Deric Kramer could really get used to this green hat thing.

After more than seven years getting his feet wet in the Pro Stock ranks, the 32-year-old out of Sterling, Colorado took the next big step in his career earlier this year by combining his physical abilities with the mechanical abilities of a KB Racing powerhouse and the results speak for themselves.

And on Saturday, Kramer added to his newfound successes with his second career No. 1 qualifier award as he raced to the top spot in the final qualifying session of the weekend at the 30th annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties at Heartland Motorsports Park.

“I think everyone has their dues to pay. We definitely tried to do our best with the equipment we were given and I think we did that,” said Kramer about his driving career prior to 2018. “We pretty much made the decision that we were making good runs, but we just didn’t have the power. We needed to go out and find that power, so that is what we did.”

Kramer earned his second green hat of the season behind the wheel of the American Ethanol Chevrolet Camaro with an impressive 6.613-second pass at 208.42 mph in the final session of the afternoon, bettering Greg Anderson, who had taken over the top spot one pair earlier, and Erica Enders, who sat atop the pack for much of the weekend.

Enders qualified second with a 6.616 at 207.69, while Kramer’s KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson qualified third with a 6.620 at 208.94 mph. Chris McGaha (6.626) and Jason Line (6.627) round out the top five.

“After Greg ran that 62, we were thinking we would be 623, maybe, if we did really well,” Kramer said. “We didn’t expect that at all. But it was good to hear (about the number one spot). Everyone on the radio was super excited and we have to thank American Ethanol and all of our sponsors for helping us get here.”

Kramer’s weekend saw a number of ups and downs as he bounced around from second to sixth on the charts, mostly chasing Enders, before coming out on top in Q4.

Kramer, whose other number one start came in race two of the season in Phoenix, hopes to add another notch to his resume with his second final round appearance if he can survive the competition on Sunday.

And he will open that challenge with a matchup against his former car as he faces Will Hatcher in round one.

“It’s unfortunate that it shook out that way, but we will have an American Ethanol showdown in the first round, so we are excited for that,” Kramer said. “We will see what we can do tomorrow morning.”