POMONA, Calif. -- Morgan Lucas raced to the No. 1 qualifying spot in Top Fuel during Saturday's rain-shortened session at the NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
Robert Hight topped the Funny Car field, and Jason Line took the No. 1 spot in Pro Stock at the season opener.
Lucas powered his dragster to a 3.783-second run at 325.06 mph to take the top spot in the field as teams took advantage of cooler track and air temperatures. It was Lucas' fifth No. 1 qualifier of his career and first in the Winternationals, where he raced to the Top Fuel win last year.
Lucas will face Rod Fuller in the first round of eliminations today. Six-time Pomona winner Tony Schumacher qualified sixth, and Spencer Massey was second.
Kasey Kahne, who will make his Hendrick Motorsports debut in next weekend's Budweiser Shootout, had outpatient knee surgery Friday.
In a statement, HMS said Kahne would be ready to compete in all activities related to Speedweeks in Daytona Beach, Fla., and the organization had no plans to have a back-up driver standing by for the Shootout or the Daytona 500.
Kahne had an MRI on Thursday after experiencing swelling in his left knee. Jim Utter
