This weekend has gotten better and better at Concord, N.C., for Funny Car driver and U.S. Nationals winner Alexis DeJoria.

She missed Friday's second qualifying session with a fuel pump leak in her Kalitta Motorsports-operated Patron XO Café Toyota Camry.

This weekend has gotten better and better at Concord, N.C., for Funny Car driver and U.S. Nationals winner Alexis DeJoria.

She missed Friday's second qualifying session with a fuel pump leak in her Kalitta Motorsports-operated Patron XO Café Toyota Camry.

But the end of Saturday's first session at the Pep Boys NHRA Carolinas Nationals, she was the Funny Car leader with a 4.100-second pass (at 298.80 mph) on zMAX Dragway's 1,000-foot course. And by the close of qualifying she had secured her second No. 1 qualifying position of the season and her career with an even-better 4.090-second elapsed time at 300.53 mph.

As she prepares to line up against Dave Richards, the No. 16 qualifier, in the first round of eliminations Sunday, DeJoria was trying to balance her outlook.

"It’s only our second No. 1 ever, so it’s really exciting,” she said. At the same time, she was thinking about something a fellow racer in the Super Comp ranks told her one time.

As she got ready for the third round that day, a man approached her and told her, "I'm sorry." She was puzzled. "I'm sorry you have to race me," he clarified, "because you're going to lose." She shrugged off his remarks and went on to win the event, her first in NHRA competition.

The lesson she learned that day has stuck with her: "Don’t think for one second that you've got it in the bag, because you never know." She said Saturday, "I will never say that, ever."

The fourth-ranked driver, DeJoria did allow herself to say, "I'm really, really excited about our chances for this race.

"The guys have a good handle on the car.  We’re getting consistent runs down the track, and that consistency has helped us win rounds. You can win from any spot in qualifying. We've done it from not the best spots on the ladder," she said.

She won the Phoenix race from the No. 4 slot, and the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis from the No. 7 spot – not terribly hopeless positions. But in between those victories, she triumphed at Las Vegas – a city that rewards long shots – from the more unlikely No. 12 position.

"We haven't always done the best in qualifying," DeJoria said, "but managed to perform on race days. So hopefully we can do that again."

Friday's problem that prevented her from even rolling up to the starting line might have stung a little more because her Tommy DeLago/Glen Huszar-led team yanked the car out of line just as the pair ahead of them was approaching the line. The crew chiefs had explained that the problem was not one that they could let her run with and one they couldn’t fix at that point. She said she understood.

"Better safe than sorry," she said Saturday, adding that she didn’t give that a second thought Saturday.

Alexis DeJoria’s Funny Car No. 1 spot gave Kalitta Motorsports both top-qualifying positions in the nitro ranks.

Robert Hight, of John Force Racing, slipped in ahead of Friday leader Matt Hagan, of Don Schumacher Racing, as the No. 2 starter. Hight will meet No. 15 Chad Head in the first round of eliminations Sunday, and Hagan will square off against No. 14 Tony Pedregon.

In other first-round competition, No. 4 Cruz Pedregon will face No. 13 Bob Tasca, No. 5 Ron Capps will meet Don Schumacher Racing colleague No. 12 Tommy Johnson Jr., and No. 6 Jack Beckman will go up against No. 11 Tim Wilkerson, the man who beat him out for the final spot in the Countdown field.

("I don't even like the word spoiler. Spoiler means a non-contender," Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car and 2003 Super Comp champion said. "We're not even going to sweat the points anymore. It was a great qualifying weekend for our team, but it doesn't mean anything unless it translates to round wins on Sunday. We know what happened at Indy. He was No. 2 qualifier but lost his Countdown bid with his first-round upset loss. "We looked fantastic until eliminations. I'm confident and I think we have a car that can win. Now it's up to us to make the right decisions and make that happen," he said.)

Del Worsham (No. 7) will battle former teammate Jeff Arend (No. 10), and it will be a daughter-dad showdown between No. 8 Courtney Force and No. 9 John Force.

It's the 12th time the Forces have met on race day and the sixth time in the opening round. They've raced each other three times this year. The last time that happened, in July at Sonoma, she won from the top qualifying spot. Overall, Courtney Force has a 6-5 edge.

John Force said, “It’s a tough way to start the Countdown. For all your work, it comes down to luck and timing. We all ran good – it’s just we ran the same. Hey, it’s all part of the sport. I have no complaints, but it still aggregates the heck out of me that somebody's going go home."

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