B. Force, Hagan, Enders & M. Smith take Provisional No. 1 Spots at NHRA Carolina Nationals

CONCORD, NC – September 21, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Two-time Top Fuel world champion Brittany Force made the quickest runs in both qualifying sessions on Friday at zMAX Dragway, powering to the provisional No. 1 position at the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals.

Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 16th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the second of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Force went 3.690-seconds at 334.24 mph in her 11,000-horsepower HendrickCars.com Chevrolet dragster to close out the night session, putting Force on track for her third No. 1 qualifier of the year and the 49th in her career. Currently ninth in points after the opening race in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs – and 133 points out of first entering the weekend – Force is after a big weekend as she seeks her first victory since her record-breaking 2022 championship season.

“To end qualifying with two solid runs, we picked up points, and we’re leaving currently No. 1, our Monster Energy/HendrickCars.com team are all very excited and very proud of that,” Force said.

“Our mindset for tomorrow is what it was coming into today. We want to do exactly what we accomplished today. We want to pick up points where we can tomorrow in the conditions we’re running in where the track temp is going to be quite a bit different, and we’ve got to figure that track out for Sunday. That’s where it really matters.”

Shawn Reed impressed and is currently second with a 3.700 at 324.12, and defending world champion Doug Kalitta sits third after going 3.710 at 332.59.

Needing his own big weekend to get back in championship hunt, defending Funny Car world champ Matt Hagan enjoyed an ideal Friday, making the quickest pass of both sessions as well, including a blistering 3.832 at 333.25 under the lights in his 11,000-horsepower Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat. Two runs after points leader Austin Prock went 3.833, Hagan eclipsed him by .001 in a stellar Friday-night pass.

If it holds, it would be Hagan’s first No. 1 qualifier since the second race of the season as the Tony Stewart Racing team, which won the 4-Wide race this spring, looks to get rolling in the Countdown to the Championship.

“That’s definitely a good shot in the arm. Our qualifying positions all year…