The first day of the newly mandated Goodyear tire belonged to the multi-car teams with John Force and Dave Grubnic taking advantage of the extra data they got from their teammates to secure the No. 1 positions in Funny Car and Top Fuel, respectively, at the 37th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. Force watched Robert Hight and Eric Medlen battle the "no shoulder" slicks before cranking out a 4.751 in his Mustang, while Grubnic followed Doug Kalitta and Hillary Will down the strip with a 4.555 in his dragster.

Three-time and reigning champion Greg Anderson continues his dominance of Pro Stock, pacing the field by a full two hundredths of a second with a 6.664 at 206.80 mph, the quickest pass of the season. Antron Brown opened the Pro Stock Motorcycle schedule with a class-leading 7.046 at 189.19 mph on his Suzuki.

Dave Grubnic

Grubnic was actually the slowest of the three Kalitta Motorsports dragsters in the first session, meaning he was the first of the trio to run in Round 2. But the Australian native and crew chief Jon Oberhofer learned enough earlier in the day to dance down the racetrack in 4.555 at 323.62 mph to put the StriVectin-SD dragster on top.

"We started the year with this tire and tested with it a bit early on," Grubnic said. "The critical thing seems to be the track temperature and obviously having the other cars running and the ability to look at their data really helped a bunch. I'm not overly excited about the change but we all have to deal with it.

"We want to hold onto that top position. If the conditions warrant the opportunity to step it up then we will. Jon O. seems to have a handle on what the car wants."

Youngster Morgan Lucas also posted a 4.555 in his Lucas Oil rail, but his slightly slower top speed of 321.88 mph relegated him to second place on the ladder.

Following in his father's footsteps at this historic track, Brandon Bernstein carded a solid 4.559 at 326.91 mph to put the Budweiser dragster in third. Bernstein's father Kenny was the first racer to 300 mph at this track in 1992.

Grubnic's teammates, Doug Kalitta and Hillary Will, also grabbed top-half spots. Kalitta was fourth in the Mac rail with a 4.575, while Will posted a 4.646 in the KB Racing dragster.

Points leader Melanie Troxel couldn't get down the track. She's 15th overall with a 6.608. Reigning back-to-back champ Tony Schumacher is not in the field.

John Force

Force entered the second session with five runs worth of information and was able to capitalize on the situation and race to the No. 1 slot with a 4.751 at 323.62 mph in his Castrol Ford.

"Getting that extra data was really good," Force said. "We saw what Robert (Hight) did (4.789) in front of us and just stepped it up from there. We run what Goodyear gives us. I don't know if the tire's better or not. Ask the crew chiefs. I'm No. 1 so I guess it's good for us.

"We'll need to step it up tomorrow. There are a lot of good cars out here, a lot of cars with big budgets. I'm waiting for the real star to start shining. That's Gary Scelzi. He's the champion and he's almost ready to get started. [Ron] Capps is gonna be tough. It'll be tough all year."

Scelzi's teammate Whit Bazemore was the quickest of the three Don Schumacher Racing cars on the property, running a second-best 4.769 at 321.88 mph in the Matco Tools Dodge Charger. Hight's 4.789 at 319.14 mph in the Auto Club Mustang placed him third.

Champ Scelzi was fourth best with a 4.812 in the Mopar/Oakley Dodge. His other teammate, current points leader Capps, is 16th after an off-pace 4.999 from the Brut Stratus.

Greg Anderson

Anderson's stranglehold on the Pro Stock class continues here as the driver of the Summit Racing Pontiac GTO zoomed to a 6.664 at 206.80 mph to lead the category by two hundredths of a second. The three-time champion has been the No. 1 qualifier at five of the last six races on tour, dating back to last October.

"We're right where we need to be," Anderson said. "We'd love to go for the record (6.633) but it's going to need to drop at least five or six degrees and we'll need some cloud cover to even have a shot at it.

"Look at this crowd here. The fans are fantastic and their support is really appreciated. It feels like race day when you look out there and the stands are packed like this. It's so much fun for the racers.

"It seems like the fuel cars are struggling, I guess with the new tires they have to run. But we're not having any trouble at all. In fact it's probably better than we all thought it would be."

Dodge racer Larry Morgan impressed with his 6.683 at 206.28 mph in his zMax Micro Lubricants Stratus R/T, which placed him second. Phoenix winner Warren Johnson slipped to fifth after shaking his tires in Round 2. His previous run of 6.696 at 206.80 mph in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac GTO is his best so far.

Popular pro Erica Enders had the quickest Chevy in the pack, qualifying sixth overall with a 6.697 at 206.56 mph in her Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevrolet Cobalt. Her run was the slowest of the 6.6-second passes on the day.

Antron Brown

Brown's big Suzuki surged around three Buell V-Twins that were stacked up at the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle ladder to post a 7.046 at 189.19 mph, good enough to take the provisional No. 1 position at the halfway point of qualifying. The U.S. Army racer is using the larger 101 cubic-inch motor allowed by the NHRA this season, although he hasn't installed fuel injection just yet.

"The Suzukis are definitely a lot more competitive," Brown said. "It's still early and everyone is still figuring it out but our numbers are on par with the V-Twins now so we're happy. Give us all a few races and we'll see how it looks. All the big teams have more than what they've showed so far.

"I'm surprised with our run a little bit because it didn't feel that spectacular. It's pretty slimy out there and I drifted right, so that lost some time, but a 7.04 is a good start. Angelle [Sampey, teammate] ran a 7.13 but she didn't have high gear. Otherwise she would have been right there with me or maybe even a hundredth quicker.

"We'll see some sixes if the front half of the track gets better. You need those early numbers to get in the sixes. We can back-half, but down low we're all struggling."

Ryan Schnitz, the No. 4 finisher in last year's points, led after one session before settling for second overall with a 7.048 at 192.26 mph on his Muzzy's Buell. Schnitz is racing without a sponsor and says this event will be his last if his team doesn't get some corporate funding.

There are nine racers in the 7.0-second range -- four Suzukis, four Buells, and one Harley-Davidson, that of defending series champion Andrew Hines, who is seventh overall with a 7.072.

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