By Rick Sheek (rsheek@starhq.com)
BRISTOL — Mike Neff nailed down his first No. 1 qualifying position on Saturday, leading the Funny Car class in the eighth-annual O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.
The John Force Racing driver covered the quarter-mile strip in 4.783 seconds at 321.04 mph in a Ford.
“It’s an awesome feeling,” Neff said. “To be able to do some good things is really a good feeling. I owe it all to (crew chief) John Medlen. He’s the one that makes the calls, makes that thing perform like it does, and he’s doing an outstanding job.”
Jim Head qualified second (4.785/323.89) in a Toyota.
Neff’s pass from Friday night held up. All four Force cars qualified in the top seven, with the boss in seventh.
“It was really nice, that we were all in there pretty solid after yesterday,” Neff said. “It seems like somebody’s always been trying to fight there way in there on Saturday. That can be a real challenge.
“It’s great to have all four Fords in the top of the field. It helps us out a lot.”
Points leader Tim Wilkerson qualified fourth in a Chevrolet.
“We’re just trying to do the best we can right now,” Wilkerson said. “We’re doing all right. We’ve just go to run better tomorrow.”
Ashley Force ran the fastest speed in a Ford at 324.98 mph. She is third.
Ron Capps and 14-time champion John Force each have two Thunder Valley victories. Capps qualified ninth in a Dodge, while Force is seventh in a Ford.
Other former winners in the field are Gary Scelzi (13th) in a Dodge and Del Worsham (12th) in a Chevy.
Neff meets Tony Bartone, in a Chevy, in the first round in shooting for his first trip to the winner’s circle.
“We’re starting to get a little bit of momentum it feels like,” Neff said. “I know the performance of the car is definitely there. I conditions are going to be pretty good tomorrow, so I think tomorrow will be a great day of racing.
“I honestly think we’ve got as good a chance as anybody.”
Force teammate Robert Hight, who qualified fifth, made the top pass of the final session.
“(Crew chief) Jimmy Prock has been searching for it,” Hight said. “The guy definitely knows what these things need. I’m thinking everything is good for tomorrow.”
The late Eric Medlen holds the Thunder Valley record for elapsed time (4.755). Scelzi is the speed record holder (329.26 mph).
