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UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY

In his first professional raceday, Tony Stewart is in the first pair against noted starting-line artist Justin Ashley and Stewart is actually away first with an .021 light to Ashley’s otherwise brilliant .031. Both drivers have to pedal through tire shake and both do ��great job, but Ashley gets to the stripe first for his first win for Scag Power Equipment, 4.41 to 4.45/. Stewart will move on to Pomona looking for his first pro win light,

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Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel championship defense gets off to a great start with low e.t. of the meet, 3.658 at 337.75 mph, grabbing both ends of the performance marks, to defeat Clay Millican, who has to lift early due to shake. Kalitta’s speed ties Brittany Force’s track record, which is tied for 10th fastest in history.

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Local favorite Josh Hart puts down a solid 3.75 against tire-shaking Tony Schumacher. Right behind them, past Gatornationals champ Tripp Tatum wastes a stellar 3.701 on a red-light against yesterday’s Pep Boys Callout champ Antron Brown, who otherwise would have been in trouble with a 3,73,

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Low qualifier Shawn Langdon, who won the race the last time he was the low qualifier, at the U.S. Nationals in 2020, takes out teenager Cody Krohn, but it costs him at the top end with a blower backfire at the conclusion of a 3.69. Steve Torrence, who lost his three-session qualifying lead to Langdon last night, fires back with a 3,673 to handle Shawn Reed, who is making his first raceday start since the Phoenix event in 2020. As good as Torrence's run was, he won; have lane choice against Kalitta in round two.

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Mike Salinas wins the round but appears to lose an engine against red-lighting Doug Foley, and he'll surrender second-round lane choice to Billy Torrence, who puts the second CAPCO car into the next round with a stout 3.66 against traction-plagued Brittany Force.

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Second-round pairings (lane choice first): Shawn Langdon vs. Justin Ashley; Antron Brown vs. Josh Hart; Doug Kalitta vs. Steve Torrence; Billy Torrence vs. Mike Salinas.

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Chad Green extends his win streak to five straight rounds as the winner of the 2023 season finale gets past Terry Haddock, whose weekend was made in qualifying when he recorded his first career three-second run (two of them!). Green goes 4.01 while Haddock smokes the tires.

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Alexis DeJoria pounds out a solid if unspectacular 3.95 to defeat Paul Lee and Bob Tasca III follows with a great pedal job against Buddy Hull to salvage the win with a 4.45, but DeJoria will have lane choice in the second-round bout.

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Ron Capps, whose NAPA team decided to bring out their 2023 car for the season opener and ran 3.904, 3.871, and 3.895 in qualifying, reels off another .87 to defeat Jim Campbell as he begins his quest for a fourth world championship.

“We came in here and pulled last year’s car out,” he explained. “ 'Guido'[Dean Antonelli, crew chief] wasn’t quite confident in our brand-new car only having a few runs on it. And lo and behold, we unloaded and this has been one of the most consistent cars going down the track.”

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Austin Prock, in his first Funny Car raceday start, also has his first pedaling challenge and handles it masterfully against John Smith to collect his first flopper win light with a 4.35. "It was just a matter of time before I'd have to try to get it to recover so it's good to get it out of the way," he said. "It wasn't pretty but it was good enough."

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Daniel Wilkerson, in the first race of his first full season, gets out on the late-leaving defending world champ Matt Hagan, but Hagan fights back to win by just .008-second, 3.86 to 3.92. J.R. Todd has to cut his run short with a 4.20, but it's still enough to put the DHL Toyota into the next round ahead of tire-smoking Blake LAexander.

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A pair of old rivals in John Force and Cruz Pedregon tangle again and both drivers have to lift before the finish line, and almost simultaneously, but Force crosses first, 4.26 to 4.34, and, remarkably, Force will have second-round lane choice over his protégé, Austin Prock.

***

Second-round pairings (lane choice first): John Force vs. Austrin Prock; Matt Hagan vs. Chad Green; Alexis DeJoria vs. Bob Tasca III; Ron Capps vs. J.R. Todd

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Aaron Stanfield, who has forsaken his Factory Stock ride in favor of a new Factory X whip, continues to turn on win lights in Pro Stock. The winner of the season-ending In-N-Out Burger 91���� Finals in Pomona, Stanfield spun the tires to a 6.609 in round one, but turned on the win light after opponent Deric Kramer shook the tires as soon as he dumped the clutch pedal.

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Jeg Coughlin Jr. easily cruised to his first win of the season after opponent Fernando Cuadra Jr. shook the tires but that might not have mattered as Coughlin’s SCAG Power Equipment Camaro blasted to what was then low elapsed time and top speed of the events with a 6.527, 211.89. For the record, Coughlin has a pair of Gainesville wins on his résumé, one in 2001 and another in 2008.

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With a qualifying spread of just .043-seconds from top to bottom, the Pro Stock class was ripe for upsets, and it didn’t take long for that to happen. No. 11 qualifier David Cuadra took out Matt Hartford on what is commonly referred to as a “baby holeshot” Cuadra earned his first career Pro Stock round win with a 6.526 to Hartford’s quicker 6.511. The difference at the finish line was just .005-second.

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Brandon Foster also picked up his first round win, albeit in an unusual fashion. Foster got distracted on the starting line and cut a regrettable .410 light, but he was able to drive past T.J Coughlin, who rattled the tires in his JEGS.com/White Castle entry. Foster also made his best run of the weekend with a 6.531. Foster is racing as a teamamte to Camrie Caruso, who did not qualify, but provided colorful commentary from the announcer's booth.

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It’s fairly common knowledge that Erica Enders has never won in Gainesville and the six-time champion has made it known that a Gatornationals victory is one of her top priorities. She’s got a ways to go, but a very competitive 6.496 against her teammate Kelley Murphy is a good way to start. Enders doesn’t take anyone lightly, and given her history of tough luck in Gainesville, she certainly wasn’t gonna disregard Murphy’s chances. “Remember, last year I got beat by [Elite teammate] Jerry Tucker in his first race and I got to hear about it all year long.,” said Enders.

Round two pairings (lane choice first): Greg Anderson vs. Brandon Foster; Dallas Glenn vs. David Cuadra; Christian Cuadra vs. Jeg Coughlin Jr.; Erica enders vs. Aaron Stanfield.

***

There were dramatic improvements�� across the board in Pro Stock Motorcycle thanks to Sunday’s improved weather conditions. Angie Smith fired the first shot with a career-best 6.691 at 203.61 mph on her Denso Buell. Smith was quick to answer any lingering questions about her health following her on-track accident last year in St. Louis. Smith’s run is the eighth fastest run in the history of the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. Matt and Angie Smith own five of the Top 10 speeds in the bike class.

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John Hall, in his return to Matt Smith Racing, dropped the clutch lever first in his race against Hector Arana Jr. and it paid big dividends with a 6.785 to 6.775 holeshot win.

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Richard Gadson picked up what figures to be the first of many win lights with a 6.724 against Kelly Clontz, who made her best run of the weekend at 6.829. Gadson joined the RevZilla/Vance & Hines team this season as a teammate to reigning world champ Gaige Herrera.

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Low qualifier Gaige Herrera joined Angie Smith in the 6.6s with a blistering track record 6.639 in his opening round win against Joey Gladstone. Herrera, the defending event winner and world champ, made the second-quickest run in the history of the class behind his own 6.628�� from Dallas last year. Herrera also ran 204.35 mph, second to Matt Smith’s 205.04 mph record from Sonoma in 2022.

Round two pairings: (lane choice first): Richard Gadson vs. LE Tonglet; Angie Smith vs. Steve Johnson; Gaige Herrera vs. John Hall; Matt Smith vs. Marc Ingwersen.

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Antron Brown metes out his second straight 3.73 to advance to the semifinals, looking for his first Gainesville win since 2013. Josh Hart drove the wheels off his sashaying green rail but couldn’t keep pace. Polesitter Shawn Langdon moved one round closer to what would be his 18th career win with another solid pass, a 3.70 to beat tire-hazing Justin Ashley to earn semifinal lane choice over AB.

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Billy Torrence advances to the final four despite a blower backfire at three-quarter track. He was able to coast to a 4.53 win after defending event champ Mike Salinas puffed the tires early. Son Steve joins him in the semifinals, ensuring that one of the CAPCO drivers will be in the final as the four-time world champ beats the one-time world champ Doug Kalitta with a 3.708.

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Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Shawn Langdon vs. Antron Brown; Steve Torrence vs. Billy Torrence

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Bob Tasca III pounds out another big speed, 337.41 mph, on a 3.88 pass to end Alexis DeJoria’s day. Defending world champ Matt Hagan’s title defense only goes one round as he smoked the tires almost immediately, allowing Chad Green an easy 3.96 to reach the semifinals, running his won streak to six straight rounds.

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A weird one here as J.R. Todd double-steps the gas, apparently inducing a -.037 red-light from Ron Capps, and Todd takes a 4.18 win. Austin Prock continues his charge towards what would be his first career Funny Car win to go with four previous scores in Top Fuel as he beats team boss John Force, 3.89 to 3.91.

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Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Austin Prock vs. Chad Green; Bob Tasca III vs. J.R. Todd.
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Brandon Foster got past Troy Coughlin Jr. in the first round but he had no such luck with five-time world champion Greg Anderson in the quarterfinals. Anderson drove to a 6.553 to reach the semifinals over Foster’s 6.593. Anderson is trying to keep pace with his NASCAR teammates including Kyle Larson and Truck series racer Rajah Caruth, who each won in Las�� Vegas. All three race under the HendrickCars.com banner.

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Dallas Glenn is headed for the semifinals in his RAD Torque Systems Camaro following a tidy package that included a .020 light and a 6.560 against David Cuadra, who shook the tires and slowed. Earlier, Glenn flexed his muscles by qualifying in the No. 3 spot and later running a 6.499 in his round one win against Kenny Delco, the 1990 Gatornationals Pro Stock winner.

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Aaron Stanfield got the jump on Erica Enders (a rare occurrence) with a .019 light, but came up .003-second short at the finish line as the Elite teammates staged a 6.508 to 6.534 battle in the quarterfinals.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Erica Enders vs. Greg Anderson; Cristian Cuadra vs. Dallas Glenn.

***

Matt Smith hasn’t been able to join his wife, Angie, or Gaige Herrera in the 6.6-second zone, but that hasn’t stopped the six time world champ from reaching the semifinals. Smith rode his Denso Buell to a 6.826 for the win in the quarterfinals after Marc Ingwersen fouled. Smith has already had one celebration this year as his father, Rickie, was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame on Thursday night.

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LE Tonget could only muster a 6.878 in round two but that was enough to turn on the win light after Richard Gadson left too soon by eight-thousandths and fouled. Tonglet will have his hands full in the semifinals with Matt Smith.

Semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. Angie Smith; Matt Smith vs. LE Tonglet.

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Low qualifier Shawn Langdon is headed to the final after a solid 3.70 pass after Saturday’s callout winner Antron Brown smoked the tires early. It’s Langdon’s first final round since the Phoenix event last season, where he lost to Justin Ashley. Langdon’s last Top Fuel win came at the 2020 U.S. Nationals but more recently he won in Bristol in 2022 in Super Comp.

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For the second straight round, Billy Torrence advances with a four-second elapsed time, banging the blower downtrack on a 4.54 pass after his son, Steve, smoked the tires right at the hit. Billy Torrence's last win came in Reading in 2021

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Final-round pairing (lane choice first): Shawn Langdon vs. Billy Torrence

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Bob Tasca III is back under the black PPG body after damaging the body of his rainbow-hued blue machine the round before, but he's headed to the trailer after losing traction early against J.R. Todd. Seeing Todd also run into traction woes, Tasca got back on the gas but couldn't flag down the yellow Toyota. Todd will join Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel teammate Shawn Langdon in a final round, looking for a double for team owner Connie Kalitta.

Todd will take on Austin Prock, who has reached the final round in his first official Funny Car start. A solid 3.87 got the job done and he'll be the heavy favorite against Todd, who hasn't run in the threes today.

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Final-round pairing (lane choice first):��Austin Prock vs. J.R. Todd

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Cristian Cuadra has had one of the best cars in Pro Stock since he unloaded his Corral Boots Mustang on Friday and he continued to prove with a convincing semifinal win over 2022 Gainesville winner Dallas Glenn. Cuadra cut a great .010 light and powered to a 6.535 to reach the final round for the second time in his career. Incidentally, Cuadra’s car is powered by an engine from Pro Stock pioneer Frank Iaconio.

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Erica Enders continued her pursuit of her first Gatornationals victory by downing longtime rival Greg Anderson in the semifinals. Enders gave up a slight advantage to Anderson off the starting line but had more than enough power to make up the difference, 6.483�� to�� 6.508.
Enders has yet to win in Gainesville, but she’s appeared in two final rounds. In 2006, she lost to Tom Martino, who was driving a V. Gaines owned entry and in 2014 she lost the final to Allen Johnson.

Final round pairing (lane choice first): Erica Enders vs. Cristian Cuadra.

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Matt Smith is headed to the Pro Stock Motorcycle final round for the 76th time in his career following a convincing 6.722 win against 2010 world champ LE Tonglet in the semifinals. After winning just two events last season, Smith promised a better season in 2024 as he’s returned to his dominant Denso Buell and so far, he’s delivered.

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Gaige Herrera slowed from his earlier 6.62-second pace to a 6.684, but that was more than enough to cover Angie Smith’s competitive 6.735.�� Herrera is seeking his 12th career win in just 16 starts when he takes on Matt Smith in the final round. Herrera’s career record currently stands at 53-8 in his career, which currently spans just 22 events. ��

Final round pairing: (lane choice first): Gaige Herrera vs. Matt Smith

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FINAL ROUND RESULTS: Langdon, Todd get first Kalitta double; Enders, Herrera also rule in Gainesville

LUCAS OIL SERIES WINNERS

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER
Joe C. Maynard def. Jeff Veale

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
Ulf Leanders def. Phil Esz

COMPETITON
David Billingsley def. Robert Bailey

SUPER STOCK
Kenny Horne def. Monty Bogan

STOCK
Jeff Strickland def. Jay Storey

SUPER COMP
Holden Laris def. Brad Plourd

SUPER GAS
Christopher Williams def. Rick Swank

RIGHT TRAILERS TOP DRAGSTER
Blake Peavler def. Robert Tehle

RIGHT TRAILERS TOP SPORTSMAN
James Hinkle def. Darian Boesch

CONGRUITY PRO MOD
Jose Gonzales def. Kris Thorne

FLEXJET FACTORY STOCK
Mark Pawuk def. Stephen Bell