Head is off the line first, but the car is lazy. Arend drives on by before sixty feet and pulls ahead all the way to the 660 lights, where the DHL Solara gets loose and drives the car towards the center line. He tries to save it, but to no avail.

Head runs close to his qualifying time to get a big win.

3:55 p.m. In round two, he'll give up lane choice to John Force. In other pairings, Height has lane choice over Force Hood; Beckman over Hagan; and Capps over Pedregon.