On a day typical of the deep Midwest, one of the region’s finest Pro Stock drivers turned in what has been a typical performance for him this season.

Mike Edwards ran a 6.674 elapsed time at 206.29 miles per hour. If his numbers hold, it will mark his fourth consecutive No. 1. Including eliminations, Edwards has been the quickest car in ten consecutive rounds of qualifying and eliminations.

“Any time we can come to the racetrack and have two runs with sunshine that’s a good thing,” Edwards said. “We made a really nice run tonight. We made a nice run the first pass too.”

On a day typical of the deep Midwest, one of the region’s finest Pro Stock drivers turned in what has been a typical performance for him this season.

Mike Edwards ran a 6.674 elapsed time at 206.29 miles per hour. If his numbers hold, it will mark his fourth consecutive No. 1. Including eliminations, Edwards has been the quickest car in ten consecutive rounds of qualifying and eliminations.

“Any time we can come to the racetrack and have two runs with sunshine that’s a good thing,” Edwards said. “We made a really nice run tonight. We made a nice run the first pass too.”

That first run, a 6.692, 207.08, was made tricky by a starting line that he described as complex for the first car length.

“I think everybody has been trying to adapt to that and once they do, the runs are going to be even quicker,” Edwards admitted. “We made some adjustments and we feel like we got a little bit better. Hopefully we can build on that and run better on Saturday.”

If anyone can figure out the troublesome starting line, it’s Edwards who has qualified on the pole three times this season and considers Heartland Park Topeka to be his NHRA home track.

Edwards lives in Broken Arrow, Ok., a small town located 244 miles south of HPT near Tulsa.

“I have all my family here and I’ve never really done well with them here,” Edwards said. “It would be nice to win in front of my family.”

The last time Edwards won at HPT was in 1999.

But, then again, Edwards hasn’t had the kind of car he’s got now. Most importantly, it’s powered by an engine from his in-house engine program. Prior to last season, Edwards had bought or leased horsepower.

Now he makes his own.

“I’m really living a dream, once you and your team begin to gel you go up to the starting line with a lot of confidence,” Edwards explained. “I think you’re always going to have a little bit of doubt but if you can go up to the line with 75% confidence … it beats going up there with 25%.

“You have to keep the wheels on this thing because they can come off quickly. There are lots of good teams out there and we plan to race the track tomorrow and see what happens.”

Edwards has a monumental challenge ahead of him if he hopes to improve on Friday’s run with Saturday’s forecast showing equally warm temperatures. Those conditions are expected to challenge even the most seasoned tuners.

The silver lining in that dark cloud is that Pro Stock will run their third session overall and first on Saturday at 11:30 AM, CST.

“If someone is going to step up from today, it will come during that season,” Edwards proclaimed. “It all depends on the weather because we race naturally aspirated race cars. The car breathes what we breathe. If it’s nice and cool outside then … then they run really well. If it’s muggy and hot, it’s just like us … it doesn’t run so well.”

GIVING BACK – Edwards continues to devote time before each race to local Young Life programs and on the Thursday before the event, Edwards entertained 51 inner city children from Kansas City, Mo.

“My Young Life program is the first and foremost for me out here,” Edwards admitted. “We live and breathe those kids. It’s all about Christ and it’s all about those kids … the racing is just a plus. I give God all of the glory.”  

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