Surging Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta earned his second No. 1 in the last four races Saturday at the 29th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

The other No. 1 qualifiers at the 17th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Series season – and final race in the Countdown to 10 regular season – were Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Also on Saturday, Top Fuel driver Steve Torrence, Pro Stock driver Johnny Gray and Pro Stock Motorcycle riders Eddie Krawiec, LE Tonglet and David Hope secured their berths in the Countdown to 1. That leaves only five positions left to be decided on the final Sunday of the Countdown to 10 regular season – one each in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock and two in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

American drag racer Melanie Troxel had a busy Saturday at the 25th annual FIA Nitrolympx at the historic Hockenheimring, qualifying No. 1 in Pro Mod with a track-record pass and cruising to a first-round victory over Robert Joosten.

"It's nice to know the car can go down the track and consistently run a good number," Troxel said. "We're excited about the handle we have on the race car, and I'm real comfortable in it. We're ready to go for Sunday."

Troxel blazed past Joosten in their elimination matchup with a run of 6.045 seconds at 241.14 mph, which tied the ET record she had set earlier in the day. Joosten had problems off the start and crossed the center line at half track, resulting in a disqualification.

When Kurt Johnson races this weekend in his native Land of 1000 Lakes, he won't be driving a Chevy to the levy.

That Cobalt, that aero package, was designed back in 2005, and the GXP was new in 2008. So you know, it’s time to step up a little bit,” Johnson said Friday as he took aim at the 10th Pro Stock spot in the standings in his final weekend to become part of the Countdown.

Andrew Hines finds it hard to believe he’s on the cusp of his first pole position of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Series tour. His 6.977 elapsed time at 191.46, if it holds through Saturday’s qualifications at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., will indeed mark the first time he’s been the No. 1 seed headed into race day.
 
“It has been a while,” Hines admitted. “I don’t think I’ve had a number one since St. Louis last year. Everybody’s tough out here. The Suzuki’s are tough out here. Hector [Arana] has been showing us all how to do it out here. It’s nice to have a provisional out here on Friday and hopefully it will stick. We have a couple of things up our sleeves and we might be able to pick up a bit. I’m proud of our team. We did a lot of hard work. It’s paying off.”
 
The hard work for the Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines team included an extensive tear down and rebuild of the team’s V-Rod engines prior to this weekend’s final event of the regular season.

A week or two ago, Ashley Force Hood was perturbed, saying she and her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang team “for some reason . . . are just having a crappy year.”

But it’s looking happy, not crappy, right now at Brainerd International Raceway.

Already in the Countdown field with the No. 8 berth and a chance to leapfrog both No. 6 Tim Wilkerson and No. 7 Bob Tasca, Force Hood took the provisional top qualifying position Friday for the Lucas Oil Nationals.

Brandon Bernstein believes the Copart/Lucas Oil team cleared a major hurdle six races ago. During first day qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., Bernstein offered the proof.

Bernstein claimed the provisional Top Fuel pole position with a 3.846 elapsed time at 309.24 putting nearly .04 on second quickest qualifier Cory McClenathan.

“Six races ago we started to get that confidence that we could go down the track and make the big runs and not smoke the tires,” Bernstein explained. “We’ve got that confidence and hopefully we keep it.”

Melanie Troxel wowed European fans Friday by zooming to the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot in Pro Mod at the 25th annual FIA Nitrolympx at Hockenheimring.

"It's nice to start this weekend off strong," Troxel said. "The car is going down the track and our crew chief, Al Billes, has a handle on the track conditions. Now that we've a good run in each lane, we've got a great foundation to build on."

After being fastest after the first round, Billes tweaked the tune-up and Troxel raced her car to a second qualifying pass of 6.099 seconds at 240.39 mph, fastest on the day by .07 seconds and .003 seconds off a track record.

Talk about making a good first impression.

Having never made a pass in Nitro Jam competition before Friday night Dave Hirata entered this weekend’s event hoping for a solid showing in the brand new Pro Fuel class and instead walked away with his first career victory on opening night at the Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park

Hirata swept both of his opponents Friday night in front of the rambunctious Martin crowd, joining fellow professional winners Bobby Lagana Jr. (Top Fuel) and Steve Nichols (Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car) in taking home Nitro Jam’s top prize – an Ironman trophy – while gaining the immediate respect of his fellow competitors in the new Pro Fuel category.

Hirata also claimed a win in his first try at the brand new format which was also making its debut at the Michigan track Friday night.