Friday sees hot runs at Big O Tires Nationals

Friday was a day for good runs at the 11th Annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Johnny Gray hit 311.99 on one of his runs, but his ET was only good enough for fifth. There were a total of six Dodge Chargers in the Funny Car class; four of them had made the cut after two rounds of qualifying. Matt Hagan had the best time in Round One, but was .008 seconds behind Robert Hight (the oddsmakers’ favorite) by the end of Round Two. Jack Beckman, the current leader in the Countdown to the Championship, needed some more speed: he qualified tenth.

In Pro Stock, Allen Johnson was the top qualifier by the end of the day. He had the seventh position, followed by Vincent Nobile in eighth. V. Gaines had some decent runs, but couldn’t make the cut. This could be the weekend that Jason Line turns a big lead into another Championship. Line’s GXP would practically have to blow up to open the door for someone else, but Vincent Nobile is in a position to give Greg Anderson some real competition for runner-up.