Robert Hight continued his domination of the Funny Car field as he took the provisional No. 1 qualifier as rain shortened Friday qualifying to just one session at the United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

Larry Dixon, Mike Edwards and Craig Treble also took the provisional top spots in their respective categories at the 10th of 23 events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Hight, who entered the event on a three-race winning streak, drove his Auto Club Ford Mustang to a 4.067-second pass at 313.15 mph to become the provisional top qualifier in Funny Car. If it stands it would be his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season and 36th of his career. It was also a track record in both time and speed.

Defending NHRA Pro Stock champion Mike Edwards wasn’t excluded from the weather issues which hampered every team at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. He was one of those drivers who pulled to the staging lanes for his first qualifying run only to be sent back to the pits multiple times when rains fell throughout the first day of the event staged outside of Chicago.

Even though he drove to the No. 1 spot in the field with a 6.660, getting those numbers wasn’t exactly business as usual.

“It’s tough on everyone,” said Edwards. “It’s tough on us, the NHRA, the fans, the Safety Safari guys. My hat’s off to them. They did a tremendous job fighting the weather.”

After a day filled with delay, Craig Treble found the sweet spot as he led the only round of qualifying for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class Friday evening.

Treble drove his '03 Suzuki TL-1000 to the top spot over David Hope and Hector Arana with a 6.960 second pass at 190.27 mph.

Hope and Arana were the only other drivers, out of 17, to break the 7-second barrier, at 6.971 and 6.989 seconds respectively.

For the record, despite the five hour plus delay, Treble never felt any pressure to get in a good lap.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the 42nd annual NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, the eighth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -

Final round-by-round results from the Third annual  O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway @ Concord, the 19th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:
 
TOP FUEL: 

This unidentified Mustang was making a run during the "Fat Tuesday" event at Hub City Dragway in Hattiesburg, Ms, when suddenly it took flight. The Ford landed without crashing.

Cory McClenathan has been hot this season behind the wheel of his dragster. He's won two national events in four final rounds and is second in the point standings. He's triumphed 33 times in his career in 61 final rounds and has earned pole position 36 times. He's a bona fide contender.

What he hasn't done is win at Route 66 Raceway. So, with a consistently-fast hot rod under him, tuned by Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, "Cory Mac" and the FRAM team expect to change the undesirable stat during this weekend's 13th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

McClenathan and his team will also embark on a four-in-a-row series of NHRA national events before they'll have a weekend off. After that, it's the three back-to-back races known as the Western Swing.

Who’s the biggest winner in Chicagoland sports history?  At the moment, you might consider the Blackhawks who, for the fourth time in franchise history, have the Stanley Cup clearly in sight.  Or, perhaps, the Bulls who, with Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, won six NBA titles.  Or even the Bears, winners of nine pro football championships including Super Bowl XX?
 
However, if you checked the box marked “none of the above,” give yourself a gold star and take an extra $20 out of petty cash.
 
From the standpoint of winning major professional sports championships, you have to look outside the box, outside the traditional stick-and-ball mentality of middle America.  You have to think extreme and we mean “8,000 horsepower, zero-to-315 mile-an-hour acceleration-in-1,000-feet” extreme.   That’s where you’ll find Chicago native Austin Coil, winner of 16 – count ‘em – 16 world championships in the high speed, high intensity world of NHRA drag racing.

The right lane looks alright at Firebird International Raceway but the left lane is left undone.
 
The repaving of both lanes, expected to be finished May 30 at a cost reaching $250,000, has been delayed to perhaps the end of next week.
 
The right lane was finished June 2, but Firebird Vice President Franki Buckman said milling in the left lane wasn't to President Charlie Allen's "satisfaction." According to Buckman, the lane was surveyed a second time, with more milling now planned for early next week. Final paving is to be done by June 11 -- but temperatures in the Valley of the Sun are forecast to reach 110 degrees this weekend and stay around that mark for several days.