Predictable.

That is the word Tommy Johnson Jr. used to describe his current situation in the anything-but-predictable world of nitro-powered Funny Car racing. But after powering to the provisional top spot Friday evening at the 54th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, potentially his fourth-consecutive No. 1 in the class, it is hard to argue against it.

Johnson raced to the top in the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car with a 3.881-second pass at 328.54 mph in the second session on Friday, placing him in an excellent position to earn his fourth-straight No. 1 in the class and 19th of his career if the time holds on Saturday.

“We’ve had three No. 1s in a row and we come here and there is no reason it shouldn’t do it again,” a remarkably confident Johnson said after topping the class on Friday. “In the first session we were actually tuned up a little more, but watching the other cars, we thought we needed to move it back and we ran a 96. Tonight I am listening to the guys running and I am like, we should be able to go 88 and John (Collins) said, ‘I am going to try to get it to go 281 at half-track, that should get us where we need to be.’ And it ran 281 at half-track and it ran an 88.

“It is just incredible that they have such a handle on the car. I wish we could get that handle on Sunday, but we are close. I am disappointed that we maybe didn’t get it done quick enough in the Countdown, but at the same time I am excited because we are so close and this is such a good car right now. If you can carry that on and keep it going to next year I would love it.”

In addition to seeking his fourth-straight pole position to close out 2018, Johnson is also seeking his third-straight win at the NHRA season finale, a track he has grown to love over the years.

“I have been coming here for so long, it just feels comfortable,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t relate to the Winter Nationals and I can’t understand that, but we always seem to make a late season charge. Our team is really good at the end of the year and you come here and start having a little bit of success and it gets easier because you come in here so confident. We came in here thinking, ‘I hope they have the check ready’ because we are ready to go.

“You have that much success at one track it is hard to beat because you are not beating yourself. I wish I could put a finger on exactly why we do so well here, but I just feel comfortable. I wish more of them were like this.”

Jack Beckman, Johnson’s DSR teammate, qualified second on day one of the NHRA finals with a 3.901 at 323.35 mph, while championship-contender Robert Hight qualified third with a 3.936 at 325.69 mph. Tim Wilkerson (3.936) and Ron Capps (3.948) round out the top five.

Championship points leader J.R. Todd, who came into the weekend with a 74-point margin over Hight in his bid for his first title, is qualified 11th with two more sessions on Saturday.

While Johnson is certainly excited at the possibility of ending the season as one of the fastest cars in the field, it would mean so much more if he could place his team in victory lane. Despite his successes in qualifying, Johnson is winless in 2018 dating back to this race one year ago.

“We all said we win as a team, we lose as a team, and we will get it together as a team,” Johnson said. “It is coming. It takes a lot to win and it all has to go right and you maybe sometimes have to get some breaks and it just hasn’t lined up for us. But it is close. To make it happen you have to be competitive and as long as we keep being competitive it will happen.”