Pro Stock Bike rider Craig Treble held on to the top spot through the final two qualifying sessions at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

Treble ran 6.960 seconds at 190.27 mph to claim the top spot during Friday’s lone session and improved during Saturday’s second run with a 6.932, 188.

This marked Treble's first No. 1 of the year, and the fourth of his career. His last No. 1 came in 2003 at the Pomona, Calif., season finale, where he won the event.

"It was a lot wetter last night and today it started drying out after the rain finally subsided," said Treble of the weather changes. "And you could ride the bike up there to the staging lanes and not have to dodge all the puddles all the way up there, so that was kind of nice. We saw the humidity dropping and this morning it was a lot better than last night, obviously. Everybody picked up a little bit and, man, I still can’t believe it.


Pro Stock Bike rider Craig Treble held on to the top spot through the final two qualifying sessions at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

Treble ran 6.960 seconds at 190.27 mph to claim the top spot during Friday’s lone session and improved during Saturday’s second run with a 6.932, 188.

This marked Treble's first No. 1 of the year, and the fourth of his career. His last No. 1 came in 2003 at the Pomona, Calif., season finale, where he won the event.

"It was a lot wetter last night and today it started drying out after the rain finally subsided," said Treble of the weather changes. "And you could ride the bike up there to the staging lanes and not have to dodge all the puddles all the way up there, so that was kind of nice. We saw the humidity dropping and this morning it was a lot better than last night, obviously. Everybody picked up a little bit and, man, I still can’t believe it.

“They just told me up on the top end this is my first [No. 1] in seven years. I had no idea it’s been that long, but, you know what, I’m with the right team and I've got the right crew chief to make that happen. So, Steve (Tartaglia, crew chief), I can’t say enough good things about that guy. He worked so hard from Atlanta to now - over 30 dyno pulls. He killed himself, but I guess that’s the fruits of his labor because he did most of the work. Evan (Ray, crew member) and I tried to do what we could to help and not get in his way and we prepared the bike, got the trailer packed and did whatever we could do to let Steve go in his laboratory and do what Steve does.

“We tried something in that last hit; changed the gearing a little bit just to see if it would like it or not. Obviously, it did not. So, it's better to learn in qualifying when you’re locked in there pretty solid with the ET."

Treble is also unsure of the fate of the Valvoline Suzuki team as the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season continues.

"We're kind of uncertain as to where this team is going because the Valvoline deal is just about wrapped,” he said. “We’re not sure if the rig is getting parked or not, so it’s kind of up in the air right now. We’re going to keep working hard and slugging away until Don (Schumacher, team owner) says park it.”

Treble faces No. 16 qualifier Redell Harris in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.