CPTV presents the winners and top qualifiers from thje O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals outside of Houston, Texas.

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - WINNERS ARE CROWNED

CPTV takes you to the winner's circle where Cruz Pedregon, Bob Vandergriff Jr., Jason Line and Hector Arana take home the titles at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals outside of Houston, Texas.

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK 

PRO STOCK

Rains washed out most of Pro Stock qualifying on Saturday at the NHRA SpringNationals leaving Jeg Coughlin Jr. at the top of the qualifying list headed into final eliminations at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals outside of Houston.

The No. 1 seeding marked Coughlin's first since 2010 and held despite not getting to run on Saturday. His 6.569 seconds at 211.20 mph held up from Friday qualifying.

The No. 1 is the 18th of Coughlin's career in Pro Stock and the second at Houston. He squares off against Steve Kent in the first round of eliminations. Kent's lap of record was in 17.392 seconds at 57.71 mph, however on Friday Kent had a pass of 6.648 seconds at 209.49 mph, but it was wiped away because he was outside the top 12 in qualifying at the end of the day.

Coughlin confirmed his JEGS.com Avenger suffered no real ill effects from the wild, bumpy ride it took in the shutdown area on Friday after his parachutes didn't deploy correctly and he had to use the brakes to get the car slowed down after his second round qualifying run on Friday.

PRO STOCK BIKE

Hector Arana Jr. said he was disappointed that he couldn't get one more chance to improve his elapsed time for the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals.
 
But the Lucas Oil Buell rider wasn't complaining after rain cut short one qualifying session for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class Saturday at Royal Purple Raceway.
 
His 6.876-second, 195.39-mph performance on the quarter-mile at Baytown, Texas, near Houston, held up as quickest and fastest to give him his second straight No. 1 qualifying position of this season, his 12th overall, and first here.
 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK

TOP FUEL - KALITTA FOLLOWS ORDERS TO NO. 1

National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta has orders -- "strict orders," he said -- this weekend at the O'Reilly Spring Nationals.

They're simple: Win a Wally.

The assignment comes not from Kalitta Motorsports team owner Connie Kalitta, Doug's uncle. It comes from Tammy Oberhofer, the racing organization's finance officer and wife of team Vice-President Jim Oberhofer, Doug Kalitta's crew chief.

And Doug Kalitta delivered the most any driver could for her Friday at Royal Purple Raceway.

He drove his Mac Tools Dragster to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position. With a 3.791-second elapsed time on the 1,000-foot Baytown, Texas, course, near Houston, Kalitta edged out the Al-Anabi duo of Khalid al-Balooshi and Shawn Langdon, who had identical 3.794-second runs.

And Doug Kalitta delivered the most any driver could for her Friday at Royal Purple Raceway.

He drove his Mac Tools Dragster to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position. With a 3.791-second elapsed time on the 1,000-foot Baytown, Texas, course, near Houston, Kalitta edged out the Al-Anabi duo of Khalid al-Balooshi and Shawn Langdon, who had identical 3.794-second runs.

FUNNY CAR - CRUZ LAYS DOWN THE BEST RUN ON FRIDAY

Cruz Pedregon continued his strong start to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series  season as he powered to the qualifying lead in Funny Car Friday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway.
 
The two-time Funny Car world champion has one win this season along with one No.  1 qualifying position and is second in points. On Friday he raced to the top of the qualifying order in his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry Funny Car with a leading performance of 4.086 seconds at 310.41 mph.
 
“This run was really good for us because we broke a couple of rods [on a 4.70 176.76 mph pass] in the first session,” Pedregon said. “It was a flawless pass that really set me back in the seat right at the hit of the throttle. It really pulled hard all the way through, and I knew it was a good pass. But we weren’t trying to knock it out of the park, and or goal was just to keep all eight cylinders lit all the way to the finish line. I honestly would have been happy with a 4.12 or a 4.13. So we were really thrilled with the 4.08.”
 
Pedregon has eight career No. 1 qualifying positions at the track, but knows that keeping it for eliminations on Sunday could be a tall order.
 
“Houston has always been a fast track, but our cars are making a lot more power than they used to, and we’re also getting used to some new parts and new tune-up ideas that we’re trying,” Pedregon continued. “And as good as the 4.08 run was, I think that if we have a cloud cover tomorrow, some of the other drivers like Johnny Gray or Courtney (Force) could pop a 4.07. So we have our work cut out for us on Saturday.”

PRO STOCK

Coughlin, a four-time Pro Stock world champion, raced his JEGS.com / Mopar Dodge Avenger to the No. 1 position with a performance of 6.569 at 211.20. Coughlin has 17 career No. 1 qualifying positions in his career but hasn’t posted one since the 2010 season.
 
“Roy [Johnson, engine builder] was pleased with the performance of the car, and the crew chiefs [Mark Ingersoll and Jim Yates] were very happy,” said Coughlin. “The temperatures might be a little warmer tomorrow, which will be in our favor, but we’ll still have to peck away at it if we want to stay No. 1.”

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Even running slower in Friday's second qualifying session than he did in the first didn't hurt Hector Arana Jr. at the O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Baytown, Texas.

That's what happens when a Pro Stock Motorcycle is on a roll.

Building on his points-leader status from back-to-back victories, the Lucas Oil Buell racer claimed the tentative No. 1 qualifying spot for the third bike appearance and sixth NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event of the season.

He covered the Royal Purple Raceway quarter-mile in 6.876 seconds at 195.39 mph.

"When you're doing so well, you have that extra confidence. You have that momentum," the Purdue University engineering student from Southern Indiana said. "It's like a big wave. I'm trying to stay on top of that wave and ride it as long as I can."

As for faring worse in his second qualifying attempt, Arana Jr. -- with the maximum six bonus points for the day in hand -- said, "We still ran a good number. We're still fastest of the session.

"This bike has been consistent since the beginning of the year. We plan on keeping this up," he said.

Not one to be overconfident, Arana Jr. said, "We're No. 1 today. But tomorrow's another day. We'll see what happens. I hope to improve that number [6.876]. I think there'll be some guys who get close to that. Hopefully I can improve as well as the other guys."

As Arana Jr. seeks his 12th top-qualifying position and a sixth victory in 35 races, he was the lone bike racer in the 6.8-second range, more than three-hundredths of a second quicker than Nos. 2 and 3, L.E. Tonglet and Scotty Pollacheck, who had identical 6.911-second elapsed times.

Arana Jr. has qualified fifth or better at 23 consecutive races en route to a 64-28 eliminations record.

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