The Pro schedule will now be reduced to two qualifying sessions Saturday at the regularly scheduled start times of noon and 3 p.m. The majority of the sportsman action cancelled by Friday's showers will be made up around the two Pro sessions. Reigning POWERade Drag Racing Series champions Tony Schumacher, John Force, and Greg Anderson are the defending champions of this event.

Del Worsham, drivers of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car, noted, "This was not a surprise. Most of us are on the internet a lot, checking out various forecasts, and the consensus was we'd see the rain come back into the valley around 4:30. It actually showed up around 4:00, and set in as a pretty steady rain. It is what it is. We can't control it, and we can't fight it, so we deal with it and do the best we can tomorrow. If we do get two laps in tomorrow, the pressure will be evenly spread among all the Funny Car teams. No one will have the leeway to mess around or go for broke. We'll all have to find a way down the track and hope to find some consistency in just two runs. It ought to be exciting for the fans, I can tell you that."

Tommy Johnson Jr., who drove Don Prudhomme’s Skoal Racing Chevy Funny Car to the win at the season-opening Winternationals, commented, “I’ve never liked having only two qualifying sessions,” Johnson said. “I don’t think any driver likes only having just two runs to make it. We’re down to just two shots, but I think we’ll be fine. I think we’ll go out and run well. There’s not much you can do about it, we’re all in the same boat.”

Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon, who earned his 36^th career NHRA Top Fuel victory two weeks ago in Las Vegas, was more philosophic. “Today was a washout and we’ll hope the weather is better tomorrow and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” he said.