A semblance of parity outside of the three-car KB Racing team is starting to materialize in NHRA Pro Stock.
Alex Laughlin, driver of the Gas Monkey Garage Chevrolet Camaro, will begin Sunday's Pro Stock eliminations at the NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals from the top spot.
Saturday qualifying was a carbon copy of Friday's rain-delayed schedule with rain pushing completion into the late hours of the evening. Three of the four professional leaders remained unchanged with Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Courtney Force (Funny Car) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) leading their respective divisions.
Laughlin, sponsored by the Richard Rawlings, star of the Discovery Channel's Fast and Loud reality show, scored his first career No. 1 qualifier by running 6.926 seconds at 199.02 mph.
"I even contemplated after the burnout putting my hand out and putting the No. 1 sign up in the air," Laughlin admitted. "But I didn’t want to seem too proud or cocky. Man, we've just had the best car this weekend. We tested her last week, and that made all the difference in the world. Our guys have worked so hard for this. We'll see what happens from here.
“Words can’t even describe how I feel right now,” Laughlin said. “Our team deserves it, and I want to thank everyone on this team. I am going to be tired tomorrow because I am not going to sleep tonight.”
Laughlin is the 62nd different Pro Stock driver to claim a No. 1 spot in NHRA history.
“Honestly, I felt like we could get the No. 1 spot,” Laughlin said. “We have the best race car this weekend. We came up and tested last week and that made all the difference in the world. I have to thank my sponsor (Gas Monkey Garage), my dad (team owner Kenny Laughlin) and everyone at Gray Motorsports. We’ve had our highs and lows so far this year and this is the highest of the highs so far.”
Top Fuel racer Torrence held onto his role as the quickest drag racer on the property as he maintained the top spot with a 3.776 second ET at 325.14 mph. He has qualified on top seven times this season.
“The way the car has performed has been flawless all weekend,” Torrence said. “It does give you a lot of confidence and we’re trying to catch Doug (Kalitta) and Antron (Brown) [in the Top Fuel points standings]. This is a great way to start race day and you can’t sweep the Swing unless you win the first one.”
Funny Car remained the property of John Force Racing, as Courtney Force's track record 3.917 ET, 318.39 mph performance remained in the lead throughout Saturday's two qualifying sessions. In a measure of insurance, Force was quickest in the final two qualifying sessions.
“This is a great way to start the Western Swing," Force said. "We picked up eight bonus points throughout qualifying which is huge. We definitely need that because everyone is really tight in points right now and we slid down to third. Our goal right now is to go rounds and get those points and hopefully move on up that points ladder."
John Force was second with a 3.935 ET, 320.43 mph performance in his Realtree Peak Camaro.
Hometown favorite Hines secured his first Pro Stock Motorcycle No. 1 qualifier of the season by clocking a 7.161 at 185.36 mph aboard his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.
“I’ve had great success here,” Hines said. “My guys have given me a flawless motorcycle this weekend. Eddie (Krawiec, teammate) has been stealing all the No. 1s here lately and it’s nice to get a No. 1 on my side of the pit. The motorcycle is running pretty well. We are looking good for tomorrow and we tried some things today so I think we have a good tune-up for the race.”
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Bobby Bennett is the Publisher/Editor of CompetitionPlus.com, a leading independent online drag racing magazine, since 1999. For the latest in dragster news worldwide, visit www.competitionplus.com or follow on Twitter @competitionplus
