Doug Kalitta secured the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Saturday at the ninth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals, the first race of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, at zMAX Dragway just outside of Charlotte, N.C.

Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also secured No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the 19th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Jason Line lives only 30 minutes from zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.

But that’s not why the veteran KB Racing driver is so focused for this weekend’s opening event in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship.

Doug Kalitta is hoping to end a frustrating pattern while making a strong early statement in the Carolina Nationals.

With a run of 3.721 seconds at 325.77 mph in his Mac Tools Top Fuel  dragster, Kalitta grabbed the headlines Friday by earning the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at zMax Dragway.

 If Funny Car racer Bob Gilbertson didn't know any better, he'd think country singer Aaron Tippin's song "Aint Nothing Wrong With the Radio," a song proclaiming the merits of a junker car with a symphonic radio, was written about his Funny Car.

One might think Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Chip Ellis had come to his senses and started racing four wheels instead of two. Then, with the flash of the amber light turning green, the 5.8-liter, supercharged Cobra Jet's front end leaped high in the sky and the bumper dragged the ground.

Just another day in the life of closet daredevil Chip Ellis, and he's fine being along for the ride. 

Ellis, a six-time winner in NHRA Competition and ranked sixth in the championship point standings, made his Lucas Oil Sportsman debut racing a Super Stocker fielded by Roy Hill. 

Tommy Johnson Jr. sprinted to the qualifying lead in Funny Car on Friday at the NHRA Carolina Nationals, the first race of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also provisional leaders in their respective categories at the 19th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Steven Whiteley powered to the qualifying lead Friday in the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the NHRA Carolina Nationals. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing at zMAX Dragway is presented by the Real Pro Mod (RPM) Association. This is the eighth of 10 Pro Mod events on the 2016 season.

Whiteley raced his Y-Not Racing ’69 Chevy to a 5.840 second-pass at 248.07 mph to take the qualifying lead during the second session on Friday. Whiteley has been No. 1 twice in his career and was the top qualifier at this event in 2014.

Cameron Ferré, who has enjoyed success in both NHRA Sportsman and Jr. Drag Racing, will make his Top Fuel debut at the NHRA Carolina Nationals at the wheel of the Paton family dragster.

Ferré, a former NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League national champion who most recently has been piloting Larry Miersch's A/Fuel Dragster, earned his Top Fuel license last October in Las Vegas in the Paton entry.

NHRA Top Fuel driver Terry McMillen counts his blessings he never took up ski jumping as a hobby. 

McMillen, for the last five seasons, has become drag racing's version of Vinko Bogataj. For those unaware of Bogataj, and his contribution to the sports world, he’s the unlucky Slovenian ski jumper who provided the object lesson for Jim McKay's iconic phrase “and the agony of defeat” during the old ABC’s Wide World of Sports opening.