For the second time in her young career, Pro Stock rising star Camrie Caruso raced to the No. 1 qualifier at an NHRA national event.

On the strength of her Friday afternoon pass of 6.518 seconds at 211.79 mph, during round one of qualifying for the NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip Caruso will lead the Pro Stock field into eliminations tomorrow.

Caruso and the Powerbuilt Tools Chevrolet Camaro will face Steve Graham in the first round. The 2022 NHRA Rookie of the Year will bring momentum into the race looking to keep her win streak alive after her victory last weekend at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.

“I was really calm on Sunday in Phoenix,” said Caruso, from the Shav Glick Media Center. “I'm just going to continue to try and stay calm and not let anything rattle me. We're just going to focus on the win lights.”

It was a little over a year ago that Caruso qualified for her first NHRA national event at the Winternationals.

Justin Ashley (Top Fuel) and Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car) also qualified No. 1 at the third of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

Ashley went 3.707-seconds at 330.15 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by National Debt Relief to beat Leah Pruett in the final round, earning the bonus purse and bonus points for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. The run also gave Ashley, who won last weekend in Phoenix, his third career No. 1 qualifier and plenty of momentum heading into Sunday.

“This is probably the best Saturday I’ve ever had at the racetrack,” said Ashley, who will race Krista Baldwin in the first round of eliminations on Sunday. “It’s been pretty amazing and just a really positive step in the right direction. It’s a new tune-up and a new combination, and my team has obviously done a great job learning and adapting and I thought you saw the results here in this last session.”

Brittany Force qualifeid No. 2 with a 3.712 at 328.86 and Tony Stewart Racing's Leah Pruett qualified third with a 3.725 at 331.04.

Pedregon’s 3.865 at 302.28 from Friday in his 11,000-horsepower Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger Hellcat SRT kept the two-time champ at the top, giving him the top position for the first time this season and 63rd in his career. He’ll open eliminations against John Force, looking to pick up his second straight win at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip after closing out 2022 with a victory.

“I didn't think that .86 would hold up at all particularly last night because I shut the engine off and I questioned myself because thought, ‘Man I probably could wring its neck out a little longer there.’ I thought we left a little on the table there, but the weather warmed up just enough to keep the guys from getting there,” Pedregon said.

Eliminations for the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals begin at 11 a.m. PT on Sunday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

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


  1    4 Justin Ashley, Farmingdale NY, DSR-AJPE         3.707  330.15  331.20
  2    1 Brittany Force, Yorba Linda CA, Force-JFR       3.712  328.86  332.10
  3  777 Leah Pruett, Lake Havasu City AZ, DSR-DSM       3.725  331.04  331.04
  4    2 Antron Brown, Pittsboro IN, DSR-DSM             3.730  329.34  329.34
  5 7211 Mike Salinas, San Jose CA, MLR-TFX              3.731  334.40  334.40
  6    6 Steve Torrence, Kilgore TX, MLR-TFX             3.736  324.59  331.36
  7    9 Shawn Langdon, Danville IN, Kalitta-AJPE        3.758  333.33  333.33
  8  356 Tony Schumacher, Lakeway TX, DSR-DSM            3.762  323.27  326.32
  9    7 Josh Hart, Ocala FL, MLR-AJPE                   3.769  330.07  330.31
 10   51 Clay Millican, Drummonds TN, DSR-AJPE           3.771  329.10  329.10
 11   10 Doug Kalitta, Saline MI, Kalitta-AJPE           3.793  325.30  325.30
 12    3 Austin Prock, Pittsboro IN, Force-JFR           3.816  322.34  322.34
 13 7727 Ron August, Pleasanton CA, McKinney-TFX         4.078  245.54  245.54
 14  725 Krista Baldwin, Pittsboro IN, DSR-TFX           6.088  107.32  107.32


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FUNNY CAR
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  1    6 Cruz Pedregon, Brownsburg IN, '22 Charger       3.865  302.28  302.28
  2    7 Alexis DeJoria, Austin TX, '22 Supra            3.883  333.49  333.49
  3    2 Robert Hight, Yorba Linda CA, '23 Camaro        3.892  329.99  329.99
  4    4 Bob Tasca III, Cranston RI, '23 Mustang         3.899  329.50  329.50
  5  373 J.R. Todd, Jupiter FL, '22 Supra                3.935  328.86  328.86
  6    9 Tim Wilkerson, Springfield IL, '18 Mustang      3.938  324.51  324.51
  7  256 Blake Alexander, Charlotte NC, '19 Mustang      3.941  322.19  322.19
  8    1 Ron Capps, Carlsbad CA, '22 Supra               3.943  327.74  327.74
  9  116 Paul Lee, Anaheim CA, '20 Charger               3.957  314.02  314.31
 10   14 Matt Hagan, Christiansburg VA, '23 Charger      3.962  302.96  323.89
 11  473 Chad Green, Midland TX, '19 Mustang             3.974  316.08  316.08
 12   40 Alex Laughlin, Bluff Dale TX, '22 Charger       3.993  302.82  302.82
 13  766 Jason Rupert, Anaheim Hills CA, '17 Mustang     3.998  316.23  316.23
 14  121 Terry Haddock, Temple TX, '18 Mustang           4.021  310.91  310.91
 15  170 Jeff Arend, La Verne CA, '08 Monte Carlo        4.120  300.26  300.26
 16    5 John Force, Yorba Linda CA, '22 Camaro          4.162  230.61  230.61

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

 17  717 Jeff Diehl, Salinas CA, '20 Camry               4.298  238.05  238.05
 18  700 Steven Densham, Oceanside CA, '18 Mustang       4.330  243.28  243.28


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PRO STOCK 
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  1   14 Camrie Caruso, Denver NC, '13 Camaro            6.518  211.79  211.79
  2    6 Matt Hartford, Phoenix AZ, '16 Camaro           6.524  211.13  211.13
  3    3 Aaron Stanfield, Bossier LA, '22 Camaro         6.528  211.59  211.59
  4    7 Dallas Glenn, Mooresville NC, '22 Camaro        6.528  211.33  211.33
  5    9 Bo Butner, Floyd Knobs IN, '22 Camaro           6.533  209.72  210.57
  6    2 Greg Anderson, Mooresville NC, '22 Camaro       6.534  211.03  212.06
  7    8 Cristian Cuadra, McAllen TX, '23 Mustang        6.534  210.64  210.64
  8    4 Troy Coughlin Jr., Delaware OH, '22 Camaro      6.539  210.47  210.60
  9    5 Kyle Koretsky, Fairless Hill PA, '22 Camaro     6.542  210.47  210.47
 10    1 Erica Enders, Houston TX, '21 Camaro            6.546  210.31  210.31
 11 406M Fernando Cuadra Jr., Leon MX, '21 Mustang       6.547  210.18  210.18
 12  400 Mason McGaha, Odessa TX, '21 Camaro             6.563  210.14  210.41
 13 4264 Chris McGaha, Odessa TX, '22 Camaro             6.569  210.18  210.18
 14  494 Jerry Tucker, Lindsay OK, '20 Camaro            6.573  209.43  209.65
 15   52 Deric Kramer, Sterling CO, '21 Camaro           6.586  209.39  209.39
 16  799 Steve Graham, S. San Francisco CA, '16 Camaro   6.601  208.33  209.36

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

 17  106 Alan Prusiensky, Rockaway NJ, '16 Dart          6.631  207.37  207.37
 18   12 Shane Tucker, Statesville NC, '22 Camaro        6.636  207.15  207.15
 19 410M Fernando Cuadra, McAllen TX, '21 Mustang       13.100   68.32   68.32

w/ NHRA  & Werner Communications; Caruso image by SR Driven Media