Top Fuel point leader Doug Kalitta has learned one thing during his career behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster. When crew chief Jim Oberhofer leans into the cockpit and tells him they are going for the No. 1 spot, he’d be wise to hold on and keep the 10,000-horsepower machine in the groove to the best of his ability.

Oberhofer was preaching the gospel as Kalitta thundered to the provisional Top Fuel qualifying lead during first day of qualifying at the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

Kalitta’s 3.719 elapsed time established a Summit Raceway Park track record, and put him .014 seconds ahead of No. 2 qualifier Antron Brown.

"Jim told me we were going for it,” said Kalitta, who, along with Del Worsham, could secure the first Kalitta Motorsports qualifying sweep since Charlotte in 2014. It was very cool, the track was in great condition, and he did a heck of a job. All the guys on this team bust their butts on this thing and I'm fortunate enough to show up on the weekends and drive this thing. It's just cool to see how hard they work and to be able to pull off runs like that."

Friday’s Q-2 session was strong, with Brittany Force and Richie Crampton recording identical 3.735 elapsed times, with the Monster Energy-sponsored Force qualifying higher on the basis of her faster 324.28 speed. Kalitta’s teammate JR Todd was fifth with a 3.759.

But on Kalitta’s 3.71 pass the moment he stabbed the throttle he was clearly on a special run.

"You can tell actually when it’s on a strong run; when that thing is pulling, and I have to admit, that 3.71, the car is just accelerating harder and you can just feel that thing is digging for it,” Kalitta explained. “That's kind of the indication about halfway down the track I think is about when you can really start feeling that thing grabbing hold and running. It was pretty exciting; it was a cool ride for sure and I definitely had the best seat in the house."

And in Norwalk’s stadium-style drag racing arena, there’s no such thing as a bad seat. The facility is a home-track of sorts for the Ypsilanti, Michigan-based Kalitta Motorsports.

"We get a lot of support with our family and friends here,” Kalitta said. “We have them here this weekend, so that's probably the funnest part of it is just getting everybody here with us and rooting us on. It paid off for us last year, so we're hoping that it carries on to this year. The Bader's run like a family environment here too, which is cool. It just adds to it and we enjoy coming here. It's two hours away and getting to hang out at Cedar Point a little bit too never hurts."

Though, as Kalitta will readily admit, there’s no Cedar Point ride to compare to his Friday experience.

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