There's go big or go home, and then there's what Comp Eliminator racer Clark Smiley pulled off during the NHRA Div. 4 event at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas. 

During Saturday's rain-delayed Q-1 session, Smiley ran his BB/Altered 2009 Pontiac GXP to a -.806 under 7.114 elapsed time to claim an overwhelming qualifying lead. The run for the gasoline-powered was more than Smiley had expected in a classification where the index is meant to be bent, not broken.

"Yeah, it went a little faster than I thought it would go," Smiley admitted. 

Point standings (top 10) following the 38th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, the second of 21 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series - 

Alexis De Joria called it “somber.” Matt Hagan said, “It saddens my heart.” Leah Pruett called the venue “magical.” Cruz Pedregon, Tony Schumacher, and Ron Capps, who’s taking a trip down Memory Lane, all used the word “bittersweet.” 

Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, formerly Firebird Raceway, is hosting its final NHRA Arizona Nationals this weekend here in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler. Its final chapter is another unfortunate-for-the-sport story of urban encroachment and land-value eruption. Commercial development at this site has won out over drag-racing tradition. And NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series drivers want to give it a proper farewell – and they all want to be a footnote to history by winning the final Arizona Nationals.

Simple was good for nitro Funny Car driver Blake Alexander and his team owner Jim Head on Friday.
 
While most all drivers struggled to get down the track in Q1, Alexander clocked a solid 3.927-second elapsed time at 322.50 mph to claim the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at the Arizona Nationals near Phoenix. 
 
“A lot of times when you come to this track, there has been a lot of preseason testing here and lots of knowledge and a lot of people prepping the track and taking care of it,” Alexander said. “We kind of came out here (Friday) with the mindset that we didn’t do that good on Friday in Gainesville (at the season-opening Gatornationals). In fact, we lit the car on fire, and we wanted to just go down the track, so we did that, and it turned out to be a nice ending for us.”
 

The potential of Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel dragster is unlimited, especially with renowned crew chiefs Alan Johnson and Brian Husen making the tuning calls.
 
Kalitta’s Mac Tools Kalitta Motorsports machine had glimpses of success in 2022 and began the 2023 season by reaching the semifinals of the season-opening Gatornationals on March 12 in Gainesville, Fla.
 
Kalitta hopes to take the next step into the winner’s circle this weekend at the Arizona Nationals near Phoenix.
 
He took a baby step toward reaching that goal by snaring the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot with a 3.679-second elapsed time at 330.23 mph lap on Friday.

Driver interviews and a selection of photos from the NHRA Arizona Nationals are available on the NHRA media site

Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta is in line for his second straight No. 1 qualifier position in Phoenix, powering to the provisional top spot on Friday at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

Blake Alexander (Funny Car) and Cristian Cuadra (Pro Stock) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the second of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
 
Kalitta, who has 49 career Top Fuel victories, went 3.679-seconds at 330.23 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster to go to No. 1. Should it hold, Kalitta would pick up his first No. 1 qualifier since last year in Phoenix and the 52nd in his career. It marks another strong moment in the early part of the season for the veteran. He struggled a year ago, including a first-round upset in Phoenix last year, but is motivated for a big turnaround in 2023.