Karen Stoffer ran a 6.864 at 195.17 to take the provisional top Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying spot on her Stoffer Enterprises/White Alligator Racing Suzuki at the 10th annual NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. She is in search of her first No. 1 qualifier since Atlanta in 2015 and her first at zMAX Dragway.

“It always nice to be sitting number one, but tomorrow is a new day with a lot of great bike out here,” Stoffer told Eatmyink. “We just need to stay focused, everybody do their jobs the best they can, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Karen—who just celebrated a birthday—was one of several ladies with super strong showings as the pressure was on. There was only one round of qualifying as high winds and weather curtailed the day. Angie Smith was second with a 6.867 at 196 on her MSR EBR, and former MiRock star Kelly Clontz a stunning fourth with a 6.902 at 193 on her Suzuki. Sandwiched in between was Eddie Krawiec with a 6.89 at 196.02 on his Harley.

Angelle Sampey ran 6.95 at 194 on her Harley, and even rookie Jianna Salinas clocked in 14th strong.

Again, it was only one session, but Hector Arana Sr. and Steve “Hobbiest/Not a Hobbiest” Johnson are currently unqualified.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.864, 195.17; 2. Angie Smith, EBR, 6.867, 196.13; 3. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.894, 196.02; 4. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.902, 193.02; 5. Cory Reed, EBR, 6.931, 192.55; 6. Ryan Oehler, Buell, 6.946, 194.63; 7. Angelle Sampey, Harley-Davidson, 6.953, 194.58; 8. Scotty Pollacheck, EBR, 6.961, 189.92; 9. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.998, 194.24; 10. Joey Gladstone, EBR, 7.029, 192.47; 11. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 7.091, 160.81; 12. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 7.100, 169.87; 13. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 7.141, 188.83; 14. Jianna Salinas, Suzuki, 7.342, 177.86; 15. Marc Ingwersen, Buell, 7.400, 191.51; 16. Matt Smith, EBR, 7.416, 149.15. Not Qualified: 17. Hector Arana, 7.457, 189.98; 18. Steve Johnson, broke.

Jack Beckman powered his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the top of Funny Car with his run of 3.891-seconds at 321.42 mph during NHRA’s Friday Prime Time Night Of Fire, featuring pyrotechnics and special music for each driver.

“I forgot about the fire. And I found myself having a very ‘fan’ moment in the race car,” said Beckman. “This is just one of those moments. I thought, ‘This is my job. I get strapped into a nitro Funny Car and they’re making a big deal out of this. They’re playing my song. They’re putting fireworks out there. And then we’re going to fire the car up.’ And you don’t want to go through all that and be lackluster. The icing on the cake was to have the car run as good as it did. I don’t know if the 3.89 will hold, but it gives the other teams something to shoot for. And more importantly, it gives us something to shoot for.”

Funny Car — 1. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 3.891, 321.42; 2. Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.935, 285.11; 3. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Camry, 4.426, 216.00; 4. Dave Richards, Ford Mustang, 5.202, 148.01; 5. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 6.564, 98.16; 6. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 7.520, 95.51; 7. Dale Creasy Jr., Dodge Stratus, 7.711, 86.30; 8. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 7.978, 89.94; 9. Matt Hagan, Charger, 8.233, 122.09; 10. John Force, Camaro, 8.714, 76.99; 11. Shawn Langdon, Camry, 8.950, 73.04; 12. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 8.966, 83.02; 13. Jonnie Lindberg, Mustang, 9.198, 68.19; 14. Jim Campbell, Charger, 10.064, 62.98; 15. J.R. Todd, Camry, 14.099, 70.50; 16. Ron Capps, Charger, 15.585, 62.61. Not Qualified: 17. Bob Bode, broke; 18. Bob Gilbertson, broke; 19. Terry Haddock, broke.

Mike Salinas, who won his first Wally in Top Fuel at the Four-Wide event in Las Vegas earlier this month, sits atop Top Fuel after setting the track E.T. record of 3.687 at a speed of 327.43 in his Scrappers Racing Dragster.

Top Fuel — 1. Mike Salinas, 3.687 seconds, 327.43 mph; 2. Antron Brown, 3.725, 327.03; 3. Terry McMillen, 3.728, 320.36; 4. Doug Kalitta, 3.733, 324.36; 5. Austin Prock, 5.286, 133.72; 6. Audrey Worm, 7.420, 96.15; 7. Brittany Force, 7.460, 82.72; 8. Scott Palmer, 7.876, 95.54; 9. Leah Pritchett, 8.253, 84.65; 10. Spencer Massey, 8.271, 77.18; 11. Clay Millican, 8.275, 75.15; 12. Steve Torrence, 9.044, 81.13; 13. Cameron Ferre, 10.640, 42.54; 14. Dom Lagana, 12.849, 77.73; 15.Lex Joon, 12.850, 37.71; 16. Richie Crampton, 13.346, 80.04.

Pro Modified

1  203 Jose Gonzalez, Ball Ground GA, ’17 Camaro       5.657  257.14

2   40 Alex Laughlin, Bluff Dale TX, ’18 Camaro        5.708  256.55

3    9 Todd Tutterow, Lewisville NC, *’68 Camaro       5.714  250.04

4    5 Chad Green, Midland TX, ’19 Camaro              5.718  249.16

5   43 Rickie Smith, King NC, ’67 Mustang              5.720  257.38

6    8 Khalid alBalooshi, Duxbury MA, ’18 Camaro       5.726  252.10

7    1 Mike Janis, Lancaster NY, *’69 Camaro           5.726  247.47

8  430 Erica Enders, Houston TX, ’18 Camaro            5.755  260.41

9  132 Marc Caruso, Fairport NY, ’69 Camaro            5.762  247.84

10 2004 Jeremy Ray, Lugoff SC, *’63 Corvette           5.774  246.44

11  360 Bob Rahaim, Grosse Pointe MI, ’18 Camaro        5.780  247.66

12  288 Sidnei Frigo, Sao Paulo BZ, ’69 Camaro          6.089  191.05

13   44 Mike Castellana, Muttontown NY, *’18 Camaro     6.345  144.44

14 5087 Jim Whiteley, Grand Junction CO, *’69 Chevelle 7.238  136.04

15 2105 Doug Winters, Pleasant Garden NC, *’69 Chevelle 7.279  130.18

16  318 Michael Biehle, North Vernon IN, ’67 Mustang    7.414  128.90

———— Not Qualified ————

17  701 Clint Satterfield, Albuquerque NM, ’69 Camaro   7.625  188.10

18  872 Adam Flamholc, Cape Coral FL, *’63 Corvette     8.092 104.69

19  280 Steve Jackson, Evans GA, *’17 Camaro            8.949  129.58

20 1938 Eric Latino, Port Perry ON, *’67 Camaro        9.778  101.83

21  213 Chip King, Semora NC, *’70 Charger             10.404   86.87

22 2069 Brandon Snider, Atmore AL, *’16 Corvette      11.534   91.22

23  206 Rick Hord, Belle Isle FL, ’16 Corvette         14.406   48.62

NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying action will continue Saturday at 2:00 PM ET.

story by NHRA with additional content and photos by Tim Hailey