Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta is in line for his second straight No. 1 qualifier position in Phoenix, powering to the provisional top spot on Friday at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

Blake Alexander (Funny Car) and Cristian Cuadra (Pro Stock) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the second of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

Kalitta, who has 49 career Top Fuel victories, went 3.679-seconds at 330.23 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster to go to No. 1. Should it hold, Kalitta would pick up his first No. 1 qualifier since last year in Phoenix and the 52nd in his career. It marks another strong moment in the early part of the season for the veteran. He struggled a year ago, including a first-round upset in Phoenix last year, but is motivated for a big turnaround in 2023.

“The car was strong and to go out and run a 3.67 was pretty cool,” Kalitta said. “My guys have been working their tails off on this thing and we’re super hungry to make it happen. There’s no better place to do it than here because we love coming to Phoenix.

“Last year was just one of those years. For whatever reason, the car just wasn’t happy, and it wasn’t responding to what we were doing. It was a long year, but I think all the changes and everything we’ve made have been paying off. Hopefully we’ll just stay on a nice roll.”

Alexander made the most of his one pass on Friday in Funny Car, going to the top in his 11,000-horsepower Pronto/Head Inc. Ford Mustang with a run of 3.927 at 322.50. If that holds, Alexander would earn his first No. 1 qualifier in a loaded Funny Car class, as the talented driver made one of only two three-second runs during the session.

After a first-round loss to open the year, it was also a positive move in the right direction.

“We came out today with the mindset of we didn’t do that well on Friday in Gainesville. In fact, we lit the car on fire, and we just wanted to get down the track today,” Alexander said. “It turned out to be a nice ending for us. We work really, really hard and even when you have a bad weekend you work extra hard. So we’re happy. We know what this car needs and we just need to keep moving forward.”

Chad Green is currently second after going 3.952 at 319.29 and Terry Haddock is third with a 4.044 at 308.14. Green will face off with J.R. Todd in the Challenge, while Matt Hagan takes on Alexis DeJoria in a semifinal rematch from Gainesville.

In an impressive Pro Stock qualifying session, Cristian Cuadra went to the top position, closing in on his first career No.1 qualifier with a run of 6.552 at 210.24 in his Corral Boots Ford Mustang. Cuadra has advanced to one final round in his career but hasn’t finished on top in qualifying. That could change this weekend in Phoenix after a strong start on Friday.

“When I saw my time slip, I was excited but I thought it wasn't going to be No. 1 because the fast cars, Erica [Enders], Greg [Anderson], and T.J. [Troy Coughlin Jr.] all those cars are always really fast,” Cuadra said. “I was really, really amazed. Hopefully, I can keep it for tomorrow. I'm really excited. I really want to be the first Mexican to be No. 1. That's something important for me. We want to make history in Mexico, and we're already making it.”

Kyle Koretsky, who qualified No. 1 in Phoenix last season, is currently second after a run of 6.554 at 210.37 and KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn is right behind thanks to a run of 6.556 at 210.11. The Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge matchups include Troy Coughlin Jr. racing Glenn, and Mason McGaha taking on Greg Anderson.

Qualifying continues at 12 p.m. MT on Saturday at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

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TOP FUEL
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Psn---Num-Driver, Home Town, Car Type---------------Qual-ET--Qual-Spd-Top Spd

  1   10 Doug Kalitta, Saline MI, Kalitta-AJPE           3.679  330.23  330.23
  2 7211 Mike Salinas, San Jose CA, MLR-TFX              3.689  335.73  335.73
  3    3 Austin Prock, Pittsboro IN, Force-JFR           3.696  330.31  330.31
  4    1 Brittany Force, Yorba Linda CA, Force-JFR       3.722  323.12  323.12
  5    6 Steve Torrence, Kilgore TX, MLR-TFX             3.724  329.02  329.02
  6    4 Justin Ashley, Farmingdale NY, DSR-AJPE         3.724  328.06  328.06
  7  777 Leah Pruett, Lake Havasu City AZ, DSR-DSM       3.737  330.39  330.39
  8    9 Shawn Langdon, Danville IN, Kalitta-AJPE        3.755  327.35  327.35
  9  759 Jim Maroney, Mesa AZ, Hadman-TFX                3.960  311.49  311.49
 10   51 Clay Millican, Drummonds TN, DSR-AJPE           4.335  181.06  181.06
 11  725 Krista Baldwin, Pittsboro IN, DSR-TFX           4.660  160.59  160.59
 12  356 Tony Schumacher, Lakeway TX, DSR-DSM            4.706  154.86  154.86
 13    2 Antron Brown, Pittsboro IN, DSR-DSM             5.932  113.31  113.31
 14  323 Buddy Hull, Frisco TX, McKinney-TFX             7.326   96.38   96.38
 15    7 Josh Hart, Ocala FL, MLR-AJPE                  12.919   53.22   53.22


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FUNNY CAR
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  1  256 Blake Alexander, Charlotte NC, '19 Mustang      3.927  322.50  322.50
  2  473 Chad Green, Midland TX, '19 Mustang             3.952  319.29  319.29
  3  121 Terry Haddock, Temple TX, '18 Mustang           4.044  308.14  308.14
  4  116 Paul Lee, Anaheim CA, '20 Charger               5.064  149.81  149.81
  5   14 Matt Hagan, Christiansburg VA, '23 Charger      5.101  145.88  145.88
  6  373 J.R. Todd, Jupiter FL, '22 Supra                5.412  133.26  133.26
  7 3095 Bobby Bode, Deer Park IL, '18 Mustang           5.697  119.15  119.15
  8    9 Tim Wilkerson, Springfield IL, '18 Mustang      5.817  156.92  156.92
  9    7 Alexis DeJoria, Austin TX, '22 Supra            7.014  103.36  103.36
 10    1 Ron Capps, Carlsbad CA, '22 Supra               7.254   96.09   96.09
 11    6 Cruz Pedregon, Brownsburg IN, '22 Charger       7.288  101.09  101.09
 12    2 Robert Hight, Yorba Linda CA, '23 Camaro        7.538   83.54   83.54
 13   40 Alex Laughlin, Bluff Dale TX, '22 Charger       8.063   78.32   78.32
 14    5 John Force, Yorba Linda CA, '22 Camaro          8.520   77.43   77.43
 15    4 Bob Tasca III, Cranston RI, '23 Mustang        13.598   35.14   35.14


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PRO STOCK 
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  1    8 Cristian Cuadra, McAllen TX, '23 Mustang        6.552  210.24  210.24
  2    5 Kyle Koretsky, Fairless Hill PA, '22 Camaro     6.554  210.37  210.37
  3    7 Dallas Glenn, Mooresville NC, '22 Camaro        6.556  210.11  210.11
  4    3 Aaron Stanfield, Bossier LA, '22 Camaro         6.557  209.52  209.52
  5    6 Matt Hartford, Phoenix AZ, '16 Camaro           6.559  211.10  211.10
  6   14 Camrie Caruso, Denver NC, '13 Camaro            6.571  210.24  210.24
  7    4 Troy Coughlin Jr., Delaware OH, '22 Camaro      6.571  208.30  208.30
  8    2 Greg Anderson, Mooresville NC, '22 Camaro       6.577  209.23  209.23
  9   52 Deric Kramer, Sterling CO, '21 Camaro           6.577  208.26  208.26
 10    1 Erica Enders, Houston TX, '21 Camaro            6.581  208.07  208.07
 11  400 Mason McGaha, Odessa TX, '21 Camaro             6.586  208.75  208.75
 12  494 Jerry Tucker, Lindsay OK, '20 Camaro            6.595  208.55  208.55
 13 4264 Chris McGaha, Odessa TX, '22 Camaro             6.611  208.42  208.42
 14  106 Alan Prusiensky, Rockaway NJ, '16 Dart          6.644  206.95  206.95
 15 406M Fernando Cuadra Jr., Leon MX, '21 Mustang       6.658  207.69  207.69
 16   12 Shane Tucker, Statesville NC, '22 Camaro        6.666  207.24  207.24

       ------------ Not Qualified ------------

 17    9 Bo Butner, Floyd Knobs IN, '22 Camaro           7.924  112.33  112.33
 18 410M Fernando Cuadra, McAllen TX, '21 Mustang       20.474   38.81   38.81

w/ NHRA Communications