NHRA Topeka Final Qualifying, Sunday Pairings: Bob Tasca III Races to Ninth Career No. 1

• Bob Tasca’s run of 3.930-seconds at 323.81 mph in his 11,000-horsepower BG Products Ford Mustang held up from Friday, giving the veteran his ninth career No. 1 qualifier.

• Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Joey Gladstone (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1.

• Gladstone earned his first career No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Bob Tasca III powered to the No. 1 qualifying spot for the second straight race on Saturday at Heartland Motorsports Park, securing the top position in Funny Car at the 33rd annual Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.

Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Joey Gladstone (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the 14th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

Tasca’s run of 3.930-seconds at 323.81 mph in his 11,000-horsepower BG Products Ford Mustang held up from Friday, giving the veteran his ninth career No. 1 qualifier in the process. He’ll look for his second win in three races on Sunday, as well as his first career victory in Topeka, entering eliminations with plenty of momentum. In addition to Friday’s run, Tasca made the best run of Saturday’s two sessions to close out qualifying, going a stout 3.940 at 322.96 to end the day on another huge positive.

“That track is so good out there and this air is so hard to make power, but this BG Mustang showed them we’re out here making some real horsepower,” Tasca said. “Hats off to the guys, but I’ll tell you one thing, we got a yellow (No. 1 qualifier) hat in Seattle, and we didn’t get to trade it in for a blue (winner’s) hat. Tomorrow, we want to trade this thing in for a blue hat.”

Points leader Robert Hight, who is looking for his seventh win this season, qualified second thanks to his 3.931 at 323.81 from Friday, while defending event winner John Force’s 3.932 at 312.71 secured the third spot for the 16-time world champion.

On the strength of his standout run of 3.754 at 323.19 from Friday, Salinas clinched his third No. 1 qualifier of the season in his 11,000-horsepower Pep Boys/Scrappers Racing dragster. It’s also the 11th career top spot for Salinas, who will open eliminations against Terry Totten. He made a solid run to close out qualifying on Saturday, giving the veteran confidence as Salinas, who is second in points, heads into race day looking for his fifth win of the season and his first victory in Topeka.

“This year will be the best year in Top Fuel racing that I’ve ever seen,” Salinas said. “The competition is almost like a bracket car. It’s so close and you can’t make any mistakes. You have to be on your ‘A’ game every run and all the people we’re racing against, you can’t take any of them lightly because everybody is doing such a great job. Look at how close the fields are. It’s just amazing and I’m happy to be a part of this thing, and I’m happy to beat up on them, too.”

Two-time winner this year Justin Ashley qualified second with a 3.765 at 320.43 and Josh Hart took the third spot after his pass of 3.766 at 310.41 from Friday. Points leader Brittany Force qualified sixth.