Since they first paired the No. 8 and No. 9 qualifiers against each other in round 1 the No. 8 driver has won 18 of the 30 matchups in Top Fuel. No No. 9 TF qualifier has ever made it to the final round in Arizona.

Doug Kalitta's only win here came in 2001. He is just 12 - 9 in his first round matches at this event.

Kalitta is 4 - 2 against Reed in prior events.

Reed leaves before the tree is activated to give Kalitta the win. Kalitta launched hard and kept it hooked up to make his quickest and fastest pass of the weekend. Doug Kalitta's incremental times: 60ft-0.833 sec., 330ft-2.121, 660ft-2.983/292.39 mph.