Four-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence powered to the provisional No. 1 position on speed at Brainerd International Raceway, taking the top spot over Tony Stewart on Friday at the 42nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
Blake Alexander (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 13th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Torrence and Stewart both went a blistering 3.688s during the second qualifying session at Brainerd, but Torrence had the faster run, going an impressive 335.32mph in his Capco Contractors dragster. If that holds, it would be Torrence’s third top spot of the season and the 40th in his career. After winning in Seattle, things are continuing to come around for Torrence, who is currently third in Top Fuel points.
“We’ve been working on trying to make power,” Torrence said. “At the end of the day, power is speed, and the high mile an hour is just an exhibition of power and being able to get it down. These conditions here are different than a lot of places we go, so it’s rather difficult to make power here. I was a little surprised to see 0.68s being low.
“The track is good, everything is good, but people are struggling to make the power they want. We were wanting to run quicker than 0.68s, and that’s just what it gave us. We were just a little closer to it than everybody else, only a little better than Smoke. Pretty cool to see him come out and do as well as he’s done right here. We got lucky and it’s been a good day.”
Stewart went a career-best 3.688s at 332.18mph to sit in the second spot, while points leader and reigning world champ Doug Kalitta is third with a run of 3.703s at 335.40mph.
Funny Car’s Blake Alexander made a big move to close out qualifying on Friday in Brainerd, jumping to the No. 1 position in his Head Racing Ford Mustang after a strong run of 3.874s at 331.61mph. It would be Alexander’s first career No. 1 qualifier should it hold. It was a standout performance by Alexander, who has enjoyed some strong moments during the 2024 campaign, including a pair of semifinal finishes over the last four events. Adding his first career No. 1 qualifier would certainly add that list if Alexander can hang on.
“Given the circumstances of the previous race, that was very sweet – but also, I think we’re capable of doing that, and it wasn’t exactly surprising,” Alexander said. “It’s repetitive – that’s the second time we’ve run 3.87s, and that’s when you start becoming a problem for these guys out here who are, quite frankly, bigger outfits than us. It feels pretty good to be able to run with them.
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“We’re having the best season we’ve ever had, to be honest. We just haven’t won a race yet. I think that gets lost in the nature of this business is you’re only as good as your last run. That will happen tomorrow, and that will happen on Sunday, but right now we’re happy with where we’re at.”
Alexis DeJoria took the second spot after going 3.882s at 332.84mph and Bob Tasca III, who won the most recent race in Sonoma, is third thanks to a run 3.884s at 332.59mph.
In Pro Stock, Duluth native Greg Anderson put together a classic performance at the track where he grew up racing, taking the provisional No. 1 position with a run of 6.641s at 207.08mph in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. That puts Anderson in position to pick up his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the year and the third in the past four races. Anderson hasn’t won in Brainerd since 2011, something the five-time world champion would love to change as the Countdown to the Championship approaches. He closed out qualifying with a standout run and will look to continue that on Saturday when Pro Stock will make three qualifying runs.
“I was hoping we could have run a little bit quicker, but the bottom line is that we did all we could do today. We got all the points that they had to give, and we won Friday,” Anderson said. “So, we’ll move into tomorrow as a new day, and we’ll use that as tuning data. There’s definitely a lot of room left in it, we know we can run better which is great news.
“I love racing here at Brainerd. When it’s cloudy and cool like this, the racetrack is great. The bottom line is that the racetrack is better than we went up there prepared for. That’s a good problem. You go home and find some courage, come back tomorrow and be better. That’s what we’ll do. We’ll come back like a lion tomorrow and hopefully run better and take No. 1 home with us.”
Aaron Stanfield, who has won three of the past four races, is currently second with a 6.642s at 206.26mph and Matt Hartford is right behind after going 6.643s at 204.66mph.
Qualifying continues at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.