Mike Castellana improved on his No. 1 qualifying pass from Friday to remain atop the field going into race day at the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service portion of the NHRA Toyota Nationals. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented by Trask Performance, is the last race of the season for the category.
 
Castellana posted a run of 5.710-seconds at 252.80 during the first qualifying session of the day on Saturday in his '17 Camaro.
 
“I really didn’t think our run from last night was going to hold," said Castellana. "I wanted to make sure we did better than yesterday because I knew everyone was going to improve too. We’re not in the championship hunt this year but coming into the final race of the season is a big bonus for us.”
 
Mike Janis aims for his first category crown as the current points leader, is qualified fifth and will face Mike Caruso on Sunday. Rickie Smith trials Janis in the standings and will begin race day from the bottom half of the field after qualifying 14th. He will race Jeremy Ray in eliminations.

E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series eliminations begin Sunday at 9 a.m. at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Sunday's first-round pairings for eliminations for the 18th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the final of 12 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Pro Modified -- 1. Mike Castellana, Chevy Camaro, 5.710, 252.80 vs. 16. Clint Satterfield, Camaro, 5.851, 248.39; 2. Todd Tutterow, Camaro, 5.721, 243.85 vs. 15. Jim Whiteley, Camaro, 5.850, 246.30; 3. Jeremy Ray, Chevy Corvette, 5.732, 247.93 vs. 14. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.814, 247.43; 4. Jose Gonzalez, Camaro, 5.742, 258.07 vs. 13. Shane Molinari, Pontiac firebird, 5.809, 255.63; 5. Mike Janis, Camaro, 5.747, 249.53 vs. 12. Marc Caruso, Camaro, 5.801, 246.26; 6. Rick Hord, Corvette, 5.749, 253.33 vs. 11. Chad Green, Corvette, 5.789, 246.98; 7. Sidnei Frigo, Camaro, 5.753, 256.50 vs. 10. Steve Jackson, Camaro, 5.788, 246.21; 8. Steven Whiteley, Camaro, 5.776, 251.25 vs. 9. Michael Biehle, Ford Mustang, 5.788, 255.87.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Khalid alBalooshi, 5.851, 246.35; 18. Bob Rahaim, 5.861, 243.50; 19. Steve Matusek, 5.862, 247.66; 20. Danny Rowe, 5.869, 249.63; 21. Brandon Snider, 5.888, 241.89; 22. Doug Winters, 5.894, 242.80; 23. Scott Oksas, 5.910, 238.60; 24. Harry Hruska, 5.981, 248.84; 25. Rick Distefano, 6.092, 239.70; 26. Chip King, 6.998, 109.52.