Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Return to Brainerd, Begin with Friday Qualifying

The NHRA returned to the Brainerd International Raceway on Friday for the 43rd annual Lucas Oil Nationals, the penultimate race before the countdown to the championship begins. That fact always produces competitive racing as teams try to either jockey for position or earn one of the 10 available spots for the championships.

RAD Torque Systems Driver Dallas Glenn is the current points leader in Pro Stock, having won four events this year, and is chasing his third-straight regular season title. Glenn has also won back-to-back races at Brainerd and shared why he thinks his team has had so much success at the track.

“This is one of the only tracks that is complete solid surface all the way from start to finish, whereas the other ones are kind of in sections; you only have small sections, so it’s a little bit different and it’s a little tricky,” explained Glenn. “It can get a little greasy whenever the sun’s out. So definitely managing the power and getting off the starting line is very key here. I think the last two times I’ve won here is because I made it down the track four times in a row.”

“I’m excited to come here,” he continued. “I’ve definitely got a lot of momentum this season. I’ve got a fantastic car and I can’t wait to go out here and see what kind of numbers we can put down in front of this fan base. And, after we we go put our qualifying laps down, I can’t wait to go take a lap or two around the Zoo [camping facility].”

But once Friday’s qualifying was done, it was Duluth native Greg Anderson who emerged as the provisional number one qualifier in Pro Stock with a time of 6.614. Dallas Glenn currently sits in second.

In the Funny Car class, Austin Prock sits at number one with a time 3.893 seconds at over 331 mph. Top Fuel reigning world champion Antron Brown had the quickest run of the day, powering his way to a pass of 3.742 seconds at nearly 335 mph.

Qualifying will continue on Saturday with two more runs for each class, and with the elimination and championship races on Sunday.