Top Fuel rookie J.R. Todd's Professional debut couldn't be going better as the 24-year-old rookie outran all the veterans Friday afternoon with a 4.508 quarter-mile pass to assume the No. 1 qualifying position at the 46th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Fellow rookie Hillary Will is second after a 4.518.

Todd was joined by John Force and Greg Anderson at the top of the qualifying sheets. Force lost the Funny Car lead for about five minutes Friday when former teammate Tony Pedregon moved around him, but a 4.712 put the 13-time champ back on top. Anderson quickly overcame Thursday's forgettable start with a track-record 6.665 in Pro Stock.

J.R. Todd

Outside of the Menard's pit, Todd wasn't anyone's pick to be leading Top Fuel at the midway point of qualifying, but the NHRA newcomer showed everyone he's ready to race at the sport's top level with his 4.508 at 321.65 mph.

"I just wanted to come here and qualify," Todd said. "We weren't thinking about running low e.t., but we'll take it. If I do my job and don't screw up, we might have some fun on race day.

"It dropped a cylinder downtrack, so we probably got cheated out of a 4.49, but to run a 4.50 and be No. 1 is great.

"This is what I've always wanted to do. I don't let the pressure of running against guys like Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon get to me. I try not to even think about it. But it is very cool."

Another rookie, 25-year-old KB Racing pilot Will, is second with a best of 4.518 at 323.19 mph. Day one leader Clay Millican slipped to third when he couldn't improve on his 4.528 at 312.86 mph in his Nitro Fish Wear dragster.

The man everyone expected to top the charts, back-to-back champ Schumacher, smoked his tires Friday and fell to 15th.

John Force

With a partisan crowd cheering him down the strip, Castrol's Force edged Q Racing's Pedregon by one-thousandth of a second in the last Professional pairing of the day to maintain the Funny Car lead. Pedregon had to settle for second with a 4.713 at 327.19 mph.

"Pedregon set the pace," Force said. "We had it set up soft, but after we saw what Tony and those guys did ahead of us, [crew chief Austin] Coil got in the box and made it a little more aggressive.

"We're pretty excited. You want to get in the show. Now we got to get Robert [Hight, teammate] in there and we'll be happy.

"Qualifying good is great for the ego, and if you qualify No. 1, it puts the slowest car in the pack against you in round one. But the problem these days is the slowest car isn't that slow, and that guy can beat you as easy as anyone else. That's just the way it is, so you have to be up for it."

There were six other racers in the 4.7-second zone, but they were all more than four-hundredths of a second behind the two leaders. World champ and chief Force rival Gary Scelzi was the last of the 4.7-second runners with his eighth-best 4.798.

Skull Gear racer Mike Ashley had a wild ride after completing a 4.839-second, 308.43-mph pass when his parachutes malfunctioned and he ended up in the top-end sand trap. Ashley was uninjured.

Greg Anderson

Anderson didn't make it two feet past the starting line Thursday before his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO overpowered the racetrack. Friday he went all 1,320 feet in 6.665 seconds to set an Auto Club Raceway record. His 207.43-mph top speed also was impressive.

"It was a long trip down the quarter-mile yesterday at about 30 mph," Anderson said. "I was tempted to just keep on driving right out of the back door to go hide. It was embarrassing. But my guys turned all the right screws, and it went straight down there today. It was so smooth that it kind of felt slow.

"We were lucky to be in the left lane today, and we took advantage of it. Tomorrow morning's round should be the best as far as conditions go, so we'll have to figure out what to do on the right side. Erica [Enders] looked great over there just now, so we know the lane has gotten considerably better."

Enders improved dramatically in her Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevrolet Cobalt, running a 6.678 at 206.80 mph to move from 14th place to second. Mike Edwards (6.692), Richie Stevens Jr. (6.692), and "Tricky Rickie" Smith (6.696) also posted 6.6-second passes.

Six-time world champion Warren Johnson, the most prolific driver in the history of the class with 95 victories, failed to get down the track Friday in his GM Performance Parts GTO and was bumped out of the field.

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