DAY FOUR, ENTRY FIVE

Gary Scelzi feels deprived.

Oh, the Schumacher Racing driver is plenty happy with the 4.765-second pass in his Oakley Dodge Stratus at 316.01 miles an hour that gave him the provisional Funny Car No. 1 spot after the opening round of qualifying Saturday. He just can't help thinking about his one missed opportunity here.

"The one time I won this race, in 1998," the former Top Fuel champion said, "I ran over to (the late TV analyst) Steve Evans, and his battery went dead. I never got my interview. And let me tell ya -- I was ready to talk! You guys had better hope I don't win this race Monday."

DAY FOUR, ENTRY SIX

Points leader Greg Anderson claimed both ends of the Pro Stock track record Saturday, erasing Ron Krisher's year-old marks. He set the speed record at 202.61 miles an hour, besting Krisher's 201.31. Anderson, a Minnesota native who has relocated to Charlotte, N.C., clocked a 6.804-second elapsed time on his first run and lowered the e.t. record to 6.799 seconds in the evening session. Krisher had owned the record at 6.819.

DAY FOUR, ENTRY SEVEN

As the eye-on-the-sky mentality continued Saturday, DRO calculated that at least one pro class has lost an opening qualifying round because of rain or oildowns/darkness at 12 of the 17 NHRA races so far this year.

Beginning in March at Gainesville and running through the June race at Columbus, nine straight events were shortened by bad weather. Then two-thirds of the Western Swing got off to an abbreviated start, at Denver and Seattle. Friday night's soggy conditions made it a dozen.

DAY FOUR, ENTRY EIGHT

Tony Schumacher's U.S. Army-sponsored dragster was sporting a new desert camouflage paint scheme in recognition of American troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fans had to look closely to get a glimpse of him anyway, with his 4.566-second pass that was second only to Doug Kalitta's 4.555 during the first round of Top Fuel qualifying.

This version of the Top Fuel car is available as die-cast collectibles. All proceeds from those sales will benefit the Army Emergency Relief Fund, which helps families of soldiers killed in action.

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Schumacher, along with NASCAR Army buddy Jerry Nadeau, accompanied Pro Stock Motorcycle teammates Antron Brown and Angelle Savoie last Monday and Tuesday on their first visit to an Army installation -- a "working field trip" to Fort Knox. There they joined troops for physical-training drills.

Savoie said the winning attitudes she witnessed during her time at the Army base in Kentucky inspired her. "I am so proud of our sponsorship," she said. "Just being around those people. . .I got choked up. They talked about 'No second chances' and how it's all about being No. 1 and not tolerating anything else. They were really making a difference in how I motivated myself for this race."