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<\/figure>\nB. Force powered to an impressive run of 3.675-seconds at 336.74 mph in her 11,000-horsepower Chevrolet Accessories dragster, putting the two-time world champion in line for her fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season and 51st in her career. Las Vegas has treated the standout driver well over the years and a win this weekend would certainly be a memorable one.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing into this weekend, we knew it was going to be special, because my dad had planned to come out, and I think everyone was really looking forward to seeing him, especially me,\u201d B. Force said. \u201cI\u2019m so excited for him. I think it\u2019s great for him. This is just the best medicine for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always excited to come back to Las Vegas where we\u2019ve had so much success in the past. We\u2019re really looking to close out the season strong and get into the winner\u2019s circle for our sponsors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shawn Langdon is currently second after going 3.706 at 333.74 and reigning world champ Doug Kalitta is third with a pass of 3.707 at 330.96.<\/p>\n In Funny Car, Prock delivered a standout run of 3.843 at 333.33 in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS, as John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman ran a stellar 3.859 at 332.43 in the lane next to him. With J. Force looking on, the two drivers put on a thrilling side-by-side show, with Prock going to the top.<\/p>\n Should Prock, who held a commanding 147-point lead over Beckman heading into the weekend, qualify No. 1, he would break J. Force\u2019s single-season record with his 14th No. 1 spot.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a great way to welcome him back,\u201d Prock said. \u201cAll three John Force Racing cars made tremendous runs and it was a good way to say, \u2018Welcome back, boss.\u2019 It\u2019s just nice to have John back at the racetrack for the first time since Richmond. I\u2019m glad that he\u2019s back. I wanted to cry when I saw him this morning.<\/p>\n \u201cThat first run was really stout, obviously low of the session. We\u2019ve got two more shots at it tomorrow, and conditions are going to be probably better. I don\u2019t believe that 3.84 will hold. I think we\u2019re going to have to improve on that\u201d<\/p>\n Following Beckman in third is Ron Capps, who went 3.860 at 330.96.<\/p>\n Calling it a must-win weekend in Las Vegas, Pro Stock veteran Greg Anderson enjoyed a strong start in qualifying, taking over the No. 1 spot in the second session with a run of 6.597 at 207.02 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. That would give Anderson seven No. 1 qualifiers this season if it holds and 131 in his career, but Anderson knows he needs a victory to stay in championship contention.<\/p>\n He entered the weekend third overall and 90 points back of KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn. Anderson, a five-time world champ, picked up a handful of points on Glenn on Friday, but knows he\u2019ll need much more this weekend to stay alive.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout a doubt I need to win this race,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThat\u2019s all I can do at this point. Even if I do win the last two races that might not be enough to get [the championship] done. Our plan is to set the ladder up so it\u2019s favorable but there is no happy spot on a Pro Stock ladder. At least I still have a shot and that\u2019s all you can ask for.<\/p>\n \u201cThings could change if I drop the ball.\u00a0If that happens, I\u2019ll do everything I can to help Dallas with the championship. I\u2019ll do what\u2019s best for the KB Titan team. That pole is not safe. The conditions figure to be a little better tomorrow and it\u2019s supposed to be overcast so it\u2019s not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n David Cuadra\u2019s 6.605 has him second, while Aaron Stanfield\u2019s 6.609 at 205.66 puts him third. Glenn is in fourth after running 6.615 at 205.29.<\/p>\n Needing a big result to stay in the championship hunt, Pro Stock Motorcycle\u2019s Matt Smith couldn\u2019t have asked for a better Friday, making the best run in both sessions on his Denso Auto Parts\/Matt Smith Racing Buell, including a run of 6.822 at 198.70 in the second session. It would be Smith\u2019s sixth No. 1 qualifier this season, but more importantly, he gained four points on leader and defending world champ Gaige Herrera.<\/p>\n That puts him 58 points back of Herrera heading into Saturday and the six-time world champ will look to make another move before a likely must-win situation on Sunday in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n \u201cOur mindset this weekend is to just have no bad luck because we\u2019ve had a lot of it lately,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIn Reading I had a bad fuel pump and then in St. Louis we lost a crank trigger and in Dallas the bike wouldn\u2019t shift. Those are three races we should have won and that would have been 60 points. We should be leading right now so I\u2019m not asking for good luck. I just don\u2019t want any more bad luck.<\/p>\n \u201cWe never quit. I know that I\u2019m No. 2 and we\u2019ve got the second best bike but we\u2019re still in this. I do see this race as must win unless Gaige has some bad luck, which hasn\u2019t happened yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Herrera, the defending event winner in Vegas, is currently second after going 6.846 at 196.99 and Angie Smith took third with a run of 6.850 at 197.59.<\/p>\n Qualifying continues at 12:30 p.m. PT on Saturday at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n This story was originally published on November 2, 2024. The post B. Force, Prock, Anderson & M. Smith Get Provisional No. 1 Positions at Ford Performance NHRA Nationals<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With John Force returning to the track on Friday for the first time since his crash in June, team drivers Brittany Force and Austin Prock both went to the top in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively, securing the provisional No. 1 spots at the 24th annual Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at The Strip at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96810\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/4.jpg\")
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