Photos by Alex Owens, Auto Imagery
FRIDAY QUALIFYING 0 KALITTA PUTS A MICHIGAN STAMP ON OPENING DAY AT U.S. 131
Doug Kalitta didn’t need much help making Friday at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park feel like a home race. The Michigan native had family history all around him, a packed grandstand watching and, by the end of the afternoon, the quickest Top Fuel dragster on the property.
Kalitta opened the NHRA Countdown to the Championship by blasting to a 3.682-second pass at 334.82 mph, putting the reigning champion and current points leader atop the qualifying order at the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR.
On this particular Friday, the timing couldn’t have been much better.
“The legacy that Connie has created is just really special to be part of,” Kalitta said. “It’s nice being here in Michigan again. We’re going to throw down as hard as we can all weekend long and see if we can get it done.”
Cruz Pedregon grabbed the provisional Funny Car pole, Matt Hartford continued his recent qualifying surge in Pro Stock, and Ryan Oehler delivered the quickest Pro Stock Motorcycle run of his career to round out Friday’s provisional No. 1 qualifiers.
Kalitta’s run carried a little more baggage than the usual Friday-night qualifier.
NHRA returned to Michigan with a national event for the first time in 66 years, and the Kalitta family was front and center during the opening day. Connie Kalitta, Doug Kalitta, the late Scott Kalitta and Doug’s son, Mitch, were honored before a Michigan crowd well acquainted with what the family name has meant to drag racing.
Then Doug Kalitta climbed into his Applied Innovations dragster and gave them something else to remember.
“When my car is running, it leaves strong and pulls hard. You can tell when it’s on a good run,” Kalitta said. “I was really, really happy with that run. Fortunately, we stayed ahead of Shawn [Langdon]. He was right there, and we have to keep those guys behind us somehow.”
Kalitta Motorsports teammate and Indianapolis winner Langdon is right behind him after a 3.698 at a thundering 339.37 mph. Tony Stewart wasn’t far removed from the conversation, either, posting a 3.714 at 339.62 for third.
If Kalitta’s 3.682 survives Saturday, it will give him his fifth No. 1 qualifying position of the season.
Cruz Pedregon has spent enough years in Funny Car to know the difference between believing a car has potential and seeing it illuminated on the scoreboard.
Late Friday afternoon, he got the latter.
Pedregon powered his Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger to a 3.886 at 327.51, moving past a loaded Funny Car field and putting himself in position for his first No. 1 qualifier of the season.
“This was huge. For us, we’re just trying to get our head above water here. We’ve been taking on water pretty much all year,” Pedregon said. “For some reason, I don’t know what it is, with all these different crew chiefs and different cars, we get it going at the end.
“The car has had speed. I know I’ve said this quite a few times, it’s fast. But we dropped a cylinder on the first run there, and we thought, ‘Let’s just go out there and run what we think the track will hold.’”
Pedregon entered the Countdown 12th in points, leaving precious little room for wasted opportunities during the six-race playoff. Friday’s blast gave the two-time champion the kind of opening shot he needed.
J.R. Todd sits second at 3.893 and 334.57 mph, while Dan Wilkerson is third with a 3.903, 321.20. Points leader Matt Hagan ended up Friday 10th.
Hartford appears to have developed a taste for Friday real estate at the top of the Pro Stock sheet.
After earning his first No. 1 qualifier of the season two weeks ago at Indianapolis, Hartford rolled into Martin and put his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro right back there with a 6.516 at 209.79. Back-to-back No. 1 qualifiers aren’t his yet. But somebody will have to knock him off Saturday to prevent it.
“My crew chief and my team are giving me a great car, there’s no doubt about it,” Hartford said. “If the idiot behind the wheel does his job, we can go out there on any run and run at the top.
“When you look at the caliber of the cars we’re racing, it’s incredible. To come out of here Friday … with the provisional pole is huge. Our goal is, regardless of where we qualify, to go into Sunday, execute and go four rounds.”
Hartford begins the Countdown fourth in points with three victories on his 2026 scorecard. His qualifying performance suggests the regular season didn’t use up everything he and his team had.
Greg Anderson is second at 6.521 and 209.11, while regular-season champion and points leader Dallas Glenn is third following a 6.529, 209.99.
Ryan Oehler has been close to a No. 1 slot before. Twice this season he has qualified No. 2. On Friday at Martin, he finally put some daylight between himself and everyone else.
Oehler ripped off a 6.7190 at 200.80 aboard his El Bandito Yankee Tequila EBR, a run that left him provisionally qualified No. 1 and in position to collect the first pole of his Pro Stock Motorcycle career.
The number wasn’t squeezed out of a messy run, either. Oehler called it the kind of pass his team has been trying to unleash for a long time.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time. We’ve had two No. 2 qualifiers this season. We just needed a really good quality pass, and that was a textbook pass,” Oehler said. “We’ve got going on 10 years of experience now in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. We’ve got a lot of scars to show for it.
“We’ve had some success, and we fell off, we’ve come back, and we’ve been on that teeter-totter. Now I think that we’re right there to put the pedal to the metal and send it all the way for the Countdown.”
Angie Smith is second with a 6.737 at 196.51, while Indianapolis winner Matt Smith is third after a 6.7403 at 197.02. Points leader Richard Gadson ended Friday in the fourth position.
Two qualifying sessions remain Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. EDT. Eliminations on Sunday are scheduled to kick off at 10:30 a.m.
