Clay Millican earns No. 1 qualifying spot in Top Fuel

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) Clay Millican earned his first No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel in more than two years Saturday in the playoff-opening NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Millican, who missed claiming one of the top 10 playoff positions in the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, took the top spot with his Friday run of 3.758 seconds at 318.77 mph.

''Today was a nail-biter, I kept saying, please stay hot, please stay hot,'' Millican said. ''All the credit goes to the team because they tuned the car and put it together. I am just proud of this group. It's a brand new race team out here and to go to number one, it's really impressive.''

Tommy Johnson Jr. topped Funny Car qualifying, Greg Anderson led in Pro Stock, and Eddie Krawiec was the fastest in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Johnson had a 3.971 at 312.42 on Friday in a Dodge Charger R/T, Anderson ran a 6.524 at 212.26 in a Chevy Camaro, and Krawiec had a 6.851 at 194.38 on a Harley-Davidson.