GAINESVILLE - Geno Scali, determined to prove his 2003 series title was no fluke, led the Pro Stock Motorcycle field in its 2004 debut.
Darrell Russell (Top Fuel), Whit Bazemore (Funny Car) and Larry Morgan (Pro Stock) also took provisional top-qualifying honors Friday.
Scali said he used his final-round effort in the AMA Pro Star race March 7 on this track to prepare his Suzuki for the first of 15 races on the schedule.
"Now I know what not to do here," the former Lexus salesman from Palatine, Ill., said. "I like the pressure. It feels good."
Scali finished in 7.104 seconds to erase Matt Hines' 2-year-old mark for bikes.
Morgan, whose Team Mopar program has made a dramatic turnaround since NHRA legend Bob Glidden became an adviser, is poised to earn his first No.1 qualifying position since the summer of 1991. Morgan failed to qualify for the first 11 events last season before hiring the former Pro Stock dominator who won 10 series championships and 85 races.
"He's the boss. I'm lucky to be the driver," Morgan said of Glidden. "The way I ran last year, they should have thrown me out."
While the 35-year-old track was repaved this year, the first-session times for the nitro classes resembled 1984. Only Russell, David Grubnic, David Baca and Cory McClenathan finished in the four-second range in Top Fuel, and no Funny Car driver was quicker than 5.036 seconds.
Russell, quickest among the Top Fuelers at 4.644 seconds and 317.57 mph in his Joe Amato Racing Dragster, predicted the surface would "come around little by little" and said, "I don't think (4.644) will hold up as the No.1 qualifier."
ROUGH START: Angelle Savoie, the defending Gatornationals motorcycle winner who also won in 1999, had a rocky start. She was disqualified for crossing the center line on her first qualifying attempt then hit the retaining wall on her next pass, bruising the outside of her right calf.
She said she will be ready for today's final two qualifying sessions.
"We think the back tire may have been the reason for me going to the right in both of my runs," Savoie said. "For some reason, I immediately was pushed to the right at the hit (of the throttle). I tried to fight it ... but just couldn't recover."
She had a similar incident in May at Chicago (also when Scali was top qualifier), and she won the race.
"You can't count that team out," Scali said. "It's a big-bucks team, and they have lots of parts. If she didn't get in, it'd be shocking."
