Force Sisters Top zMax Qualifying

Brittany Force

Brittany and Courtney Force raced to the number one position in their respective categories in Saturday's final qualifying sessions for Sunday's NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, marking the third time the two daughters of 16-time Funny Car Champion John Force have doubled up in qualifying at a national event.

Drew Skillman was top qualifier in Pro Stock while LE Tonglet took the pole in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Brittany Force led the Top Fuel class to secure her first No. 1 qualifying spot of the year with a track record elapsed time of 3.689 seconds at 318.39 mph set from Friday's session that went untouched on Saturday. Brittany Force, who reached her first final round of the season last weekend at Houston en route to her first victory of the season, will be looking for her second victory in the Four-Wide Nationals.

"We are feeling really good and just looking at our season overall and everything we pulled off these last few weekends is incredible," explained Force, the defending Top Fuel world champion. "This is the third car that we have run in the season and it's not easy when you have to rebuild a whole new car, especially for my guys and what they had to go through. They had a lot of extra work getting it ready but we went out, debuted it and won the race. You know, that is pretty impressive.

"I owe it to Alan Johnson and Brian Husen and my Monster guys for making that happen. We are on a roll and I am happy that we qualified No. 1 last night and we hung on to that spot today, but tomorrow is a whole new day and our plan is to go some rounds and to win this thing."

Brittany Force will face off against Audrey Worm, Shawn Reed and Scott Palmer in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.

Tony Schumacher secured the second qualifying spot with an ET of 3.692 at 331.61 mph, followed by Antron Brown (3.719,331.77), Steve Torrence (3.731, 330.72) and Terry McMillen (3.744 329.02).

Courtney Force

In Funny Car, older sister Courtney Force tallied her third No. 1 qualifying spot and 20^th of her career after her 3.873 elapsed time at 332.92 mph held up from Friday's opening round, earning her a first-round matchup against her father John Force as well as Jim Campbell and Tim Wilkerson.

Courtney Force has one final-round appearance at zMax but never in the Four-Wide Nationals, something she hopes to change on Sunday.

"I'm really excited for us to come here and race four-wide," said Courtney Force. "For us to do it with my sister Brittany and her Monster Energy team right beside us is pretty amazing. I'm really excited and I hope it is something good for what is to come tomorrow and Brittany and I can celebrate in the winner's circle."

Ron Capps ran 3.886 seconds at 329.83 mph to take the second qualifying position. Tommy Johnson Jr. (3.887, 328.70), J.R. Todd (3.888, 330.96) and Bob Tasca III (3.907, 326.16) rounded out the top five.

Drew Skillman

Drew Skillman was top qualifier in the Pro Stock division for the first time this season after holding onto the pole position through both of Saturday's qualifying rounds, standing pat on his 6.534 at 210.37 run from Friday to earn his sixth-career No. 1 spot.

Skillman has never advanced to a final round at zMax and has yet to make it past the semi-finals so far this season, and will face off against former Pro Stock World Champions Erica Enders and Jason Line as well as Val Smeland on Sunday's first round.

"Our car has run pretty good all weekend," said Skillman. "After the second hit we had a lot of momentum going forward this weekend and we have a little bit of work to go yet before Sunday but our team is ready, our car is ready, and I'm ready to go."

Hometown favorite Greg Anderson qualified second with a pass of 6.548 at 211.00, followed by Vincent Nobile (6.549, 210.08), Bo Butner (6.556, 210.31) and Deric Kramer (6.557, 211.26).

LE Tonglet

In his first race back driving for team owner Jerry Savoie, defending Pro Stock Motorcycle event winner LE Tonglet raced to the top of the ladder with a quick pass of 6.812 seconds at 196.99 mph in Saturday's opening round to notch his sixth-career pole.

Tonglet will face Savoie, Hector Arana, Jr., and Jim Underdahl in Sunday's opening round. Eddie Krawiec (6.814, 197.80), Scotty Pollacheck (6.816, 195.34), Andrew Hines (6.827, 198.29) and Hector Arana (6.833 199.11) rounded out the top five qualifiers.

Eliminations at the NGK Sparkplugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals begin at noon on Sunday.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the ninth annual NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, the sixth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel — 1. Brittany Force, 3.689 seconds, 318.39 mph vs. 16. Audrey Worm, 4.143, 256.84 vs. 8. Shawn Reed, 3.838, 323.43 vs. 9. Scott Palmer, 3.841, 313.58; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.692, 331.61 vs. 15. Leah Pritchett, 4.004, 294.31 vs. 7. Clay Millican, 3.773, 323.27 vs. 10. Dom Lagana, 3.846, 270.21; 3. Antron Brown, 3.719, 331.77 vs. 14. Richie Crampton, 3.938, 307.86 vs. 6. Doug Kalitta, 3.758, 327.98 vs. 11. Mike Salinas, 3.884, 309.77; 4. Steve Torrence, 3.731, 330.72 vs. 13. Kyle Wurtzel, 3.906, 301.40 vs. 5. Terry McMillen, 3.744, 329.75 vs. 12. Pat Dakin, 3.905, 315.34.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Terry Haddock, 4.227, 283.43.

Funny Car — 1. Courtney Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.873, 332.92 vs. 16. Jim Campbell, Dodge Charger, 4.135, 307.44 vs. 8. John Force, Camaro, 3.938, 328.06 vs. 9. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 3.949, 320.81; 2. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.886, 329.83 vs. 15. Dale Creasy Jr., Dodge Stratus, 4.089, 315.12 vs. 7. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.920, 323.50 vs. 10. Jonnie Lindberg, Mustang, 3.960, 319.29; 3. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.887, 328.70 vs. 14. John Smith, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.082, 307.23 vs. 6. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 3.908, 321.42 vs. 11. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.966, 320.89; 4. J.R. Todd, Camry, 3.888, 330.96 vs. 13. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.983, 316.08 vs. 5. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.907, 326.16 vs. 12. Shawn Langdon, Camry, 3.973, 325.45.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Jeff Diehl, 4.247, 296.37.

Pro Stock — 1. Drew Skillman, Chevy Camaro, 6.534, 211.69 vs. 16. Val Smeland, Camaro, 6.655, 209.07 vs. 8. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.561, 210.60 vs. 9. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.562, 210.93; 2. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.548, 211.79 vs. 15. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.636, 208.75 vs. 7. Tanner Gray, Camaro, 6.560, 210.90 vs. 10. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.564, 211.66; 3. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.549, 210.83 vs. 14. Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Dart, 6.632, 208.39 vs. 6. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.558, 211.06 vs. 11. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.565, 210.93; 4. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.556, 210.90 vs. 13. John Gaydosh Jr, Chevrolet Camaro, 6.618, 208.81 vs. 5. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.557, 211.26 vs. 12. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.571, 210.93.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Wally Stroupe, 6.870, 201.79; 18. Tommy Lee, 15.830, 55.12.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.812, 197.59 vs. 16. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.942, 195.25 vs. 8. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.841, 195.48 vs. 9. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.847, 197.31; 2. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.814, 197.80 vs. 15. Ryan Oehler, Buell, 6.934, 195.11 vs. 7. Cory Reed, Buell, 6.838, 196.96 vs. 10. Joey Gladstone, Suzuki, 6.866, 196.56; 3. Scotty Pollacheck, Suzuki, 6.816, 197.74 vs. 14. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.929, 194.38 vs. 6. Matt Smith, Victory, 6.836, 196.73 vs. 11. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.866, 193.63; 4. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.827, 198.29 vs. 13. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.919, 194.27 vs. 5. Hector Arana, EBR, 6.833, 199.17 vs. 12. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 6.898, 196.30.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Mark Paquette, 6.980, 192.88; 18. Kelly Clontz, 7.041, 189.87; 19. Scott Bottorff, 7.055, 190.73; 20. Lance Bonham, 7.179, 188.10; 21. Melissa Surber, 7.397, 152.92.