Gaige Herrera’s qualifying dominance in Pro Stock Motorcycle continued on Saturday in Charlotte, but it took until the final session when the defending world champ put together a track-record run of 6.671 at 202.70 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki.
Herrera was the only Mission Food Series competitor to qualify No. 1 on Saturday, who wasn’t already at the top of the leaderboard.
Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) secured No. 1 qualifiers at the fifth stop on the 21-race tour.
Herrera’s No. 1 marked his 11th straight No. 1 qualifier dating back to last season. It’s already the 16th career top spot for the Vance & Hines rider, who will look to stay perfect this season on Sunday.
“Yesterday, we had a malfunction on the first run that set us back, and then we ran 6.68 on the second and that was a good run,” Herrera said. “Today, I ran a 6.70 and then that 6.67, and that’s just our team learning how to fine-tune the new fuel. There was not much left on my bike. It went straight and required very little correction. Tomorrow will be a lot of fun.”
Matt Smith’s 6.685 at 201.61 on Friday qualified him for the second spot, while LE Tonglet is third after his 6.703 at 200.77 on Friday as well.
The defending Top Fuel world champion Kalitta enjoyed his second straight No. 1 qualifier and 55th career top qualifier with Friday’s 3.691-second at 337.92 mph run.
“We kind of struggled a little bit today,” Kalitta said. “We put this other blower on and just had a little bit too much power in that first run and smoked the tires, and then that last run, we got right to the finish line and kind of took care of that blower, unfortunately. So we’re going to have to start from scratch again. But now that we’ve got our setup that we’ve been running, we’re going to be in good shape for tomorrow.”
Antron Brown was second with his 3.698 at 332.18, while points leader Justin Ashley’s 3.701 at 334.32 put him in the third spot.
Force’s Friday’s track E.T. record of 3.820 at 330.96 was challenged but not overtaken. The 16-time world champion earned his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and 167th of his career.
“I’ve got a real good Camaro, and I’m learning how to drive it,” Force said. “It was a good day for my good chiefs. We tried to run it hard earlier [in the third qualifying session] and had a problem, then came back and got cloud cover and ran [3.]85. Now we’ve got to race tomorrow, and that’s a whole new baby. So we’ll see what happens, but I’m having fun with my teams and my sponsors.”
Bob Tasca, who won the 4-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas two weeks ago, took second with a 3.834 at 338.34, setting the track speed record. Points leader Austin Prock is third with a 3.852 at 333.58.
Anderson was in Friday’s best club as his 6.500 at 210.90 stood through Saturday’s qualifying. His qualifying run in the third session – as part of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge – was disqualified due to a technical violation after bypassing a safety device. It eliminated that pass and took Anderson out of the specialty event, as his replacement, Erica Enders, went on to win the Challenge.
“I’m not sure where to start but yesterday in Q2 we had an issue with our ECU [Electronic Control Unit] where the engine wasn’t getting a spark,” Anderson said. “We had a mad thrash in the pits, and in the process, one of my guys disconnected a wire that goes to the system that deploys the parachutes in the event of low air pressure. In the process, he forgot to plug that wire back in, so our win in the (Mission) #2Fast2Tasty Challenge was disallowed.
“I beat Jeg and Erica and David Cuadra, and then the bottom fell out. It was a simple mistake, but we lost the run and lost the win. Otherwise, the car ran great. It was just a crazy day but it’s over now and I’m ready for race day. Tomorrow, we’re going to make damn sure all the wires are where they should be. I’ve got a really good race car, and we’re going to give it all we’ve got.”
Cristian Cuadra qualified second with a 6.507 at 210.18, and Aaron Stanfield took third with a 6.508 at 209.92.
Eliminations for the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals begin at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.
