Sunday's final results from the 23rd annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park. The race is the fifth of 23 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

John Force had just qualified No. 1 in Houston with the second quickest 1,000-foot pass in NHRA Drag Racing history. Any other time, the 14-time champion would have made a beeline for the press center to discuss his accomplishment.

This time he rode his scooter to the starting line, parked and watched a few pairs of Top Fuel make qualifying runs.

“People ask me why I am out there on the starting line when Top Fuel runs, and I tell them jokingly that I am trying to unprogram myself of the blue lights,” Force joked.

This wasn’t the record-setting performance John Force wanted, but the legend settled for the alternative.

Thanks to his provisional world-record time of 4.021 seconds Friday, Force took the Funny Car’s No. 1 qualifying spot at the NHRA Springnationals in Houston, Texas.

“We have that Ford Boss 500 motor, that we would like to really prove, and there will be two shots to set that record tomorrow,” Force said. “First round, when it is the coolest and I have to get to the final to get two shots. I had two shots today and couldn’t make it.”

Being atop the Pro Stock Motorcycle ladder fits Hector Arana just fine.

The reigning world champion took the No. 1 qualifying spot with his 6.856-second pass during Friday’s qualifying session at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals.

It’s not as if that run was a fluke either as Arana had the top qualifying pass Saturday at 6.858 seconds at Houston Raceway Park.

“We’re really working on it hard and paying attention, and I have to give credit to my crew guys,” Arana said. “They’re the ones who go and check the staging lanes hours before we get to run so we can make the proper call on the tuneup. They’re doing an awesome job.”

Larry Dixon has been racing Top Fuel long enough to know when his tuner goes into the electrical box, and the conditions are good, he’s getting ready to make a huge pass.

He gets no special instruction other than what was ingrained in his mind a long time ago, “Shallow stage, cut a good light and drive straight and get the win light.”

“[Former crewchief] Dick LaHaie used to tell me the same thing, so I had a lot of training,” added Dixon.

Dixon, Edwards and Arana round out No. 1 qualifiers

NHRA legend John Force inched one step closer to the one major NHRA milestone that eludes him – all-time No. 1 qualifiers – when he set the Funny Car pace at the 23rd O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil on Saturday.

The other No. 1 qualifiers at the fifth of 23 races in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Jay Payne raced to his first 2010 No. 1 qualifier in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series as qualifying came to an end Saturday at Houston Raceway Park.

Payne drove his 1968 supercharged Camaro to a 5.813-second run at 246.21 mph to take his first career No. 1 in the series, but Payne was unable to get around Melanie Troxel in the first round of eliminations.

When the NHRA was making history at the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, N.C., late last month, T.J. Zizzo was busy.

The 34-year-old Top Fuel driver was delivering on a promise he made to his wife, Jen, 15 years earlier.

“The whole situation boiled down to my wife quitting smoking 15 year ago,” Zizzo said Friday. “I told her back then if she quit smoking, I would take her to Spain. Needless to say, as a good husband usually does, we’re always a little bit behind on our promises, but last October I told my wife that she deserved to go to Spain because she had quit smoking many, many years ago.”

Zizzo and his wife, who teaches Spanish at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., made the trip to Barcelona during the week of March 22.

If the Pro Stock Bike gig doesn’t work out for Hector Arana, there’s a good chance being a meteorologist might make for suitable alternative work.

The defending world champion from Milltown, Ind., rode his way to the top of the qualifying list during first day qualifying at the NHRA Springnationals in Houston, Tex.

Arana credits his incessant study of this weekend’s weather reports as a key element for his Friday evening performance.