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by Candida Benson, National DRAGSTER Associate Editor

A quartet of familiar faces — Antron Brown (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock), and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle) — showed the way during the opening day of action at the 23rd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park.

Unlike the previous couple of event when rain disrupted activities, the weather was picture-perfect for the first day of NHRA’s annual spring jaunt to Houston, and the end result was a day filled with quick and fast times and a bevy of career bests as drivers adapted well to the conditions. In Funny Car, Force recorded the second-quickest 1,000-foot time in history, a 4.021, opening the door for a national record if he can post a run of 4.061 or better during the remaining two days. In Pro Stock, Jeg Coughlin Jr. tied the fifth-fastest speed of all time with a 212.23-mph clocking. Several bikes also put big speeds on the board with Michael Phillips showing the way with a 197.13-mph run that ranks third overall and is the best speed posted since 2005. Eddie Krawiec also topped 197 at 197.10. In addition to the big speeds, Arana also tied the fourth-quickest run in history with his pole-winning 6.856.

The Top Fuel cars struggled in the initial session of the day, but the crew chiefs got a grip on the cool, nighttime

conditions in the second session, capping off the day with many 3.8-second clockings. Brown’s Matco-backed team adapted best, posting a 3.803 early in the session that withheld several challenges to put Brown on pace to his 23rd career pole and second of the year.

“[Crew chiefs] Brian [Corradi] and Mark [Oswald] saw John Force run that 4.02 two pairs in front of us and thought that looked pretty sporty,” said Brown, who collected his first Top Fuel win in Houston. “They stepped it up and tried to run a high .70. The car lifted the front wheels higher than it ever has. After looking it the computer, we learned that it was on the edge to the 330-foot mark.

“The weather this weekend is awesome. We had an idea what the temperature would be, but the humidity and grains of water are way down. We can definitely make some power here; the trick is dialing it down. I think the Funny Cars did a better job with the conditions than the dragsters tonight.”

Running in the final pair of the day, Larry Dixon made a strong push for the top spot, but his 3.808 came up just short. Steve Torrence and his Dexter Tuttle-led team finished third on the day with a 3.839, and Doug Kalitta enters Saturday in the No. 4 spot after recording a 3.847. Tony Schumacher’s best of 3.848 places him fifth, and points leader Cory McClenathan sits sixth with a 3.856.

T.J. Zizzo, who is making his 2010 debut in Houston, landed in the No. 12 spot with a 3.982. Though only 15 cars made run Friday, there are 17 Top Fuelers at Houston Raceway Park; both Spencer Massey and Del Cox Jr. elected to sit out Friday but will make runs Saturday. That means one driver who made the trip to Houston will not get a Sunday starting spot. In addition to Massey and Cox, Terry Haddock, Bobby Lagana Jr., and Brandon Bernstein will enter Saturday not qualified and needing to bump into the show.

Force continued his strong season start, wheeling his Castrol-backed Mustang to the second-best 1,000-foot time ever, a 4.021, that places him ahead of the rest of the Funny Car field, including his own team cars of Robert Hight and Ashley Force Hood, who are Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Should Force maintain the pole, it would be his 133rd top start and the second of 2010; he was also low qualifier in Phoenix.

“It’s excellent conditions,” said Force. “It was a little warm earlier today but still good enough to run, but it’s just really good [tonight]. Mike Neff said, ‘Hang on. I’ll give you eight cylinders and a smooth clutch transition, and you keep it in the groove,’ which I know how to do. It went, and it wasn’t even on the edge. It was a really smooth ride. It didn’t rattle anything.

“My dad always told me when there’s no oranges on the ground, shake the tree and you’ll have lots of oranges. I kept shaking the tree and moving people around. Robert won the championship, and Ashley’s always had a good car but she finished second, so I shook our tree, and out of it comes so far so good. I’m just excited because I was a pretty good race car driver for a lot of years. Even when I was doing terrible, I still thought I was great until Tom McEwen said to me, ‘You don’t know how bad you look.’ I was in the cellar of the points, and he said, ‘But you owe the fans.’ I said, ‘I’m doing everything I can.’ He said, ‘No you’re not. You lost the eye of the tiger. You’re so focused on everybody else [on your team].’ I was so focused on Robert and Ashley and even Mike Neff that I wasn’t watching that I wasn’t doing my job for the sponsors and mainly the fans that stuck by me all these years. So I needed a wake-up by an old master, ‘Mongoose,’ who said, ‘No, you owe them better.’ That was last year at the last race of the year, and I came out swinging in Pomona.”

After struggling in the early session, Hight was one of the first cars out in the night session, and he set the tone for what would be a quick and interesting second outing for the floppers. The reigning world champ powered to a 4.051 that placed him No. 1 for most of the session, but the most interesting part of the run wasn’t his time; it was what happened at the end of it. Hight’s engine let go, sending him on a wild ride across both lanes of the track past the finish line as he attempted to bring his Auto Club Ford to a stop. Hight got out of the car without problems, though the body of his car was severely damaged and will likely need to be replaced for Saturday.

Force Hood rounds out the John Force Racing stranglehold of the top spot with a 4.060. Ron Capps finished fourth with a 4.089 and is followed in the order by Jeff Arend (4.095), Jack Beckman (4.097), Tim Wilkerson (4.098), and Jim Head (4.129).

Bob Tasca III’s 4.183 was the 12th-best time of the day and therefore is the last to transfer to Saturday. With 17 drivers on site, that left five outside the field heading into the final qualifying sessions, including the Pedregon brothers, Tony and Cruz. Tony had the most spectacular run of the day when, without warning, the engine of his Nitro Fish ride blew right at the 1,000-foot timers, lifting the entire car off the ground and sending the body skyward. The former world champ was uninjured in the incident, but his car suffered significant damage.

After an atypical qualifying outing at the last event, in Charlotte, Edwards returned to form, pacing both of Friday’s sessions with respective 6.539 and 6.550 runs that placed his Penhall/Interstate/K&N Pontiac GXP No. 1 on the sheets. If Edwards is able to keep the top spot on the ladder, it will be his 26th overall No. 1 and his fourth of the 2010 campaign.

“The atmospheric conditions are very good here this weekend, but they weren’t that bad last year when we set the national record with the first speed over 212 mph,” said Edwards, who became the first driver to eclipse 212 mph in the

semifinals at this event last year. “The air isn’t quite as good as it was at Charlotte, but the starting line here in Houston is much better for the Pro Stock cars.

“We’re always trying as hard as we can on every run, and we really went for it in the evening session with the cloud cover. We feel that we have to do that because the other teams are really working hard to catch up with us, and I really think that some of the other teams are gaining on us. You can just look at the speeds [with 13 cars running between 210 to 212 mph] and tell that everyone is making more horsepower than they did just a few races ago. The weather might be a bit more humid tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean that some of the other cars can’t improve on what they ran today. So we’ll be going at it with everything we have for the final two qualifying sessions on Friday.”

Coughlin picked up right where he left off in Charlotte, where he qualified No. 1, running a pair of 6.5s, including a 6.557 that places him second after two sessions. Edwards’ engine customer Ron Krisher also clocked a 6.557 but lost the speed tiebreaker to Coughlin, 212.23 to 211.03. Greg Stanfield jumped from outside the top 12 to fourth when he clocked a 6.566 that was the third-best run of the second session. Jason Line, Ronnie Humphrey, V. Gaines, and Shane Gray rank fifth through eighth, respectively.

Rodger Brogdon landed in the important 12th spot with a 6.585 that is the final time that transfers into Saturday. Surprisingly, Greg Anderson is among the 14 drivers who enter Saturday not qualified. Anderson struggled on both runs, posting a best of 6.598 that ranked him 16th. Among the others on the outside looking in are Kurt Johnson, Larry Morgan, Rickie Jones, and Warren Johnson.

Though it’s still early in the season, Arana is making it clear he won’t surrender the No. 1 plate without a strong fight. After finishing second in the first qualifying session of the weekend, the reigning world champ jumped to the top of the order with a 6.856 from his Lucas Oil Buell that was just five-thousandths off his career best. If it holds, this will be Arana’s 10th career No. 1 and the first of the 2010 season.

“I’ve been paying really close attention to the weather here, and it’s looking great,” said Arana. “There’s a great opportunity to reset the national record. The track seems to be hooking up pretty good. These conditions right here are awesome. The humidity’s really low, and the vapor’s low, and the water grain is low, so I’ve been paying attention to that and following the track a couple days already. Before I even got here, I knew what the weather was going to be. I like to know what’s ahead of me. I just like to be prepared and think what I need to do for those conditions.

“I haven’t had a chance to look at my data, so I don’t know if there’s room for improvement. I do know I’m still running a heavier-weight oil, so I can pick up a little bit there. On the tune-up, I don’t know what’s there. On the clutch, yes, there’s a little bit there. Our 60-foot was a .107, so we definitely can pick up a little there.”

First-session leader Andrew Hines slipped to second when he was unable to better his 6.870 from earlier in the day. Hines’ teammate, Eddie Krawiec will enter Saturday as the No. 3 spot thanks to the 6.875 he recorded on his second run; Krawiec was second-quickest of that final Friday session. Matt Smith ranks fourth with a 6.881, and he is followed in the order by Michael Phillips, who has top speed of the weekend so far with a whopping 197.13. Jim Underdahl, Doug Horne, and David Hope round out the quick eight.

Junior Pippin’s 7.010 is the final time that will carry over to Saturday. Among the riders who enter Saturday not qualified are national record holder Karen Stoffer, Steve Johnson, and Angie Smith, whose Buell caught fire on her first run. Smith was uninjured in the incident, but the damage it created was enough that it prevented her from returning for the second session.

Jay Payne raced to the provisional No. 1 qualifying lead Friday as the second round of NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.

Payne drove his supercharged 1968 Camaro to a 5.813-second run at 246.21 mph to the provisional top spot of the field. For Payne, it would be his first official No. 1 qualifier at the second event of the inaugural season of the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.

“We ran a potential world record in Gainesville (5.809) but we didn’t back it up so maybe this time we can get it done,” said Payne. “The No. 1 goal is winning the race. That never changes. If we can set a national record along the way, all the better.”

Raymond Commisso currently sits third in the field with a run of 5.852 at 251.20. NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series driver Melanie Troxel is in the 16th spot just in the field with her Friday run of 6.072 at 243.99.

Top Fuel-

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Antron Brown         Matco Tools Dragster            3.803  317.64
   2. Larry Dixon          Al-Anabi Racing Dragster        3.808  320.74
   3. Steve Torrence       Simple Mobile Dragster          3.839  313.80
   4. Doug Kalitta         Kalitta Air Dragster            3.847  318.17
   5. Tony Schumacher      U.S. Army Dragster              3.848  318.99
   6. Cory McClenathan     Fram Tough Guard Dragster       3.856  318.54
   7. Shawn Langdon        Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster      3.860  314.24
   8. Terry McMillen       Amalie Oil Dragster             3.891  313.73
   9. David Grubnic        Kalitta Motorsports Dragster    3.916  312.71
  10. Troy Buff            Bill Miller Racing/Okuma Drags  3.936  293.28
  11. Morgan Lucas         Geico Powersport/ Lucas Oil Dr  3.939  296.63
  12. T.J. Zizzo           PEAK/HERCULINER Dragster        3.982  277.72
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  13. Terry Haddock        Dragster                        4.055  284.93
  14. Bobby Lagana Jr.     NTB Dragster                    5.361  125.82
  15. Brandon Bernstein    Copart/Lucas Oil Dragster       6.324  102.14

Funny Car-

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. John Force           Castrol GTX Mustang             4.021  316.08
   2. Robert Hight         AAA of So. Cal Mustang          4.051  312.64
   3. Ashley Force Hood    Castrol GTX Mustang             4.060  312.06
   4. Ron Capps            NAPA Auto Parts Charger         4.089  310.77
   5. Jeff Arend           DHL Solara                      4.095  309.98
   6. Jack Beckman         Valvoline/MTS Charger           4.097  311.63
   7. Tim Wilkerson        Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang       4.098  306.12
   8. Jim Head             Head Racing Solara              4.129  300.33
   9. Del Worsham          Al-Anabi Racing Solara          4.137  302.62
  10. Melanie Troxel       In-N-Out Burger Charger         4.176  303.64
  11. Matt Hagan           DieHard Charger                 4.179  295.46
  12. Bob Tasca III        Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang   4.183  302.75
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  13. Tony Pedregon        Quaker State Impala             4.242  236.01
  14. Paul Lee             Jim Dunn/Canidae/Lucas Oil Imp  4.254  298.54
  15. Todd Simpson         Camaro                          4.335  240.47
  16. Jeff Diehl           Rimz One Monte Carlo            5.193  151.39
  17. Cruz Pedregon        Snap-On Solara                  6.052  110.79

Pro Stock-

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Mike Edwards         Penhall/K&N/Interstae GXP       6.539  211.93
   2. Jeg Coughlin         Jegs.com Cobalt                 6.557  212.23
   3. Ron Krisher          Valvoline Cobalt                6.557  211.03
   4. Greg Stanfield       Nitrofish GXP                   6.566  210.83
   5. Jason Line           Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.567  211.20
   6. Ronnie Humphrey      Pro Stock Grills/THM GXP        6.573  211.26
   7. V. Gaines            Kendall Oil Avenger             6.574  211.20
   8. Shane Gray           Tire Kingdom GXP                6.575  210.24
   9. Allen Johnson        Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger      6.580  211.73
  10. Justin Humphreys     RaceRedi Motorsports GXP        6.584  210.08
  11. Johnny Gray          NTB GXP                         6.584  209.82
  12. Rodger Brogdon       Kent Services & Trucking GXP    6.585  210.83
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  13. John Nobile          Nobile Racing Mustang           6.591  209.79
  14. Kurt Johnson         Mark Chriastopher Cobalt        6.591  209.62
  15. Steve Spiess         Billet Specialties Cobalt       6.594  210.24
  16. Greg Anderson        Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.598  210.90
  17. Larry Morgan         Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang        6.599  209.79
  18. Rickie Jones         Elite GXP                       6.602  209.65
  19. Warren Johnson       K&N Filters GXP                 6.603  209.98
  20. Bob Yonke            Pints for Prostate GXP          6.620  210.44
  21. Mike Trumble Jr      Elite Motorsports GXP           6.635  209.26
  22. Jim Cunningham       Cunningham Motorsports Mustang  6.653  209.23
  23. Steve Schmidt        Schmidt Competition Engines Co  6.662  208.23
  24. Mark Buehring        Park Racing\TRE Cobalt          6.721  205.13
  25. John Gaydosh Jr      Gaydosh Performance GTO         6.797  202.27
  26. Erica Enders         Mustang                        13.980   60.25