Hector Arana faces a dilemma. Should he continue to push for the three bonus points afforded any
professional competitor who leads their respective session, or should
he drift away from the proven combination that vaulted him to the top
of the Pro Stock Motorcycle division during first two sessions of
qualifying for the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC.

Arana recorded the quickest times in both qualifying sessions on
Friday, ending the day with a best 6.965 elapsed time at 189.98 miles
per hour. He picked up the full complement of bonus points at six.

Brad Personett jumped to the provisional top of the Get Screened
America Pro Mod Challenge field in the first day of qualifying at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway outside of Charlotte, N.C.
 
Personett's stellar 5.872-second pass at 246.89 mph was the
quickest-ever for a turbo-charged car in Pro Mod Challenge history and
the second-quickest run ever.
 
"Finally things are coming together for us," Personett said with a huge
grin on his face. "We've got our tune-up really happy, and just really
went to work on the car, testing in the other leagues to get things
working out.

Even thought any points Cruz Pedregon earns during the final six races won't count towards an NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car Championship, it doesn’t mean he can’t take away a few from those in the title hunt.

Pedregon drove his Advance Auto Parts-sponsored Toyota to the
provisional pole position on Friday evening at the NHRA Carolinas
Nationals in Concord, NC. His efforts earned him three bonus points.
Three points any one of the ten drivers in the Countdown would have
wanted for themselves.

“We didn’t come out here and plan to take points from anyone,” said
Pedregon whose second round loss in Indianapolis combined with a Robert
Hight second round victory eliminated him from championship contention.

The
Countdown to 1, NHRA’s six-race playoff, officially got underway Friday
with Top Fuel points leader Antron Brown earning the provisional pole
in Top Fuel at the Second annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals.

The other provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 19th of 24 races in the
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series were Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car),
Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

The NHRA Carolinas Nationals is the first race in NHRA’s six-race
playoff and it is the first of a four-races-in-four-weeks blitz through
Dallas, Memphis and Richmond to begin the Countdown to 1.

This race also marked the debut of the 3-2-1 bonus for the Top 3 qualifiers in each qualifying session.

Mike Edwards was late to his Friday evening press conference at the
NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, N.C. The Coweta, Ok.-based driver
was one of five drivers selected by the sanctioning body for a tech
inspection after second round qualifying.

Edwards was not upset that he was flagged for a tear down. He was upset
that he was not allowed to be in attendance nor was another member of
his team.

The NHRA selected five teams for the tear down and according to
Edwards, those five were himself, Ron Krisher, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Allen
Johnson and Rickie Jones.

“They made everybody leave their cars and everybody had to leave,”
Edwards explained. “I wasn’t very hip on that. I don't like leaving my
personal property, not at least without some member there. If they want
to take me apart, I'll take any anything apart on my car they want me
to. I want somebody from my team there with it. I don't like the way
they did, but I went along with it. That's not right. That's my
personal property.

"We've had 18 races to figure out how to make this ACDelco Chevrolet a
winner," Kurt Johnson said. "Other than starting a new year at Pomona (Calif.), the Countdown to 1 is about as close to wiping the slate clean as you could ask for."
 
That describes the situation most of the Pro Stock class finds itself
in right now as the contending drivers try  to catch up to and surpass
leader Jeg Coughlin.
 
But the Delaware, Ohio, dominator, who is going for his third straight
and fifth overall Pro Stock championship, has had a lock on the
standings since the spring Las Vegas race. Going into the current
Carolinas Nationals, the headliner for Charlotte-based Victor Cagnazzi
Racing had 100 points on closest competitor Jason Line before the NHRA
reset the points.
 
So what do they have to do to stop the Coughlin Express?

Contemporary Corvette will continue its relationship with Mike Edwards'
Pontiac for this weekends event, the NHRA Carolina Nationals at ZMax
Dragway in Concord, N.C. The partnership, which started in Reading, has
been extended to the first race in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoff, in
an effort by owner Ron DeSmedt to help further the team's chance at a
championship.
 
"What a group to be with," Edwards said. "They joined us in Reading and
the relationship has really blossomed and has been beneficial to both
sides. It just adds to everything we already have with this team."

For years the drivers of the quickest and fastest Pro Stock cars in the
world have gone head-to-head in some sort of shootout during the season to determine the best of the best in mountain motor Pro Stock racing.

Since the inception of the class nearly four decades ago it has become
tradition to pair many of the best drivers in a playoff-style shootout
with the winner taking home their share of a lucrative purse and
bragging rights for the entire year.

And while this year seems no different than any other, you can’t help
but get the feeling that something stands out about this year’s event.

Goodyear Racing announced today that the two latest additions to the
tiremaker’s new line of Goodyear Eagle SS DOT drag radials will be in
the hands of race tire distributors before the end of the month.

The two tires follow the path of the first release, the D4305, which
has already won a race and attracted attention of racers interested in
winning.

UPDATE: Due to rain, Antron's opportunity to drive a stock car has been moved to Saturday at 6:00.

Before Antron Brown returns to the cockpit of his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster on Friday afternoon at zMax Dragway at Concord to begin the Countdown to 1, the 23-time NHRA winner will trade his Top Fuel dragster for a Stock Car. The current NHRA points leader will participate in the Richard Petty Driving Experience at nearby Lowe's Motor Speedway on Friday morning before qualifying for the Carolinas NHRA Nationals, the first race in the Countdown to 1 six-race playoff.