion Matt Smith sits in the second spot with his run of 6.837 seconds at 198.32 mph.