NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Top Fuel points leader and reigning world champ Doug Kalitta went to the top spot in front of a huge crowd in NHRA’s debut at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park on Friday, taking the provisional No. 1 spot in his home state at the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR.

Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) and Ryan Oehler (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 15th of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. It is also the first of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Kalitta went 3.682-seconds at 334.82 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Applied Innovations dragster, putting together an impressive performance during NHRA’s first national event in Michigan in 66 years. Should that hold, Kalitta would earn his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season as he looks to open the six-race playoffs on a winning note.

It was a meaningful day for Kalitta, as his family, including his son, Mitch, team owner Connie Kalitta and Scott Kalitta, were all honored in front of the huge crowd in their home state. He followed that up with a standout run on Friday to take the No. 1 spot into the rest of the weekend.

“The legacy that Connie (Kalitta, team owner) has created is just really special to be part of,” Kalitta said. “It’s nice being here in Michigan again. We’re going to throw down as hard as we can all weekend long and see if we can get it done.”

“When my car is running, it leaves strong and pulls hard. You can tell when it’s on a good run. I was really, really happy with that run. Fortunately, we stayed ahead of Shawn (Langdon). He was right there, and we have to keep those guys behind us somehow.”

His Kalitta Motorsports teammate, Indy winner Shawn Langdon, is second with a 3.698 at 339.37 and Tony Stewart is third after a 3.714 at 339.62.

In Funny Car, Cruz Pedregon has an opportunity to get hot at the perfect time and the two-time world champ did just that on Friday in his 12,000-horsepower Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger, powering to the No. 1 spot in a loaded field with a standout run of 3.886 at 327.51.

Pedregon would pick up his first top qualifier of the year should it hold and he hopes it’s a sign of things to come in the playoffs. He starts the Countdown 12th in points, but Pedregon has seen potential all season and hopes it now comes to fruition.

“This was huge. For us, we’re just trying to get our head above water here. We’ve been taking on water pretty much all year,” Pedregon said. “For some reason, I don’t know what it is, with all these different crew chiefs and different cars, we get it going at the end.

The car has had speed. I know I’ve said this quite a few times: It’s fast. But we dropped a cylinder on the first run there, and we thought, ‘Let’s just go out there and run what we think the track will hold.’”

J.R. Todd is second with a 3.893 at 334.57 and Dan Wilkerson is third after a 3.903 at 321.20. Points leader Matt Hagan is currently 10th after two sessions.

Pro Stock’s Matt Hartford continues to stay hot in qualifying, taking the No. 1 spot on Friday in his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro with a run of 6.516 at 209.79. It comes on the heels of Hartford picking up his first No. 1 qualifier of the year at the previous race in Indy, putting the veteran on track for his second top spot of the season.

It would come at the perfect time as Hartford, who has three wins this season, opens the Countdown to the Championship fourth in points and looking to make a strong move to start the postseason.

“My crew chief and my team are giving me a great car,” Hartford said. “There’s no doubt about it. If the idiot behind the wheel does his job, we can go out there on any run and run at the top.

“When you look at the caliber of the cars we’re racing, it’s incredible. To come out of here Friday night with the provisional pole is huge. Our goal is, regardless of where we qualify, to go into Sunday, execute and go four rounds.”

Greg Anderson is qualified second after two sessions with a 6.521 at 209.11 and points leader Dallas Glenn took the third spot with a 6.529 at 209.99.

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Ryan Oehler made a big move to open the Countdown to the Championship, going 6.7190 at 200.80 on his El Bandito Yankee Tequila EBR to move to the top and put the veteran on track for his first career No. 1 qualifier.

Oehler put a noticeable difference between himself and the standout field during his second run of the day, which could be a statement run as he looks to make a big move in the playoffs. He started the weekend sixth in points, but Friday’s run showed the potential Oehler has, which could lead to a big move in Martin.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time. We’ve had two No. 2 qualifiers this season. We just needed a really good quality pass, and that was a textbook pass,” Oehler said. “We’ve got going on 10 years of experience now in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. We’ve got a lot of scars to show for it.

“We’ve had some success, and we fell off, we’ve come back, and we’ve been on that teeter-totter. Now I think that we’re right there to put the pedal to the metal and send it all the way for the Countdown.”

Angie Smith is currently second with a 6.7377 at 196.51 and Indy winner Matt Smith went 6.7403 at 197.02. Points leader Richard Gadson is fourth after two sessions.

Qualifying continues at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday at Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park.