Top Fuel Doug Kalitta wondered if the NHRA still held press conferences after qualifying. Friday night in Phoenix, his questions were answered.

For the drag racing veteran, the last time he’d been to one was in November 2006, when he qualified on the pole for the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Ca. This weekend, he has the quickest Top Fuel dragster at Phoenix with a 3.825, 317.05.

Admittedly, Kalitta and his crew, led by Jim Oberhofer, have stumbled on to something that is working. Based on their runner-up finish last weekend in the season-opening Winternationals, it’s working well.

When the NHRA announced Thursday evening the temporary suspension of mandatory use of the Electrimotion Shutoff Receiver, Ron Capps was pleased.

While not the only driver to experience issues with the device, Capps, driver of the NAPA Dodge, was one of the more vocal after suffering damage to not one, but two, blowers.

The system is not being used on the NAPA Dodge this weekend. In between first and second round qualifying the California native took the time to describe his experience with the device at Pomona.

When you’re on top there’s only one place to go and defending NHRA Pro Stock world champion Mike Edwards knows that all too well.

Driving the Penhall-sponsored Pontiac GXP, Edwards stands on the cusp of his eleventh consecutive No. 1 qualifying effort with a 6.609 elapsed time at 209.46 during the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix.

Edwards has now led 24 consecutive qualifying sessions dating back to July 2009 in Denver.

“I want to get every inch of the race track that I can get and that first sixty feet is just as important as the last sixty feet,” said Edwards, when asked if his qualifying philosophy began with an aggressive launch.

Less than 24 hours after announcing they impounded several superchargers, NHRA officials Graham Light and Glenn Gray, answered questions surrounding the situation.

Four different superchargers were taken by the sanctioning body at Pomona following the 50th Winternationals. Superchargers from the race cars of Larry Dixon, Tony Schumacher, Bob Tasca and Ashley Force Hood were impounded for later inspection. The result of the inspection – three superchargers passed and the fourth, from Dixon's dragster, did not.

Gordie Rivera, longtime NHRA Pro Stock racer from Yuma, Az., crashed his Pontiac GXP during Friday afternoon qualifying.

Rivera’s Pontiac appeared to break something in the left rear forcing the car sideways and into a slow roll onto its roof where it skidded to a stop after crossing into the right lane.

He climbed out of the car under his own power.

NHRA officials announced today that Tire Kingdom, a leading brand of service centers for Florida-based TBC Retail Group, Inc. (“TBC”) has signed an agreement to become the title sponsor of the tradition-rich NHRA Gatornationals, held at historic Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway.

The Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, held March 11-14, is the third event in the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in 2010. The race will be televised by ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD.

It is the first event sponsorship for Tire Kingdom and TBC with the NHRA.

When the Pro Modified Racing Association made its first trip to Ontario’s Grand Bend Motorplex over the Labor Day weekend in 2006, Paul Spriet, Chief of Operations for the racing facility, he was a little skeptical.
 
“We watched from the sidelines the initial season of PMRA racing (the series started in 2005) and observed how things turned out for their first year. We decided to give the PMRA a shot in 2006.
 
“And now we’re glad we did.”

The competition was fast, but Matt Hagan, driver of the DieHard Batteries Dodge Charger, was faster in both rounds of Arizona Nationals Friday qualifying at Firebird Int'l Raceway.

With rain in the forecast for Saturday, Hagan believes his team is ready to go now.

“Let Sunday come,” said Hagan after a stellar 4.068 second, 311.34 mile per hour pass which was good enough to push John Force back to second, followed by Ashley Force Hood, team mate Ron Capps and Robert Hight, the third Force Racing driver.

Doug Kalitta continued his early-season resurgence with a 3.825-second pass at 317.05 mph to earn the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel at the 26th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals Friday.

The other provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the second of 23 races in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).

The NHRA Technical Department impounded FOUR superchargers from Top Fuel and Funny Car vehicles at the NHRA Winternationals last weekend at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.