Kalitta, J. Force, Anderson and Herrera Pick Up No.1 Qualifiers at NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte

CONCORD, NC – April 28, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Defending Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta enjoyed his second straight No. 1 qualifier, cementing the top spot on Saturday at zMAX Dragway at the 14th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte.

John Force (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the fifth of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Kalitta’s run of 3.691-seconds at 337.92 mph from Friday in his 11,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster held up through two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, handing the reigning world champion his second straight No. 1 spot and the 55th in his career. The result of taking the top position worked well in Las Vegas for Kalitta, as he claimed his first career four-wide win and he’ll look to replicate that on Sunday in Charlotte, also finishing qualifying with a strong 3.710 at 332.18.

“We kind of struggled a little bit today. We put this other blower on and just had a little bit too much power in that first run and smoked the tires, and then that last run, we got right to the finish line and kind of took care of that blower, unfortunately,” Kalitta said. “So we’re going to have to start from scratch again. But now that we’ve got our setup that we’ve been running, we’re going to be in good shape for tomorrow.”

Antron Brown clinched the second spot thanks to his 3.698 at 332.18, while points leader Justin Ashley’s 3.701 at 334.32, which happened during his winning run in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, sent him to the third spot.

In Funny Car, John Force stayed in the top spot thanks to Friday’s track E.T. record of 3.820 at 330.96 in his 11,000-horsepower PEAK Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS. It gives the legendary 16-time world champion his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 167th in his iconic career, putting him in a strong position for eliminations on Sunday. Force is aiming for his second win this season, closing out qualifying with a solid pass as well.

“I’ve got a real good Camaro and I’m learning how to drive it,” Force said. “It was a good day for my good chiefs. We tried to run it hard earlier [in the third qualifying session] and had a problem then came back and got cloud cover and ran [3.]85. Now we’ve got to race tomorrow, and that’s a whole new baby. So we’ll see what happens but I’m having fun with my teams and my sponsors.”

Bob…