MORRISON — Top fuel’s Spencer Massey and funny car’s “Fast” Jack Beckman were quickest among their peers Friday in opening-day qualifying for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals, and Allen Johnson (pro stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (pro stock motorcycle) also hold provisional pole positions heading into today’s final two rounds at Bandimere Speedway.
Sunday’s 16-car/bike eliminations for the 33rd annual National Hot Rod Association event begin at 11 a.m.
Massey, the defending top fuel winner at Bandimere, surprisingly posted the event’s overall best time of 3.914 seconds (309.49 mph) in the first round, and went 3.923 (318.02 mph) in the night session under substantially cooler conditions. Antron Brown, the 2009 Bandimere winner, and Doug Kalitta, who won here in 2010, are second and third, respectively.
“Hats off to the Fram guys,” Massey said of his Don Schumacher Racing crew. “They plugged in their tuneup from last year, when we won the event, and went back to the data that we knew and lucked out the first round. We were really shooting to run a high (3).90, not a low (3).90.”
Beckman won at Bandimere in 2007 and was second-quickest after the hot first round, which featured track temperatures of more than 110 degrees. His second-round pass of 4.131 seconds (304.05 mph) unseated Cruz Pedregon for the top spot. Robert Hight and Ron Capps are second and third, respectively, and Pedregon fourth.
Defending Bandimere champion John Force is fifth.
“I love this place. I came to my first Mile-High Nationals when I was stationed here in the Air Force in 1984 and the next three years I drove 500 miles one way to be here because it’s such a phenomenal race,” Beckman said. “It’s so important to unload Friday and get down the racetrack. You don’t have to be at the top of the heap but if you can get to the finish line and get data, then you can make the tweaks.”
Johnson is accustomed to success at Bandimere, having appeared in the last five final rounds at Bandimere (winning in 2007, 2009 and 2010).He drives for Mopar, the parts division for Dodge and longtime title sponsor of the event, and Johnson has tested extensively at Thunder Mountain during his reign.
He was No. 1 after the first round and reclaimed the top spot over defending event winner Mike Edwards with his second-round pass of 6.962 seconds.
Edwards is second and V Gaines of Lakewood, another Mopar driver, is third.
“We actually left a little on the table tonight, didn’t run as good as we should, but it was good enough for the No. 1,” Johnson said. “(As) I tweeted something this, ‘We’re strutting our Hemi stuff up here. All the Mopar execs are here and we really want to do well for them.”
Arana Jr. bettered his father, Hector Arana Sr., for the top provisional spot in both pro stock bike sessions, including a second-round pass that tied Michael Phillips’ track record of 7.238 seconds, set in 2010.
Harley-Davidson teammates Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec are third and fourth, respectively.
Arana Jr. qualified eighth at Bandimere a year ago and lost in the first round.
“I honestly didn’t expect this motor to run as well as it did,” Arana Jr. said. “We’ve always put it to the side. It’s called ‘The Replacement’ and it’s doing its job.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357, mchambers@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mchambersdp
