J. Force, Kalitta and Enders Grab Provisional No.1 Spots at Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals

CONCORD, NC – September 24, 2022 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Looking to sweep both races at zMAX Dragway this season, legendary Funny Car driver John Force rolled to the provisional No. 1 position on Friday in Charlotte at the 14th annual Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals.

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) are also provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the second of six races in the Countdown to the Championship during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

Force, who has won the four-wide race at the track the past two years, just missed the track record at the second race in the playoffs, going 3.854-seconds at 330.47 mph in his 11,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS. If it holds it would be the 16-time world champion’s second No. 1 qualifier this year and 165th in his career. Force has forged an impressive rhythm at the state-of-the-art facility in recent years and is trying to make a move in the points standings as well. He’s currently fourth in points and is looking to make a big push this weekend.

“It’s a great track to run numbers like this, but there’s a stack of them right behind me that can do the same, and we’re going to have conditions like this tomorrow,” Force said. “We’ve got a good team and it’s coming around, (but) we’ve got a lot of work to do. They were all there tomorrow, but at least we got to shine for one night. Our team had a great weekend last weekend with Robert (Hight) and Austin (Prock) both winning, and we’re back in the fight in the Countdown.”

Three other standouts closely followed right behind Force, as points leader Hight, defending world champ Ron Capps and Matt Hagan all went 3.86. Hagan is currently second with his run of 3.861 at 329.99, with Hight and Capps going 3.864 and 3.866, respectively. Bob Tasca III rounded out the top five with a 3.876.

Looking to get into the Top Fuel championship hunt with a late-season run – and also pick up a milestone victory along the way – Kalitta was the only driver to dip into the 3.60s on Friday, rocketing to the top with his run of 3.694 at 326.56 in his 11,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster. Kalitta is seeking his second No. 1 qualifier this season, but also his 50th career win – and first victory since 2020 – as he looks to ramp up his 2022 performance. The veteran hasn’t been to a final round yet this year, but timing is everything in the Countdown to the Championship and Kalitta looked strong on Friday under the lights at zMAX Dragway.

“I always love coming here and the conditions were perfect,” Kalitta said. “We had a lot of confidence in that run, and I was really happy it ran what it did. We’re getting down to the wire and we’re trying to go rounds. It was a great effort by the team and the car stayed in the groove well. It was pretty impressive with all the side-by-side runs and we’re looking forward to getting after it tomorrow. All year long, we’ve tried to keep improving and I think we’ve stumbled upon some things. This would be an awesome time to start going rounds and have a consistent car.”

Competing in the playoffs for the first time, defending event winner and second-year driver Josh Hart is currently second thanks to his 3.702 at 328.38, while points leader Justin Ashley is right behind with a 3.703 at 330.72.

Enders delivered an impressive boom to open Pro Stock qualifying on Friday in Charlotte, rolling to No. 1 by a considerable margin with her 6.513 at 210.93 in her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. The next closest to her was defending world champ Greg Anderson, who went 6.535 at 209.82, but Enders remained a step ahead as she closes in on her fourth No. 1 position this season and 27th in her career. After a dominant performance last weekend in Reading to open the Countdown to the Championship, Enders, the points leader and four-time world champ, kept up her impressive pace to open up the race weekend at zMAX Dragway.

“This is a dream come true for me,” Enders said. “The drive for five (world championships) is still alive and we’re going to try to continue to execute the best we can. It definitely felt good when I let the clutch out. All these (qualifying) points matter in the Countdown and our goal is to accumulate as many as we can. We did that in Reading and we’re going to try to keep our foot on their throats. We’re off to a good start (in the Countdown), but we have five races left and we want to capitalize on every moment. We have to make these five races count and see what happens.”

Anderson, who won in Indy to close the regular season, sits second while his KB Racing teammate, Dallas Glenn, is third after his pass of 6.537 at 210.50.

Qualifying continues at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

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CONCORD, NC — Friday’s results after the first one of three rounds of qualifying for the 14th annual Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, 18th of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.

Top Fuel — 1. Doug Kalitta, 3.694 seconds, 326.56 mph; 2. Josh Hart, 3.702, 328.38; 3. Justin Ashley, 3.703, 330.72; 4. Brittany Force, 3.712, 297.29; 5. Clay Millican, 3.721, 329.58; 6. Antron Brown, 3.728, 331.28; 7. Billy Torrence, 3.750, 326.08; 8. Leah Pruett, 3.758, 316.82; 9. Doug Foley, 3.778, 322.88; 10. Shawn Langdon, 3.779, 324.20; 11. Alex Laughlin, 3.815, 320.89; 12. Austin Prock, 5.887, 107.70; 13. Tony Schumacher, 5.891, 107.05; 14. Mike Salinas, 6.873, 82.29; 15. Steve Torrence, 7.280, 80.55; 16. Spencer Massey, 11.242, 80.14.

Funny Car — 1. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.854, 330.47; 2. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.861, 329.99; 3. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.864, 331.45; 4. Ron Capps, Toyota Supra, 3.866, 334.90; 5. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.876, 329.26; 6. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.891, 332.34; 7. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 3.908, 323.04; 8. Alexis DeJoria, Supra, 3.919, 329.42; 9. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.937, 322.04; 10. J.R. Todd, Supra, 3.950, 328.54; 11. Jim Campbell, Charger, 3.990, 317.34; 12. Chad Green, Mustang, 7.087, 85.15.

Pro Stock — 1. Erica Enders, Chevy Camaro, 6.513, 210.93; 2. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.535, 209.82; 3. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.537, 210.50; 4. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.540, 209.95; 5. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.543, 209.88; 6. Kyle Koretsky, Camaro, 6.544, 210.83; 7. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.571, 209.59; 8. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.580, 208.26; 9. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.581, 210.24; 10. Fernando Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.594, 209.33; 11. Cristian Cuadra, Mustang, 6.594, 202.42; 12. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 9.196, 101.71; 13. Rob Tucker, Camaro, 9.690, 131.73; 14. Larry Morgan, Camaro, 11.802, 75.25; 15. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Mustang, 23.258, 28.65; 16. Camrie Caruso, Camaro, 23.725, 32.25.
Not Qualified: 17. Bo Butner, broke.

To purchase tickets to the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway, please visit www.zmaxdragway.com or call 800-455-FANS (3267). For more information about NHRA, please visit www.NHRA.com.

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Camping World Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL, (together with its subsidiaries) is America’s largest retailer of RVs and related products and services. Our vision is to build a long-term legacy business that makes RVing fun and easy, and our Camping World and Good Sam brands have been serving RV consumers since 1966. We strive to build long-term value for our customers, employees, and shareholders by combining a unique and comprehensive assortment of RV products and services with a national network of RV dealerships, service centers and customer support centers along with the industry’s most extensive online presence and a highly trained and knowledgeable team of associates serving our customers, the RV lifestyle, and the communities in which we operate. We also believe that our Good Sam organization and family of programs and services uniquely enable us to connect with our customers as stewards of the RV enthusiast community and the RV lifestyle. With RV sales and service locations in 42 states, Camping World has grown to become the prime destinations for everything RV. For more information, visit www.CampingWorld.com

About NHRA

Headquartered in San Dimas, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 22 national events featuring the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon, Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown and Top Fuel Harley Series. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League for youth ages 5 to 17. With over 120 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Source: National Hot Rod Association

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