The script was written perfectly a year ago for Clay Millican and it looks like the popular driver from Tennessee is ready for a command performance.

Millican won his first NHRA Top Fuel title last season at zMAX Dragway at Bristol, Tenn., and would like nothing more than to defend it. He arrived at the Fitzgerald USA Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals having won two of this year’s 10 Top Fuel titles with crew chief David Grubnic and the Great Clips/Parts Plus dragster team and didn’t let up Friday during the night qualifying session.

He holds the provisional No. 1 spot with his run of 3.817 seconds at 322.88 mph that edged Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team’s 3.830 (323.66).

In other Mello Yello categories: Funny Car points leader Courtney Force is No. 1 with a time of 3.93 (325.92) and Greg Anderson leads Pro Stock with a time of 6.674 (205.35).

“There is nothing I love any more than being right here in this press box,” he said Friday night after qualifying. “It’s my favorite place on the planet. I love this place. If it stays No. 1 tomorrow I ain’t going to lie to you. About 4:30, 5:00 Sunday afternoon (after eliminations) I want to be right back up here again because this place is awesome.”

He welcomes a repeat performance on Father’s Day in his home state.

“It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been very busy this week as the first defending guy or whatever,” he said of promoting the event. “I’ve done a lot of radio, a lot of TV and it’s fun because not a single person has asked me where I’m from. Not one.

“The only pressure is what I’m putting on myself because it is such a special race to me, (wife) Donna, and my whole family, and this team. Last year was such an emotional win the way it all played out, the way it happened.

“I would definitely love to defend this race. I would love nothing more than to do that.

“The fans, you know, they’ve been coming by and I feel like John Force a little bit, there’s been so many people at my pit area. The majority of them said, ‘Hey, we cried with you, we sang ‘Rocky Top’ with you, and we want to do it again.”

It’s supposed to be hotter for Saturday’s final qualifying sessions at 1 and 3:30 p.m. and the following day’s eliminations when it’s forecast to be in the low 90s.

“I am assuming it is going to be smoking hot again. The challenges are the same for everybody. Calm (the cars) down enough, get them kind of going early then calm it down through the middle and send her on down through there.”