NORWALK, Ohio (AP) -- Johnny Gray raced to the Funny Car qualifying lead Friday in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals with a run if 4.094 seconds at 306.33 mph.

"The car left hard, ran hard, and I thought we were really going to make a good run, and at almost 3.8 seconds into the run, it knocked the tires loose and went up on the rev limiter, so I just drove it to the finish line," Gray said. "You have all these thoughts and all these fears that you're going to make a mistake because you're hot and not thinking straight, but once they fire the motor and lower the body, there's no more thought processes. It's just action then. From then on, it's more like a reaction thing."

Steve Torrence led Top Fuel qualifying, Allen Johnson topped the Pro Stock field, and Hector Arana Sr. had the Pro Stock Motorcycle lead. Torrence had a run of 3.829 at 319.98, Allen Johnson finished in 6.663 at 207.34, and Arana Sr. in 6.962 at 188.02 mph.