The King of drag racing John Force was back on top of NHRA’s nitro Funny Car world on Friday.

Force clocked a 3.854-second lap at 330.47 mph in his Camaro to claim the provisional No. 1 spot at the betway Carolina Nationals in Charlotte, N.C.

“First, it is sad to come here without Bruton Smith,” Force said. “I think all the racers feel that way, but we have to move on and keep racing. He gives us great racetracks to go out and run numbers like this but there’s a stack of them behind me who can do the same thing. I have a good team with Daniel Hood and (Tim) Fabrisi and a bunch of guys. They have to work on me continually in the cockpit and get my steering right and everything just the way I like it. It is coming around. I think I moved up to fourth (in the points standings) and I have a lot of work to do.”

The 3.85-second run didn’t surprise Force, the 16-time NHRA world champion, based on what Hood had told him.

“(Daniel) said was going to run a mid-80 and that was a pretty good call,” Force said. “He’s never a guy who just throws it out there. I argue with him sometimes to see what he can get away with and he runs it based on what the track reads. He said if you can get down there and make it shallow and I bumped her and bumped her, and it went. It moved around a lot down pass halftrack, but I think it is the new steering we have got, I think I was oversteering it, so they have to calm me down.

“Robert (Hight) ran there behind me (3.864 seconds) and a couple of others so they all will be there (Saturday). You get to shine for one night at least.”

If Force’s ET sticks through Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, it would be the 165th No. 1 qualifying spot in his legendary career. It also would be his second No. 1 of the season as he also was top of the ladder in Charlotte in the spring at the Four Wide race – a race he won.

“If they have these conditions (Saturday) no it will not hold,” Force said. “Everyone will turn up the wick. Capps was right there, and I have been through this a lot of times. It depends on what way the weather goes, and we will see what God has in mind. I think we can run a little bit quicker. It was moving around a lot, but it wasn’t because it was loose. It was because I was oversteering it. I have to find myself as a driver. I have a lot of work ahead of me because things change."

A week ago in Reading, Force celebrated his 800th NHRA race and he wasn’t making any guarantees to get to 1000.

“I don’t set goals like that,” he said. “It was always I just wanted to do a burnout like (Don) Prudhomme and then I wanted to win a race like Raymond Beadle and (Kenny) Bernstein and you just keep going down the road. They told me 800, at the last race, and I didn’t even know what it meant. 800 what? I did the first interview and I have 800 championships and they said no, shoot this again. 

“I do it (because) I love the fans I always have, and I do for (my sponsors). To have Robert Hight (in Reading) along with the Montana brand dragster (driven by Austin Prock) to see it win was good for my heart. I was excited to run my car. I went around the curve and my guys said you ran low ET, and I was like cool, and I went around, and Capps pulled into the TV spot, and I thought (my guys) were pulling my leg. Capps got out and said, ‘Good job on low ET,’ and I said, ‘Hey that’s my parking space there.’ It is not, but he is a good kid, and we have a lot of fun together. I’m still doing this because I enjoy driving race cars. I love it.”