Billy Torrence, Robert Hight, and Bo Butner lead final fields in Phoenix

Billy Torrence

Billy Torrence collected his second career No. 1 in Top Fuel, Bo Butner his first No. 1 in Pro Stock in more than a year, and Robert Hight his second straight in Funny Car on a wild final day of qualifying at the Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals.

Torrence, father of reigning Top Fuel champ Steve, earned his first No. 1 qualifying spot last August in Brainerd and went on to win the race with a final-round holeshot against former world champ Antron Brown. His 3.667 ripped the No. 1 spot from the clutches of Terry McMillen, who was hoping for his first career No. 1 spot. It was a high and low qualifying outing for Torrence Racing as Steve, the defending event champ, only qualified No. 14 after two troubled passes, and will be the one who faces Brown in round one Sunday.

Hight, who qualified No. 1 at the season opener in Pomona, was the qualifying leader here entering the final qualifying session with a 3.882, but Matt Hagan, Friday’s leader, briefly stole the No. 1 spot with a 3.881. That held up for the top spot until Hight finally got his shot, in the final pair of the final session, and raced the Auto Club Chevy to a sizzling 3.867 for the 62nd No. 1 berth of his career.

Butner, who opened his 2019 campaign with a victory at the Winternationals, kept that momentum going with his first low qualifier green hat since the Dallas event in the fall of 2017. His 6.522 pass from the first session today remained the gold standard ahead of Alex Laughlin’s close 6.526 as neither could improve in the final session.

Top Fuel low qualifier Billy Torrence: “I hope this one turns out the same as Brainerd. We’ll do all we can do to make it happen. Steve’s having a little issue with his car. They’ll get some data from us and figure it out tonight. They’ll see what we did and what worked for us. I’d sure like to race him in the final. I’ve had a lot of instruction from Steve that has helped me a lot driving the car, and we have a super team – really two super teams – so I get the best of both worlds and I have a car that’s capable of winning any time I come out.

“I won’t be racing at the next event, so it would great to get out of here with a win and relish it for a few weeks."

Funny Car low qualifier Robert Hight: “We were No. 1 going into the session and had it taken away, so we were going up there to get it back. There’s no reason to even make that run unless you’re trying to go fast and improve. These are tricky conditions and I knew that if it got past the Christmas tree it was going to be fast because that’s the tricky spot here. You’ve got to hit it hard, then knock a bunch of timing out and get it down the racetrack.

“It was really pulling in the middle of the track; it was going 286 mph and it’s been a while since a Funny Car has done that. It was a fun run, I had my hands full at the other end because I was a little late on the chute after trying to keep it off the wall. It got to hopping down there, so it was exciting from the hit of the gas to the finish line."

Pro Stock low qualifier Bo Butner: “Our car has been pretty good since I’ve come back out this year. I knew we’d be competitive when we came back; I just wasn’t ready to leave yet. It’s hard to qualify No. 1 in this class; I was on a year-long drought. That’s just how close it is.

“This is carryover from Pomona. We made a good run on our first pass and tried something on our second run that bit us a little bit, so now we know what not to do. We’re very happy with the momentum we’re building up. I can’t wait until tomorrow."

TOP FUEL QUALIFYING

Top Fuel Q2: Terry McMillen, who made his first career 3.6-second pass at the Winternationals, improved on that career-best by a thousandth of a second with a 3.695 to take over the Top Fuel qualifying lead after two sessions.

Jordan Vandergriff made an impressive official first run, clocking a strong 3.726, quicker even than his unprecedented 3.738 licensing pass made three weeks ago at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, for the provisional No. 2 spot. Billy Torrence earned the final qualifying bonus point with a 3.734.

Scott Palmer, driving for event sponsor Magic Dry, had a good pass going with a best-of-session .815 60-foot time (McMillen’s .825 was next best) before running into tire shake. Defending world and event champ Steve Torrence, who did not run in Friday’s session, shook hard and coasted to a 7.891 and sits 15th with one session remaining.

Top Fuel Q3: Billy Torrence zipped to the No. 1 qualifying spot in Top Fuel with a dramatic 3.667 in the final qualifying session. It’s his second top spot and first since the Brainerd event last year, which he won.

Torrence’s heroics deprived Terry McMillen of what would have been his first career pole, but the Amalie dragster will start from the No. 2 spot. Antron Brown, whose 3.718 was the second best pass of the session will be “rewarded" with a first-round date with his good friend and reigning NHRA Mello Yello world champ Steve Torrence. Torrence, the defending event champ, struggled with tire shake and smoke on both of his Saturday passes and ended up in the No. 14 spot.

First-round matchups (lane choice first): Billy Torrence vs. Terry Totten; Terry McMillen vs. Richie Crampton; Antron Brown vs. Steve Torrence; Jordan Vandergriff vs. Brittany Force; Doug Kalitta vs. Jim Maroney; Austin Prock vs. Clay Millican; Leah Pritchett vs. No. Cameron Ferre; Scott Palmer vs Mike Salinas

FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING

Robert Hight

Funny Car Q2: Nine drivers joined Friday leader Matt Hagan in the three-second zone atop the Funny Car pack after two qualifying sessions, with two-time world champ Robert Hight leading the way with a 3.882.

Hight, who opened the season with a victory at the Winternationals, was followed by Tim Wilkerson’s 3.895 while Hagan made another three-second pass, backing up his earlier 3.94 with a 3.900.

Blake Alexander, competing in his first Funny Car race in three seasons, bounced back from a safety-system snafu Friday to record a career-best (in Funny Car that is) 4.035 that has him qualified No. 11.

Funny Car Q3: Matt Hagan, one of the performance leaders throughout qualifying, tried to steal the Funny Car pole from Robert Hight, but Hagan’s 3.881 was one-upped by Hight’s dazzling 3.867 on the final pass of the final session.

Tommy Johnson Jr. also clocked a 3.885 pass in the final session to earn a qualifying bonus point as, oddly enough, the top three were the only three to make it down the track on their final passes. The highlight of Sunday's first-round matchups will the 100th career meeting between John Force and Ron Capps.

First-round matchups (lane choice first): Robert Hight vs. Jeff Diehl; Matt Hagan vs. Phil Burkhart Jr.; Tim Wilkerson vs. Jack Beckman; J.R. Todd vs.Terry Haddock; Tommy Johnson Jr. vs. Jim Campbell; Bob Tasca III vs. Blake Alexander; Shawn Langdon vs. Cruz Pedregon; John Force vs Ron Capps

PRO STOCK QUALIFYING

Bo Butner

Pro Stock Q1: The Pro Stock crowd wasted no time getting up to speed Saturday after not getting a pass Friday due to inclement weather with Winternationals champ Bo Butner grabbing the early lead.

Butner’s points-leading clean new black Chevy clocked a 6.522 to lead a tightly-bunched top half of the field. Behind Butner with a 6.526 was Alex Laughlin’s Speed Society entry and Winternationals runner-up Jason Line at 6.533. Local favorite Matt Hartford was a just a few ticks behind at 6.536.

Pro Stock Q2: Bo Butner collected his first No. 1 Pro Stock qualifying effort in more than a year and the ninth of his career, his first-session 6.522 holding up through the day’s final passes.

Butner, whose last No. 1 qualifying effort came at the Dallas event in 2017, is followed on the ladder by Alex Laughlin, who fell just one position short of what would have been his second career No. 1. Winternationals runner-up Jason Line had the best run of the final session with a 6.528 to earn the No. 3 spot.

First-round matchups (lane choice first): Bo Butner vs. Joey Grose; Alex Laughlin vs. Steve Graham; Jason Line vs. Alan Prusiensky; Matt Hartford vs. Val Smeland; Rodger Brogdon vs. Fernando Cuadra; Kenny Delco vs. Erica Enders; Jeg Coughlin vs. Greg Anderson; Deric Kramer vs Chris McGaha