John Force likes to consider himself a member of the old school crowd.

And why not?

After 50 years behind the wheel, Force has seen it all. He has raced with and against the best the sport has ever seen. He has done it on the biggest stages and at the smallest tracks on Saturday nights under the lights.

And it is that feeling of racing under the lights that really gets his blood pumping.

“I’ve always loved it. I come from the old school match race school,” Force said. “To come out here at night and go down that race track, header fire on both sides, driving around, weaving, there is nothing like it.”

So anytime Force has an opportunity to shine bright under the lights, he revels in the opportunity.

Friday night, Force once again showed why he is truly ageless in the sport of drag racing, powering his PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car to the top spot, earning the provisional pole at the Dodge SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway.

And he did it in true Force fashion, flirting with the wall and using every inch of the track to drive to the top of the charts.

“(Crew chief) Daniel Hood does a great job with my car. He called the number, but he was upset. He thought he could run an 86,” Force said. “We just had to make sure we got in. With rain forecasted for tomorrow, we were counting cars. We agreed if this thing is out there dropping cylinders, doing whatever, shut it off. Otherwise, if we weren’t in, then we’ve got to go for it.

“(Hood) said what he was going to run and I said, ‘don’t get that aggressive.’ But I shut up, because that is how he races and obviously it worked out.”

Thankfully, Force didn’t have to worry about making the field.

Force ran a 3.877-second pass at 330.72 mph in the next-to-last pairing of Friday’s only nitro qualifying session, just outrunning Bob Tasca to take the provisional top spot. Tasca ran a 3.889 at 332.67 mph, slotting his Motorcraft Ford Mustang right behind Force in second.

Force’s JFR teammate Robert Hight was third with a 3.889 at 329.67 mph, while Cruz Pedregon (3.896) and J.R. Todd (3.905) rounded out the top five.

Adding to the excitement on Friday, Force’s daughter, Brittany, placed her Flav-R-Pac dragster in the provisional top spot in Top Fuel, setting up a potentially Force 1-2 qualifying effort at the biggest drag race in the world. And it comes just a few weeks removed from the duo winning both nitro categories at the Menards NHRA Nationals at Topeka just last month.

Brittany Force drove her machine to a 3.684 at 334.57 mph, outpacing Top Fuel championship leader Steve Torrence by four thousandths.

“Both of our teams are running well right now,” Force said. “With the chance of rain tomorrow, if you don’t get to the other end you might not get any kind of E.T. and make the field. We knew we were in because three cars didn’t go down the racetrack, but Brittany had to go for it. (David) Grubnic looked at me (before the run) and said it is going. And it went. I am really proud of her. We are just doing really good together right now.”

If his time holds on Saturday, it will be the 162nd No. 1 qualifier of Force’s career. It will also be a great starting position for Force as he tries to break a tie with Ed “The Ace” McCulloch for the most Funny Car wins in U.S. Nationals history. Both drivers have five wins each at the Big Go as Force looks for a sixth Indy win just two years removed from his last victory at the track.

“That is what it is really all about,” Force said. “Ed McCulloch was my hero. People don’t understand that I am still chasing (Kenny) Bernstein and (Raymond” Beadle and (Don) Prudhomme and (Connie) Kalitta. That is where I came from and that is still how I think.”