Bahrain 1 Racing’s Khalid Al Balooshi kicked off the NHRA E3 Spark Plus Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service by registering low elapsed time of both qualifying sessions Saturday to qualify No. 1 for Sunday’s eliminations at the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals at Indianapolis.

He was quickest at 5.814 seconds at 249.07 mph in a ’19 Chevy Camaro on the 1,000-foot course at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis – two-hundredths quicker than closest challenger and Bahrain 1 racing mate Jeffery Barker, of Kathleen, Ga., and his turbocharged ’18 Camaro (5.838 seconds).

Nine days shy of his 41st birthday, the Dubai native recorded his seventh career No. 1 starting position.

His second qualifying attempt resulted in a slightly slower 5.834-second elapsed time at 247.11 mph.    

Well-respected Brad Personett is tuning Al Balooshi as part of the Bahrain1 Racing brain trust reigning champion “Stevie Fast” Jackson has assembled.    

Al Balooshi, who also raced a Top Fuel dragster for Alan Johnson Racing for several years, has returned to his NHRA racing roots. When he stepped up to Top Fuel, the Dubai native was the 2011 NHRA Pro Modified champion.

New Mexico’s Clint Satterfield was third in the final order with a 5.848 E.T.

Chad Green, who also qualified in the top half of the Funny Car field in Tim Wilkerson’s Ford Mustang, was fourth in Pro Mod at 5.851 seconds with the class’ top speed of 249.16 mph. And Brandon Snider, close behind at 5.853 seconds, rounded out the top five. The top half of the ladder also included No. 6 Jeff Jones, who was one-thousandth of a second behind Snider, as well as experienced Pro Mod racer Jason Scruggs with a turbocharged 5.859 and Kristopher Thorne (5.868).

Bo Butner, making his Pro Mod debut, slid Rickie Smith’s nitrous-powered Camaro into the field at No. 10 with a 5.904-second pass. Butner is substituting for Smith, who’s recovering from back surgery.

Buried, surprisingly, in the bottom half of the field were Jackson, who will start 12th with a 5.909-second qualifying shot, and 2019 series runner-up  Todd Tutterow, who’s 13th in line with a 5.922.

Missing the cut was Brandon Pesz, who tuned the Weatherford, Texas, father-son tandem of Jeff Jones and Justin Jones to berths in the Pro Mod lineup. Jeff Jones will race from the No. 6 slot, and son Justin Jones is on the bump, set to face Al Balooshi in the first round of runoffs Sunday.

Rick Hord, Chip King, and Doug Winters also failed to qualify among the 23 entrants.