Team Speed Society Update: NHRA Four Wide Qualifying

Clay Millican has secured the #1 qualifying spot for the second race in a row, putting his Great Clips/Parts Plus top fuel dragster on the pole with a 3.716 elapsed time at over 325 MPH. Millican, who currently sits at #2 on the all-time runner-up list, is confident about his chances to take that last step and earn his first NHRA national event win. He parlayed his #1 qualifying effort last weekend into a semifinal finish that propelled him to the 7th spot in points coming into Charlotte.

Current points leader Leah Pritchett qualified in the 9th spot with an ET of 3.77 seconds at 322 MPH and will look to continue her amazing consistency into eliminations today. With the fourth qualifying session being a “dress rehearsal” for race day conditions, Leah was the quickest car on the track, laying down a solid 3.785 in the balmy North Carolina heat. Pritchett and Millican will actually face off in the opening quad at the Four-Wide nationals, and could face each other again if they are the first 2 cars to the stripe from their grouping in round 1.

In Pro Stock, team Gas Monkey Garage driver Alex Laughlin is qualified tenth in the always-tight eliminator with a 6.617 ET at 208 MPH. Laughlin and his crew are still fine-tuning their Jerry Haas chassis to work with their new Elite Motorsports power, and like Pritchett, Laughlin’s fourth qualifying run was a solid representation of what race day should be, and he was right in the mix with the quicker cars in the class. Look for Laughlin and the GMG team to go for it all in round one, where he will face off with Tanner Gray just a week after they exchanged words in a much-publicized disagreement at Houston.

Check back tonight for a full race report from our Team Speed Society drivers from the Four Wide Nationals here at ZMAX Dragway.