MORRISON — Ashley Force Hood was again at the top of her class Friday.
Force Hood, the NHRA funny car points leader, produced an event-opening pass of 4.287 seconds at 283.49 mph to obtain the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot in the 30th Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
A rain delay of nearly four hours near the end of the first session led to late-night second-round qualifying. Pro stock, pro stock motorcycle and funny car completed the first session before the weather moved in and put top fuel qualifying on hold.
When the first session resumed under cool and ideal racing conditions at 10:09 p.m., defending event champion Tony Schumacher produced track 1,000-foot records in elapsed time (3.922 seconds) and speed (312.28 mph).
Antron Brown and Larry Dixon also surpassed the 300-mph barrier and were second and third, respectively.
Only 13 funny cars made first-round passes, meaning the top three qualifiers could get first-round byes in Sunday’s 16-car eliminations. Fourteen top fuel drivers made passes, 16 in pro stock and 18 in pro stock bike.
Force Hood led the four John Force Racing entries, with John Force qualifying fifth, Robert Hight 11th and Mike Neff 13th. Force is eighth in the points, Neff ninth and Hight 12th.
The team remains miffed about why Force Hood is the only driver to have command of the similarly prepared cars.
“That first lap, it was so nice to just get (to point) A to B,” Force Hood said. “A lot of the teams were struggling, and you never know in your first run at any event, but especially an event with a different altitude and a lot changes with the tuneup . . . It worked out for us. We have a base. (Today) we won’t be so worried on the track but build on (the first run).”
Allen Johnson (pro stock) and Hector Arana (pro stock motorcycle) also led their divisions in the first session.
“The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous, (but) it’s a shame that we’ve had to do this tonight,” said Johnson, who tested at Bandimere last week.
“We hit it close. We didn’t make a perfect run, but I think a lot of other teams missed it. We still have more left.”
Arana said he used a basic setup.
“I played it safe but it worked out,” he said. “I was surprised I had a good run, No. 1 qualifier first hit. The bike felt awesome.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
