Dispose of the voodoo doll. Unleash the sage. Banish the demons. Greg Anderson is fervently wishing that his string of misfortunes has come to an end.

Following a tumultuous start to the weekend that ranks among the most chaotic for an individual competitor in recent memory, Anderson managed to clinch a surprising No. 1 qualifier spot Saturday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

“I cannot remember” a weekend like this, Anderson said. “It’s kind of funny, and all you can do is just shake your head and chuckle. There’s no sense in getting mad about it. Mistakes are made and there is nothing you can do about it. It’s drag racing. I guess if things were going bad and the car was running poorly, the driver was driving poorly, then maybe I’d get a little bit mad, but I don’t have room for that.

It's been 50 years since Rickie Smith went class racing. This weekend, the drag racing Hall of Famer has returned to his roots while racing Competition Eliminator. 

Smith is racing his nitrous-injected Mustang in A/Pro Modified class this weekend. He made two runs on Friday, a 5.786 elapsed time, -.884 under his index, and followed up with a 5.764, -0.906. 

John Force intends to retire one day, but if race fans believe he's stepping aside for Jordan Vandergriff, they are reading too much into the situation. 

"We are just talking, and I don't have a spot right now," Force said. "I like the kid. I like the Vandergriff name. I raced with his family for years. He's done those reality shows and now does some stuff with FOX. He came in and tested a Funny Car for us." 

Gaige Herrera’s qualifying dominance in Pro Stock Motorcycle continued on Saturday in Charlotte, but it took until the final session when the defending world champ put together a track-record run of 6.671 at 202.70 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki. 

Herrera was the only Mission Food Series competitor to qualify No. 1 on Saturday, who wasn’t already at the top of the leaderboard. 

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) secured No. 1 qualifiers at the fifth stop on the 21-race tour. 

Bob Tasca III made a monster of a run Friday night, stopping the timers during the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway at 3.849 seconds at 335.32 miles per hour. The run was good enough for 16th in the field.

Well, not initially. The run was good enough for No. 2 in the sixteen-car field. At the conclusion of the Q2 session, however, it became apparent that the run was living on borrowed time as the NHRA’s technical department confiscated an intake manifold the series deemed questionable and unacceptable by Noon on Saturday. 

Two weeks ago, Doug Kalitta checked a major item off of his drag racing bucket list by winning a four-wide drag race. Now, the reigning Top Fuel world champion has  a chance to realize yet another goal by achieving back-to-back wins in that same format.

On Friday, Kalitta got that quest off to a good start by taking the provisional top spot at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

John Force boasts an unparalleled career spanning over 850 races, with an impressive tally of over 2,100 competitive laps under his belt. Renowned for his mastery behind the wheel, Force holds the distinction of having logged more runs  in a nitro-burning Funny Car than anyone.

Remarkably, at the age of 74, Force continues to set new benchmarks by clocking the quickest lap of his illustrious drag racing career Friday.

John Force, the 17-time Funny Car champion, built a legend out of creating impact moments. Friday night at zMAX Dragway during the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, he only solidified his iconic status by setting a new track record en route to the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot. 

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the fifth of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Force said he could feel the car pulling on a good run as he stopped the timers with a 3.820-second elapsed time at 330.96 mph in his PEAK Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS. His new track record replaced the one previously held by teammate Robert Hight last September. 

Icons attract icons, and at this weekend’s Charlotte four-wide event, two of them are paired together for what they hope is a grand presentation. 

HendrickCars.com, the online brand for NASCAR Hall of Famer Rick Hendrick’s automotive retail enterprise, and John Force Racing partnered for a four-race, primary sponsorship of Brittany Force and her Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster.