Steven Whiteley held on to the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday during the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by presented by J&A Service portion of the Fitzgerald USA NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented by Elite Motorsports, is the sixth of 12 events this season.

Whiteley ran a 5.823-second pass at 250.51 mph in the second qualifying session on Friday in his J&A Services / Y-Not Racing ‘18 Chevy Camaro to take over the top spot.

“I’m pretty happy to run low E.T. of session three knowing that our No. 1 qualifying run from Friday would not be taken down in these conditions,” Whiteley said. “We pretty much used today as a few test sessions so that we have more data headed into race day.”

Rick Hord qualified second with a 5.855 pass at 251.72 and Mike Castellana ended up third with a run of 5.855 at 249.58 on Friday.

Whiteley entered the weekend 14th in the points standings as he locked in his first No. 1 qualifier in 2018.

E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service eliminations begin Sunday at 1:15 p.m.

Sunday's first-round pairings for eliminations for the 18th annual Fitzgerald USA NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, the sixth of 12 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Pro Modified -- 1. Steven Whiteley, Chevy Camaro, 5.823, 250.51 vs. 16. Todd Tutterow, Camaro, 5.952, 242.32; 2. Rick Hord, Chevy Corvette, 5.855, 251.72 vs. 15. Jeffery Barker, Pontiac GXP, 5.945, 250.78; 3. Mike Castellana, Camaro, 5.855, 249.58 vs. 14. Chad Green, Camaro, 5.939, 245.63; 4. Mike Janis, Camaro, 5.861, 244.69 vs. 13. Troy Coughlin, Ford Mustang, 5.928, 249.58; 5. Jeremy Ray, Corvette, 5.870, 244.47 vs. 12. Dan Stevenson, Camaro, 5.925, 254.09; 6. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.872, 245.18 vs. 11. Danny Rowe, Camaro, 5.919, 246.75; 7. Khalid alBalooshi, Camaro, 5.872, 245.40 vs. 10. Bob Rahaim, Camaro, 5.908, 246.62; 8. Eric Dillard, Pontiac Firebird, 5.885, 252.85 vs. 9. Sidnei Frigo, Corvette, 5.886, 251.58.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Chip King, 5.954, 242.28; 18. Michael Biehle, 5.958, 246.75; 19. Jim Whiteley, 5.960, 241.07; 20. Pete Farber, 5.964, 239.44; 21. Steve Jackson, 5.989, 242.36; 22. Doug Winters, 5.993, 239.31; 23. Brandon Snider, 6.004, 241.45; 24. Clint Satterfield, 6.015, 245.05; 25. Steve Matusek, 6.017, 243.50; 26. Richie Stevens, 6.034, 243.46; 27. Chuck Little, 6.117, 233.76; 28. Harry Hruska, 6.928, 170.69; 29. Erica Enders, 7.881, 120.44.