On a day when carnage was king, Extreme Pro Stock frontrunner Pete Berner emerged unscathed. Considering he’s using an engine outside of his comfort zone Berner feels fortunate.

Berner, of Crete, Ill., drove his way to the provisional No. 1 spot at the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags hosted by South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga.

On a day when carnage was king, Extreme Pro Stock frontrunner Pete Berner emerged unscathed. Considering he’s using an engine outside of his comfort zone Berner feels fortunate.

Berner, of Crete, Ill., drove his way to the provisional No. 1 spot at the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags hosted by South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga.

“We didn’t look that way in the second round, had some carburetor problems,” said Berner, a past two-time IHRA champion who has committed to the full ADRL series in 2010.

Berner drove to a 4.096 elapsed time at 177.60 miles per hour during the first qualifying session.

Berner is in his first race with a new engine combination, one prepared specifically for eighth-mile competition.

“It’s showing a lot of promise,” explained Berner. “The engine is capable of running big speeds. Down low the tune-up just isn’t right for us.”

Berner and crew were thrashing late Friday to get the new engine ready to hopefully step up on Saturday.

“All in all we are pleased with the direction it is headed,” Berner said. “We know we had the potential to run quicker in both sessions.”

Up until this point, Berner had run an engine combination for the quarter-mile while running part-time on the ADRL series.

“Over the winter, we dedicated one of our engines to the eighth-mile racing,” Berner explained. “This is a totally different engine than what we were running with the IHRA. We are using a different type fuel and really it’s all a learning curve. We are going to tap into its potential and the potential is certainly there.”