When the 2022 NHRA season began veteran Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta was full of optimism for what his team could accomplish.

That positivity was fueled by the addition of world championship crew chiefs Alan Johnson and Brian Husen to his Kalitta Motorsports team in the offseason.

The resultes haven’t translated as quick as many would have thought as Kalitta entered the betway Carolina Nationals this weekend tied for eighth in the points standings highlighted by semifinal finishes in Sonoma, Calif., and Indianapolis.

On Friday, Kalitta’s team showed a glimpse of how could it can be as he clocked a 3.694-second time at 326.56 mph to take the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, N.C.

“Obviously I have always loved coming here and the conditions were perfect really for what we are all out here doing,” Kalitta said. “My guys, we had a lot of confidence going up there for that run, and I was just really happy it ran what it ran. Obviously, we are getting down to the wire here and we are obviously a team that is trying to go rounds and stay in the Countdown and it was a great effort for us on the first day here.”

If the time holds through Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, it would be the 52nd of his career and his second of the season as he also was No. 1 in Phoenix.

“My car was staying in the groove well and pulling good and it really didn’t move around much,” Kalitta said. “Josh (Hart) ran a 70 against us and we were hoping for the best. Those were two good runs. Really with the Funny Car session, it was pretty impressive all the side-by-side runs. Hopefully the fans got a good show (Friday night), and we were looking forward to coming back and getting after again (Saturday).”

Kalitta acknowledged his team stayed over in Reading, Pa., after last weekend’s race to do some testing.

“We tried a couple of different things and all year long we have been trying to keep improving on what we are doing,” Kalitta said. “We stumbled across some stuff that I think Alan and Brian were really happy with. So, we left there super excited and just really happy that we came in here (to Charlotte) and made a good run in the first session. This would be an awesome time to start going rounds and really just getting a good consistent car. It would bring the confidence up for everybody on the team, including me.”

Kalitta has a sub-par 11-17 elimination-round record in 2022, and he was asked about those results in his press conference Friday.

“I have always had optimism that is just my nature and obviously we have a great team,” Kalitta said. “It is just a matter of sticking with it and just being ready when the time comes. That’s my attitude and we have been all over the board this year just trying to the front. We still have a way to go obviously we have only been to the semis (twice) this year. We are just trying to get to be going rounds and get to the finals. That’s my personal goal. As much I would like to sit up here and say we are going to win the rest of the races, my goal is to just try and keep your head down and go some rounds and really see if this opportunity is what I think it is. It is pretty exciting to have my team that I have behind me here. It is super exciting at the moment.

“We just changed a bunch of stuff around before Indy and it seems like that has really helped us. So, it is just a matter of trying to come up with what it takes to run up front. As you know this class is really competitive and there are a lot of good running cars. We are just trying to be one here and keep working at it.”