LAS VEGAS — Four-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence powered to the provisional No. 1 qualifier on Friday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, as he looks for his first top position of the year at the 25th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals.
Paul Lee (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the fourth of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Torrence went 3.840-seconds at 320.81 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Capco Contractors dragster, one of just two drivers to reach the 3.80s on a warm day in Las Vegas. If it holds, Torrence, who has five career wins in Las Vegas, would earn his 41st career No. 1 qualifier.
“When you come to Vegas, you come here with expectations and it could be like this, or it could be cold. It could be Candy Land, or it could be tricky and tough to navigate, and this is what we got today,” Torrence said. “It looks like we’ll have that for the rest of the weekend. We had a little bit of luck on the first run, but it went 900 of the 1,000 feet on seven cylinders and it went down through there pretty quick.”
Justin Ashley was the other driver to hit the 3.80s, going to second with a 3.892 at 315.27. Tony Stewart is currently qualified third thanks to his 3.904 at 319.45.
In Funny Car, Paul Lee showed his team is more than capable of running in the heat, pulling off a strong run of 3.940 at 326.08 in his 11,000-horsepower McLeod/FTI Performance Dodge Charger SRT. Lee continues to perform at a high level, in line for his second career No. 1 qualifier just two races after winning his first career Funny Car race in Phoenix.
The momentum continues to be with the team and Lee has always enjoyed racing in Vegas. Friday presented plenty of challenges with the heat, but Lee came away impressed with the work of his team.
“I mean, it’s 135 degrees [on the track] and we were hoping to run like a 3.97 or 3.98 because we saw that it was out there,” Lee said. “Jonnie (Lindberg, crew chief), you know, he’s an aggressive guy and he thought it could hold a little bit more, so he put some extra nuts on the clutch and I went and it held.
“That was close to the limit. It chattered pretty good and tried to break the tires loose, but I just kept going and it held.”
Rookie Spencer Hyde is second with a 3.965 at 320.20 and J.R. Todd is right behind after going 3.970 at 323.66.
No matter the conditions, there appears to be no stopping Pro Stock point leader Greg Anderson, as the defending world champion rolled to the No. 1 position on Friday with a 6.637 at 205.32 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. Anderson is after his third No. 1 qualifier in four races and has also won two consecutive races. He’s on track to contend for a third as he’s enjoying one of the best recent stretches in his standout career.
He’s been to five straight final rounds and Las Vegas has always treated the six-time champion well. Anderson has won eight times at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, putting him only behind Erica Enders’ 10 at the facility.
“This is Las Vegas and being the four-wide event we know anything can happen,” Anderson said. “You’ve got a hot racetrack, so you have to give it as much gear as possible to make the motor think it’s got power. You got to trick it with gear ratio, but we went over the edge.
“My guys are doing well, but we went over the edge a little bit on the second run. We spun the tires and it shook and I had to lift. It teaches them hopefully where the line is, where the limit is, and that’s great for us tomorrow because it will be very similar conditions.”
Matt Hartford is currently second with a strong 6.646 at 204.08 in the second session, while Cory Reed is third after going 6.655 at 205.32.
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