For almost a calendar year, iconic drag radial promoter Donald Long has been extolling the virtues of the nitrous-injected Radial vs. The World entries.

Jamie Hancock gave Long plenty of ammunition for his tirades, as the Columbus, Ga.-based racer drove his Pontiac Firebird to the Radial vs. The World provisional No. 1, stopping the eighth-mile timers 3.662 seconds, 193.23 miles per hour.

"This feels awesome because we've been struggling with the car," Hancock explained. "We've changed a lot of stuff, so we are very happy with this."

Hancock was the quickest of three nitrous entries with paced the 32-car field after two sessions. Mike Stavrinos (3.674), Jack Greene (3.689) slipped into second and third spots, respectively.

Despite the fact Long has been bragging on the nitrous entries, Hancock said there was no pressure outside of the standard self-induced motivation to race his way to No. 1.

"It was really gratifying to get this top spot early, especially with what has happened to my dad," Hancock admitted.

The elder Hancock, James Hancock, broke his leg following his son's incredible 3.61 run during the Shakedown Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

James was on the starting lane with the use of a mobility scooter helping son on Wednesday.

"He got excited and fell off of the ATV," Hancock revealed. "It was pretty bad."

"But, to start off this way, it's a good start for us."

Manny Buginga paced the X-275 division, running a 4.317 in the Q-2 session, to end the day as the leader.

Keep up with the results from the No Mercy 10 Drag Radial Tire event from @racesgmp @RaceStrange @MickeyThompsonT - https://t.co/4T6NrVzZNA

— Competition Plus (@competitionplus) October 16, 2019