Courtesy of the NHRA

DINWIDDIE, Va. – Clay Millican locked-in his first Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier of the 2019 season Saturday afternoon following setting the track E.T. record during the first round of qualifying at the second annual Virginia NHRA National at Virginia Motorsports Park.

Clay Millican. NHRA photo

John Force (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the eighth of 24 events during the 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Millican claimed his 21st career No. 1 qualifier after his pass of 3.749 at 325.30 set the track E.T. record Friday evening in his Parts Plus / Strutmasters.com dragster. He will be chasing his first win of the season and fourth of his career when he lines up against Dan Mercier Sunday morning for the first round of eliminations.

“From the guy that qualified 12 times last year and only won twice, qualifying No. 1 doesn’t mean you’re going to win,” Millican stated. “Mike (Kloebler, crew chief) said we need to turn on win lights and that’s our game plan. This car has made a lot of No. 1 qualifiers, but our goal is to go consistently down the racetrack and turn on win lights. I’m not going to lie; qualifying No. 1 is pretty cool.”

John Force. NHRA photo

Force’s pass from Friday evening of 3.899 at 321.88 in his PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil / Heculiner Chevrolet Camaro set the track E.T. record and remained strong through Saturday’s qualifying efforts. He secured his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and 157th of his career.

“I’ve got to give credit to Daniel Hood (crew chief), Brian Corradi (crew chief) and the entire team that make it happen,” Force said. “They gave me a good car. It was a little warm but that gives us our race day tune up and we’re ready. I still say to the (Franklin) family that bought this track that this is the best surface and that .89 broke the track record. I want to thank them and that is very important.”

Jason Line. NHRA photo

Pro Stock three-time world champion Line’s pass from Friday evening of 6.563 at 210.11 in his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro stood strong through qualifying on Saturday. This is his first No. 1 qualifying position of the season, first since Las Vegas 1 2017 and 54th of his career.

“I’ve got a really good race car right now,” Line stated. “I feel good about it. It’s really nice to get a green hat and I didn’t even know they still gave them out. We did test during the break so we’re not any worse off but it really was good for us. We didn’t make any mistakes, learned a lot and I feel like tomorrow we will have a great race day.”

Andrew Hines. NHRA photo

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, the Harley-Davidson team leads the category securing the first two positions. Hines clinched his second No. 1 qualifying position of the 2019 season and 44th of his career with his run of 6.812 at 196.42 on his Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Street Rod. Eddie Krawiec sits in the No. 2 position following his pass of 6.822 at 197.51.

“Our team does a great job in the heat,” Hines said. “We are learning our setup in this hot weather. Typically, I don’t look forward to the middle of the season because that is typically when our struggles start to happen for our team. It seems like we are hitting our stride right now in this 90-degree weather. We will take it as it comes.”

In the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service, Khalid AlBalooshi claimed his first No. 1 qualifier of the season, racing to a pass of 5.774 at 257.28 in his Chevrolet Camaro that made its second appearance.

Eliminations at the Virginia NHRA Nationals begin at 12 PM E.T at Virginia Motorsports Park.

Media Center Interviews:

Clay Millican –

John Force –

Jason Line –

Andrew Hines –

DINWIDDIE, Va. — Sunday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the Second annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, the eighth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel — 1. Clay Millican, 3.749 seconds, 325.30 mph vs. 16. Dan Mercier, 4.124, 287.60; 2. Mike Salinas, 3.754, 323.04 vs. 15. Cameron Ferre, 3.998, 293.92; 3. Brittany Force, 3.772, 319.98 vs. 14. Audrey Worm, 3.968, 297.55; 4. Steve Torrence, 3.773, 321.81 vs. 13. Todd Paton, 3.926, 309.63; 5. Doug Kalitta, 3.783, 323.81 vs. 12. Scott Palmer, 3.886, 321.65; 6. Leah Pritchett, 3.793, 321.58 vs. 11. Antron Brown, 3.839, 320.97; 7. Richie Crampton, 3.796, 314.83 vs. 10. Austin Prock, 3.824, 324.83; 8. Terry McMillen, 3.811, 320.51 vs. 9. Billy Torrence, 3.812, 319.75. Did Not Qualify: 17. Ike Maier, 4.265, 266.69; 18. Lex Joon, 4.643, 164.55.

Funny Car — 1. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.899, 321.88 vs. 16. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Camry, 5.619, 125.54; 2. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger, 3.922, 323.58 vs. 15. Terry Haddock, Ford Mustang, 4.170, 296.96; 3. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.927, 321.50 vs. 14. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.085, 309.34; 4. J.R. Todd, Camry, 3.961, 318.47 vs. 13. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.045, 316.23; 5. Shawn Langdon, Camry, 3.964, 316.45 vs. 12. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.029, 310.05; 6. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.967, 326.32 vs. 11. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.017, 309.77; 7. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.991, 321.27 vs. 10. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.005, 320.28; 8. Jonnie Lindberg, Mustang, 4.001, 322.04 vs. 9. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 4.003, 315.27.

Pro Stock — 1. Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.563, 210.11 vs. 16. Val Smeland, Camaro, 6.957, 200.65; 2. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.569, 210.37 vs. 15. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Camaro, 6.841, 201.55; 3. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.573, 210.54 vs. 14. Wally Stroupe, Camaro, 6.763, 204.08; 4. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.573, 208.59 vs. 13. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.680, 208.75; 5. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.578, 209.56 vs. 12. Shane Tucker, Camaro, 6.649, 207.34; 6. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.578, 209.30 vs. 11. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.603, 208.97; 7. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.578, 208.30 vs. 10. Fernando Cuadra, Camaro, 6.598, 210.83; 8. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.583, 209.20 vs. 9. Rodger Brogdon, Camaro, 6.587, 208.14. Did Not Qualify: 17. Alan Prusiensky, 7.978, 128.63.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.812, 196.42 vs. 16. Jianna Salinas, Suzuki, 7.338, 189.84; 2. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.822, 197.51 vs. 15. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 7.020, 191.62; 3. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.826, 197.36 vs. 14. Cory Reed, EBR, 6.962, 193.99; 4. Matt Smith, EBR, 6.840, 198.32 vs. 13. Scotty Pollacheck, EBR, 6.944, 193.46; 5. Angelle Sampey, Harley-Davidson, 6.854, 195.22 vs. 12. John Hall, Suzuki, 6.914, 195.59; 6. Hector Arana, EBR, 6.875, 195.93 vs. 11. Joey Gladstone, EBR, 6.899, 194.02; 7. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.879, 195.65 vs. 10. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.898, 193.82; 8. Angie Smith, EBR, 6.889, 196.07 vs. 9. Ryan Oehler, Buell, 6.893, 196.22.