Jay Payne raced to his first 2010 No. 1 qualifier in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series as qualifying came to an end Saturday at Houston Raceway Park.

Payne drove his 1968 supercharged Camaro to a 5.813-second run at 246.21 mph to take his first career No. 1 in the series, but Payne was unable to get around Melanie Troxel in the first round of eliminations.

Jay Payne raced to his first 2010 No. 1 qualifier in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series as qualifying came to an end Saturday at Houston Raceway Park.

Payne drove his 1968 supercharged Camaro to a 5.813-second run at 246.21 mph to take his first career No. 1 in the series, but Payne was unable to get around Melanie Troxel in the first round of eliminations.

Troxel, who also competes in the Funny Car class in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, was able to pull away from Payne in the first round, driving her 1963 Corvette to a 6.222 at 242.50. Troxel had qualified 16th, barely making the field, but was able to power past Payne to advance.

“You say never give up on race day, but there comes a time, especially in the Pro Mod class, because the window of what you can get away with in those cars is smaller than most classes,” said Troxel. “The second time I pedaled the car (Jay Payne) was at least eight car lengths ahead of me. I thought, ‘This is stupid, pedaling the car when he is that far out from me.’ It cleared up by half track and I decided to run it on through. By the time I got it in high gear, I thought I was reeling him in awfully fast.”

Eliminations will continue on Sunday.

First-round pairings for the 23rd annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park.  Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Pro Modified -- 1. Jay Payne, Chevy Camaro, 5.813, 246.21  vs. 16. Melanie Troxel, Chevy Corvette, 6.072, 243.99; 2. Raymond Commisso, Camaro, 5.852, 251.20  vs. 15. Burton Auxier, Camaro, 6.010, 234.98; 3. Danny Rowe, Camaro, 5.864, 249.35  vs. 14. Chip King, Dodge Daytona, 5.992, 241.54; 4. Von Smith, Camaro, 5.879, 246.62  vs. 13. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.989, 238.81; 5. Mike Knowles, Corvette, 5.895, 245.81  vs. 12. Dennis Radford, Plymouth Duster, 5.978, 237.88; 6. Mike Castellana, Camaro, 5.913, 240.64  vs. 11. Tony Pontieri, Camaro, 5.960, 243.46; 7. Tim Tindle, Shelby Mustang, 5.923, 241.45  vs. 10. Joe Baker, Pontiac Firebird, 5.951, 243.50; 8. Rick Stivers, Dodge Stratus, 5.941, 243.90  vs. 9. Troy Coughlin, Camaro, 5.943, 238.60.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Scott Ray, 6.118, 217.95; 18. Ed Hoover, 6.313, 164.55; 19. Khalid Balooshi, 6.764, 152.40; 20. Kenny Lang, 6.991, 148.43; 21. Roger Burgess, 7.275, 157.52; 22. Mike Janis, 8.403, 110.76.


First round-by-round results from the 23rd annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park:

PRO MODIFIED:

ROUND ONE -- Rick Stivers, Dodge Stratus, 6.041, 211.43 def. Troy Coughlin, Chevy Camaro, 6.071, 231.75; Joe Baker, Pontiac Firebird, 5.976, 240.51 def. Tim Tindle, Shelby Mustang, 9.568, 100.34; Mike Castellana, Camaro, 5.912, 241.89 def. Tony Pontieri, Camaro, DQ; Dennis Radford, Plymouth Duster, 5.948, 237.84 def. Mike Knowles, Chevy Corvette, foul; Von Smith, Camaro, 5.881, 247.16 def. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.943, 241.20; Burton Auxier, Camaro, 6.872, 155.06 def. Raymond Commisso, Camaro, foul; Danny Rowe, Camaro, 5.919, 247.84 def. Chip King, Dodge Daytona, 5.909, 243.11; Melanie Troxel, Corvette, 6.222, 242.50 def. Jay Payne, Camaro, 6.402, 173.25.