INDIANAPOLIS — Looking to stay in the top 10, Top Fuel’s Brittany Force made the quickest run of Friday at the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals, powering to the provisional No. 1 position at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Blake Alexander (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angie Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 14th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Force, who is currently an uncharacteristic 10th in points, went 3.740 seconds at 334.32 mph in her 11,000-horsepower Chevrolet Accessories dragster to kick off the race weekend. If it holds, the two-time world champion would pick up her second No. 1 this season and the 48th in her career. More importantly, Force needs to stay in the top 10 to secure a spot in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. A win at the world’s biggest drag race would clinch that for Force, who is after her first win since her 2022 championship season.
“I haven’t been in a position like this for a long time, especially coming from this David Grubnic-led championship team,” said Force, a two-time U.S. Nationals runner-up. “We never thought we’d be here, but we had a hard season last year, same as this season. We’re really going to fight all weekend long. That 3.74 run down the dragstrip on the first qualifying run, four bonus points, currently No. 1, that’s everything we could have asked for. Our first goal of the weekend is accomplished.
“This is such a special event and a historic race. It’s a big event, but that means a lot of pressure and a lot on the line. This is the race you want to win and our motivation hasn’t gone away.”
Antron Brown is right behind in second thanks to a 3.759 at 330.63. Brown has won the U.S. Nationals in back-to-back years. Billy Torrence sits in the third spot after a run of 3.792 at 331.45.
Coming off an impressive performance in Brainerd, Funny Car’s Alexander continued his strong performance in Indy, racing to the No. 1 spot with a run of 3.890 at 327.82 in his 11,000-horsepower Pronto Auto Service Center Ford Mustang. Alexander won in Brainerd with a string of standout performances and now has a chance to earn his first career No. 1 qualifier. That was the case in Brainerd, too, when Alexander was the provisional top qualifier. He didn’t end up in the top spot there, but Alexander has another great opportunity in Indy, feeling confident about what the Head Racing team continues to deliver.
“We feel good about this,” Alexander said. “I think we thought it was going to be a little slower out there at first, and then we got up there and quite frankly I think we saw Cruz run 3.90 and then we opened it up a little bit. Every race team out here needed to do well today and the ones who excelled like we did will be in a much better position Monday morning, which is ultimately what we come here for.
“If you want to win Indy, you need to put yourself in a good position. This isn’t an easy drag race to win, it never has been and never will be. We’re in a good spot right now, that really doesn’t mean much because there are a lot of good race cars out here and people can eclipse you.”
Cruz Pedregon performed well on Friday, going to second with a 3.901 at 325.53 and Jack Beckman is right behind in third after a run of 3.903 at 322.81.
Anderson is used to plenty of success at The Big Go and he’s off to a good start at the 70th annual race, taking over the No. 1 spot after going 6.621 at 206.23 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. No current driver in Pro Stock has won in Indy as much as Anderson, with his seventh victory coming in 2022. It also happened to be his 100th career win and the five-time world champion continues to go strong, with Friday’s run putting him in line for a fifth No. 1 this season and the 129th in his career. Anderson, though, is well aware a lot can change between now and Monday.
“Normally when we come here, the Friday night run sets the field,” Anderson said. ‘You get your Friday night shot under the lights, the track cools down, everybody goes out there and throws down. Nine times out of 10 it ends up holding up throughout the weekend, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case. It’s going to cool down quite a bit the next couple of days, but we wanted to come here tonight and just get some data. This was a bonus. There’s a lot of room left, it wasn’t really a clean run, so I was shocked when they told me I got the No. 1 spot.
“I can’t wait to get here every year. I have a lot of favorite tracks, a lot of tracks I love to race at and feel good at, but this is still the one that means the most to me.”
Enders took second with a 6.621 at 206.13 and Aaron Stanfield is currently third on the strength of his 6.630 at 204.88.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Smith made the biggest move to kick off qualifying at the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals, going 6.883 at 197.10 on her Denso Auto Parts Buell to grab the provisional No. 1 spot. Should that hold, Smith would pick up her first No. 1 qualifier of the season and third in her career and it would certainly come at the perfect time. Entering Indy sixth in points, Smith lost in the first round in back-to-back races leading into Indy. But after a strong test session, Smith feels good about where the bike is now at heading into a crucial part of the season – and at the world’s biggest drag race.
“We got rid of my other bike, that’s what happened,” Smith said. “I got a brand-new bike. Every single part of that motorcycle is brand new except for me. I was glad to get a new bike. Coming to Indy without a full run on a brand-new motorcycle is kind of nerve-wracking but it all worked out.
“My mindset coming into this race, I just wanted to do well and make good laps to prepare me for the Countdown. The middle of the season has not been a stellar performance for me and I have expected a lot better performance for myself and from the bike and we weren’t getting it. The boys have been working extremely hard back in the shop, and for me to get a No. 1, I feel like it kind of repays them a little bit for all the hard work.”
Her husband, Matt, who has won the last two races at The Big Go – and the most recent race in Sonoma – is currently second after going 6.895 at 197.74 and Gaige Herrera grabbed the third position on Friday thanks to a run of 6.929 at 195.90.
Qualifying continues at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday at the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.