Ron Capps‘ dream season, as he characterized it, has been dominant in 2016. Capps is looking at his best shot ever for the NHRA funny car championship after four #2 points finishes. His five wins and five runner-ups this year have proven the resilience of the Rahn Tobler led NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger team as they have gotten off to a near perfect start here at Pomona Raceway in the season-ending NHRA Finals on Friday.

Capps was quickest in the opening round under clear skies and temperatures in the mid-80s with a then track-record time of 3.883 seconds at 323.66 mph, that number still wasn’t enough to clinch his first NHRA world championship, but that could change as early as Saturday with two remaining qualifying session Bonus. Capps leads DSR teammates Matt Hagan by 89 points and 114 over Tommy Johnson Jr. who was second best.

“This is just another day that shows how good of a crew chief Tobler is,” Capps said. “Our NAPA team has been aggressive all year and that’s why we’re in the position we are. Tobler went out and ran a 3.883 in the hottest part of the day then we smoked the tires because he stayed aggressive. We’ll be the same way tomorrow and Sunday.”

Capps can clinch the championship by ending Saturday qualifying with an lead of 81 points over Matt Hagen (above).

2016 Top Fuel champion Antron Brown continued his team dominance, racing to the provisional lead with a 3.713 at 326.56 in his Matco Tools dragster. Brown clinched his third world title two weekends ago in Las Vegas. He has three No. 1 qualifiers this season and 47 in his career.

“At the end of the day, it’s all for the love of this sport,” said back-to-back world champ Brown. “All the teams come out here, not because they want a lot of money or for the attention, it’s for the love of the sport. We were able to sneak back into the No. 1 spot and the whole field is so tight right now. This kind of field is what you want to see all of next year. We got our work cut out for us this weekend and it feels good to get this Matco Tools car to the No. 1 spot.”

Steve Torrence is currently qualified second with a 3.716 at 326.95 in his Capco Contractors / Torrence Racing dragster. Torrence has three wins this season – including one at the season-opener at Pomona in February. Phoenix winner Leah Pritchett is third with a 3.726 at 328.62 in her FireAde dragster. Shawn Langdon, who won both events at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in 2015, is fourth and eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher (above) is fifth.

Pro Stock points leader Jason Line sprinted to the top spot with a 6.565 at 211.16 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro. Line has seven No. 1 qualifiers this year, 48 in his career and four at the Auto Club NHRA Finals. He is a two-time world champion and has a 20-point lead over second-place Greg Anderson.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Savoie rode his White Alligator Racing Suzuki to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 6.844 at 195.93. Savoie entered the weekend three points behind leaders Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines, who were tied, but now has a one point lead over rival Krawiec and a three point lead over Hines.

Qualifying for the Auto Club NHRA Finals will resume Saturday with the last two sessions at noon and 3 p.m. Eliminations are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

FOX Sports 1 will have coverage of the NHRA Finals:

Sunday Nov. 13, FS1 – one hour of qualifying coverage at 11:30 a.m. (ET).

Sunday, Nov. 13, FS1 – three hours of live finals coverage starting at 4 p.m. (ET).

John Force Racing teammates John Force (above) and Robert Hight setting the pace with two of the three quickest runs of the day. Force was the quickest of the second session until Jack Beckman made a run that set both ends of the track record.

Jack Beckman raced to the top qualifying position in Funny Car with a 3.865 at 332.84 in his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T. He set both ends of the track record with the performance and has five No. 1 qualifiers this year and 20 in his career.