Racing at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Chandler, Ariz., near Phoenix, was suspended for more than two hours Friday afternoon because of an unidentified problem with the Firebird Motorsports Park dragstrip surface.

That was followed by a brief blanket of rain sprinkles, but ultimately, Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and Austin Prock (Funny Car) were provisional No. 1 qualifiers.

After action resumed, the Funny Car class completed its lone qualifying session, and the Top Fuel category was about halfway through its first of three chances when the NHRA announced that Pro Stock and Pro Modified would not run Friday. Instead, both of those classes will make three qualifying attempts Saturday.

Pro Stock cars will run Saturday at the category’s scheduled 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. times. The Pro Stock #2Fast2Tasty Mission Challenge will take place during those sessions. The third and final Pro Stock qualifier is slated for 3:30 p.m., when Dallas Glenn and Erica Enders will race in the finals of the rain-postponed Winternationals.

Pro Mod will run at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4:15 p.m. Saturday.

Top Fuel and Funny Car will make their two scheduled qualifying attempts at noon and 2:30 p.m. The finals of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge takes place during that first opening session. John Force and J.R. Todd will square off for the Funny Car cash and Countdown points. Tony Schumacher and Brittany Force will meet for the Top Fuel honors.

The Winternationals final rounds for both nitro classes will take place during Saturday’s last session. In Top Fuel, Justin Ashley will race Tony Schumacher, while in Funny Car, John Force will go against Matt Hagan.

As for the delay that caused the NHRA to rearrange the schedule, the sanctioning body issued the following statement:

“Due to unseasonable weather conditions on Friday in Phoenix, the Safety Safari has spent additional time working on the track and track prep.

"When we return to racing action, Legends Nitro Funny Cars will be the first cars on the track, followed by the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, starting with Funny Car. 

"Based on Saturday’s the forecast, we expect great race conditions, and we plan to start racing in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at 8 a.m., as scheduled.”

One nitro crew chief, whose name Competition Plus has chosen not to publish, said, “It looks like the track’s come up a little bit there on the starting line, pretty much right across from the Tree, not where the car leaves, but right there where it gets to the back tires.” 

With several individuals working downtrack, at about 700-800 feet on the 1,000-footcourse, for the bulk of the down-time, he said, “Somebody said the track's coming up down there, as well. It looks like it's where they ground it or prepped it. It looks like the aggregate's coming apart.”

But he said he was uncertain about the cause of that: “I'm not sure. They don't let us know what they did. We got to try to figure it out on our own.”

Friday's results after the first one of three rounds of qualifying for the 39th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park, third of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.

Top Fuel -- 1. Steve Torrence, 3.678 seconds, 336.23 mph; 2. Brittany Force, 3.689, 334.90; 3. Doug Kalitta, 3.697, 323.66; 4. Antron Brown, 3.738, 329.34; 5. Tony Schumacher, 3.755, 328.38; 6. Krista Baldwin, 3.755, 325.37; 7. Shawn Langdon, 3.790, 317.42; 8. Jasmine Salinas, 3.893, 252.76; 9. Justin Ashley, 3.902, 313.58; 10. Shawn Reed, 4.026, 276.41; 11. Clay Millican, 4.508, 171.42; 12. Billy Torrence, 4.726, 158.26; 13. Terry Totten, 4.934, 148.17; 14. Tony Stewart, 6.165, 100.36; 15. Josh Hart, 8.167, 77.54; 16. Travis Shumake, 8.693, 83.34. 

Funny Car -- 1. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 3.840, 334.40; 2. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.876, 334.65; 3. Paul Lee, Dodge Charger, 3.889, 329.02; 4. John Force, Camaro, 3.901, 325.37; 5. J.R. Todd, Toyota GR Supra, 3.923, 320.58; 6. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 3.927, 324.44; 7. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.941, 323.35; 8. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.996, 281.77; 9. Jim Campbell, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.052, 302.41; 10. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Camry, 4.068, 307.72; 11. Buddy Hull, Charger, 4.158, 260.31; 12. Bobby Bode, Mustang, 4.501, 196.99; 13. Terry Haddock, Mustang, 4.653, 178.17; 14. Dave Richards, Mustang, 7.475, 86.37; 15. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 7.633, 99.00; 16. Alexis DeJoria, GR Supra, 8.581, 76.65. Not Qualified: 17. Ron Capps, 8.909, 82.80; 18. Daniel Wilkerson, 10.449, 81.56.