The top runners in Friday’s qualifying just happened to be two nitro runners who have competed in the series sparingly. Still, in the NHRA Winternationals’ opening day, they didn’t miss a beat.

Daniel Wilkerson, competing in his first full season of Funny Car, raced to the provisional qualifying lead for Funny Cars. If the run holds, it will be the first of his career.

Joining Wilkerson atop the Pomona leaderboard was Billy Torrence (Top Fuel) and defending NHRA Pro Stock champion Erica Enders. 

The first session Funny Car times were a bit off-pace, but Wilkerson had the most of any good fortunes as he stopped the clocks with a 4.014 at 314.31 in his 11,000-horsepower Scag Power Equipment Ford Mustang. The second-generation Wilkerson, took over driving for his father, Funny Car veteran Tim Wilkerson, calling the shots as crew chief. On Friday, it worked out wonderfully for the father-son duo.

“It was a little squirrely, but I got it to the end,” said Wilkerson, who will compete for NHRA Rookie of the Year honors this year. It got a little loose coming out of the middle of the track, and I was almost yelling at myself steering the car. But it worked out, and I was happy with it. All of this, it almost hasn’t set in yet, but it’s been a lot of fun so far.”

In a surprising measure, Jeff Diehl had the second-quickest run of Friday
After going 4.050 at 306.81, Chad Green, who won in Pomona last year to end the season, is third with a 4.110 at 302.96.

Torrence made the most of Friday’s single session, laying down a 3.745 elapsed time at 330.47 in his Capco Contractors dragster. If that holds, Torrence would earn his sixth career No. 1 qualifier, as both Torrence cars made strong runs during the lone qualifying session of the day. His son, Steve, is currently second after the four-time world champ went 3.750 at 328.30, giving the team plenty of momentum for the weekend. They also meet tomorrow in the opening round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge.

“I was very impressed with that run,” Torrence said. “I thought we could make a good run on the track. The guys have worked really hard on that setup, and I really thought Steve would sneak around us and pick up our pocket, but he just missed us. Performance-wise, I think the cars are really close. I think we’ve got a good set-up for a solid year.”

Brittany Force is in third place thanks to a run of 3.783 at 330.30, and Gainesville winner Shawn Langdon is right behind with a 3.788 at 318.24.

Enders wasted no time jumping to the front of the qualifying with a 6.556 at 211.69 in her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Scag Power Equipment car. If it holds, it would give Enders her second straight No. 1 qualifier to start the season. Enders, who also won in Gainesville, is after her 50th career national event victory this weekend, which would add another incredible milestone in her stellar career. Two years ago, Enders won at the Winternationals in what was the 900th race in Pro Stock history.

“It was a little bit of a hairy ride. It made some big moves, but I’m thankful for all the runs I have in these cars,” Enders said. “We’re big on numbers and going after that 50th win is very important to us. Winning my first Winternationals two years ago for the 900th Pro Stock race was pretty spectacular and we’re glad to be back here. Coming off a win at the Gatornationals, we’re just going to try to carry that momentum, but we definitely have a good racecar right now.”

Matt Hartford sits second with a 6.568 at 210.31 and Jeg Coughlin Jr. is third with a 6.573 at 211.20.

Qualifying continues at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.