Photos by Jeff Burghardt, Mike Burghardt and Bob Wingfield

Courtney Force raced to the qualifying lead in Funny Car Friday with a track record performance at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals.

Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Bo Butner (Pro Stock) also were top qualifiers at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix.

Force, who is looking to redeem last season’s finish with a strong early season start, led the Funny Car field with a track record time of 3.930 seconds at 323.97 mph in her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro.

“It’s definitely what we hoped for,” said Force who carried over her momentum from pre-season testing at Wild Horse just a few weeks ago. “Once we got the car figured out we were running pretty consistent in the threes so I was excited to come back to this track. We felt comfortable here and we made good runs.

Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T led by crew chief Rahn Tobler ran a 3.954 seconds at 320.89 miles per hour for the second slot, have not let up from the Winternationals win at Pomona when Capps won his 46th title as a driver and Tobler won his 50th as a crew chief.

“Tobler and our NAPA boys gave me a good consistent car at Pomona and it didn’t miss a beat today,” said Capps, the second winningest Funny Car driver of all time. “Our NAPA Dodge is right where we want it to be, and we’re still getting it better.”

Capps’ teammate Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Dodge led by crew chief Jimmy Prock are third at 3.954.

Defending world champion Brown led Top Fuel qualifying with a 3.765 at 319.45 in his Matco Tools dragster to knock off rival Doug Kalitta’s 3.771 at 323.12 in his Mac Tools dragster.

After not qualifying where they hoped at the Winternatioanls, Brown and his team looked to get back to their championship standards this weekend.

“It felt pretty good to sneak out with that second round run,” said Brown, whose machine lost traction on his first qualifying attempt. “We thought that someone would run better than our (3.76) because we were the first pair down the race track.”

“You can’t sleep on any of these cars out here because they’ll take your lunch,” said Brown acknowledging Doug Kalitta (above) and Tony Schumacher’s presence close behind, “We’ve just got to keep putting that work in.”

Bo Butner was quickest in Pro Stock, clocking a 6.618 at 208.88 in his Jim Butner Auto Sales Camaro that held up through two rounds, holding off Greg Anderson by 0.06 seconds. He was also the top qualifier after Friday at the Winternationals in Pomona.

“Just like last race, I don’t think we’ll hold up [Saturday],” Butner said. “I’ve got a couple guys with me that are pretty mean and they know what they’re doing, it’s our whole team. We just want to be one two and three and however we end up is great.”

Since the season opener Butner and his team have taken the time to really work on the car and he hopes to secure his first career No. 1 qualifying position in only his 19th Pro Stock start.

Qualifying continues Saturday at 1:30 and 4 p.m. for Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations.

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CHANDLER, Ariz. — Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 32nd annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, second of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.  Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.

Top Fuel — 1. Antron Brown, 3.765 seconds, 319.45 mph; 2. Doug Kalitta, 3.771, 323.12; 3. Tony Schumacher (above), 3.772, 322.19; 4. Dave Connolly, 3.794, 309.34; 5. Brittany Force, 3.800, 320.05; 6. J.R. Todd, 3.806, 323.12; 7. Steve Torrence, 3.812, 322.50; 8. Leah Pritchett, 3.859, 314.31; 9. Richie Crampton, 3.865, 302.14; 10. Troy Buff, 3.869, 281.19; 11. Terry McMillen, 3.935, 286.07; 12. Clay Millican, 4.091, 227.69.  Not Qualified: 13. Scott Palmer, 4.269, 213.87; 14. Shawn Langdon, 6.057, 113.26.

Funny Car — 1. Courtney Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.930, 323.97; 2. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 3.954, 320.89; 3. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.959, 319.22; 4. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.965, 318.77; 5. John Force, Camaro, 3.973, 321.12; 6. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.973, 319.14; 7. Chad Head, Toyota Camry, 3.976, 314.31; 8. Del Worsham, Camry, 3.980, 316.52; 9. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 3.995, 315.64; 10. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.030, 318.17; 11. James Campbell, Charger, 4.067, 289.20; 12.
Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 4.086, 302.08.  Not Qualified: 13. John Hale, 4.183, 303.09; 14. Alexis DeJoria, 4.651, 177.58.

Pro Stock — 1. Bo Butner, Chevy Camaro, 6.618, 208.88; 2. Greg Anderson (above), Camaro, 6.624, 207.72; 3. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.649, 207.85; 4. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.650, 207.94; 5. Jeg Coughlin, Dodge Dart, 6.664, 207.50; 6. Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.674, 206.83; 7. Erica Enders, Dart, 6.689, 208.26; 8. Joey Grose, Camaro, 6.715, 206.51; 9. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.722, 207.59; 10. Deric Kramer, Dart, 6.772, 206.95; 11. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.829, 208.17; 12. V. Gaines, Dart, 7.237, 204.91.
Not Qualified: 13. Matt Hartford, 7.638, 164.33.