Rain washes out Winternationals qualifying

Persistent rain forced the cancellation of the lone Friday qualifying session at the 51st annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals. NHRA Safety Safari officials repeatedly tried to dry the track during breaks in the precipitation but each time they were rebuffed as rains returned. NHRA officials announced that Saturday’s schedule would remain the same with two qualifying sessions scheduled. The teams were on notice that inclement weather could affect the qualifying program.

“It was good to get that first run out of the way (yesterday)," said driver and crew chief Mike Neff. “There was definitely a lot of stress with that run not knowing what the weather holds. This might be a one shot qualifying. That makes you a little tense. We tried to be a little conservative. We ran what we thought it would so we are really happy with that first run."

Heading into Saturday John Force Racing is in great position as John Force is in the provisional No. 3 spot, followed by Robert Hight, No. 4 and Mike Neff, No. 5.