Fri, 28 Oct 2016, 22:43 PM Hagan, Pritchett, Skillman And Savoie Lead Qualifying at the NHRA Toyota Nationals

Courtesy of NHRA Communications Photo copyright 2016 NHRA/National Dragster

LAS VEGAS --

Matt Hagan

Matt Hagan powered to the Funny Car provisional No. 1 qualifier Friday at the 16th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals.

Leah Pritchett (Top Fuel), Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were the qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the 23rd race of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The NHRA Toyota Nationals is the fifth race of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship.

Hagan ran a track elapsed time record 3.872-second pass at 329.18 mph in his Mopar Express Lane / Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T for the qualifying lead at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Currently third in points, Hagan has raced to five No. 1 qualifiers this season.

"I think today was pretty cool because we had cloud cover," Hagan said. "The track was tight, it was good out there. The groove is very narrow so you have to watch what you're doing. All-in-all we had a good day and tomorrow is another day so we come back out tomorrow and fight hard again and just try to scoop up as much points as we can."

Sixteen-time Funny Car world champion John Force is qualified second after pushing his Peak Antifreeze Chevy Camaro to a 3.872 at a track record speed of 331.94. Force's speed was also a career best. Points leader Ron Capps is currently third.

Leah Pritchett

Pritchett piloted her Pennzoil Top Fuel dragster to a 3.705 pass at 326.63 during the second qualifying session to set the track elapsed time record. She will be racing for her second No. 1 qualifier of the season and of her Top Fuel career.

"Talk about living a dream right now and being with the best team out there and the best people in my crew," Pritchett said. "I'm enjoying it. We are keeping our head down but you have to enjoy it for a little bit. Learn from what we just did and move on and just consistently do that over and over again and that's what we've been doing these last races. Vegas has always been kind of good to me, our car number is 777 so just going to keep rolling with it and staying focused and staying in the zone."

Currently qualified in second is Doug Kalitta followed by reigning world champion and current points leader Antron Brown. Kalitta currently trails Brown in points by 150 points.

Drew Skillman

In Pro Stock, 2015 Road to the Future winner Skillman raced a 6.681 run at 204.94 in his Chevy Camaro during the second qualifying session. Skillman is looking for his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and fourth of his career.

"We had a rough start. We're getting a good run now," said Skillman, who won the most recent race in Dallas. "We are starting to learn the car a little better. We struggled really bad at the beginning of the Countdown and we think we are going a better direction, as it showed now. We're hopeful for the future." Skillman's time puts him ahead of Shane Gray in the number two spot and points leader Jason Line in third.

Jerry Savoie

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Savoie rode to a 6.904 pass at 192.66 on his Savoie's Alligator Farm Suzuki in Friday's first qualifying session to hold the provisional top spot. Savoie has one No. 1 qualifier this season and six in his career.

"With the points deal, I'm going to say like we say in Louisiana, we say 'mo points' and we take them all if they give them to us. As a rider you try to do the same thing every time. It's up to the crew and the crew chief to put the tune-up in it. Tim (Kulungian) and the guys they are great. They keep it together."

The Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team of Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines hold the second and third spots, respectively.

Qualifying for the NHRA Toyota Nationals continues Saturday at 11:45 a.m.

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