91����

ANTRON BROWN IS THE EARLY FAVORITE FOR CHAMPIONSHIP NO. 5

The loss of co-crew chief Mark Oswald was expected, so Antron Brown and his Matco Tools Top Fuel team didn’t really anticipate much of a letdown following their dramatic run to the 2024 Mission Foods Top Fuel title. That being said, even Brown was a bit surprised to be holding the Gatornationals Wally on Sunday night at Gainesville Raceway.

Sure, Brown ran 3.6s in qualifying but so do half of the field. On race day, he had his lucky round in the opener when he was vulnerable against Krista Baldwin. After that, solid runs (and solid lights) to beat Clay Millican, Steve Torrence, and final round opponent Shawn Langdon.

Nobody’s kidding anyone here. Top Fuel 2025 is an absolute slugfest and there will almost certainly be eight or nine different winners before the season is over. Such as it is, Brown will almost certainly get his fair share of them, and there’s no reason to think he won’t be battling for another title when we get to Pomona in November.

MATT SMITH RACING VS. VANCE & HINES IS GREAT THEATER

The math here is simple; there is just one Wally available to the Pro Stock Motorcycle champion at each event and the Matt Smith Racing and Vance & Hines teams both want it and want it desperately.

In what figures to be the first of many side-by-side battles this season, Vance & Hines rider Gaige Herrera continued his mastery of the Gainesville event with his third-straight victory in North Florida. Herrera and Matt Smith ran within a thousandth of each other in the final round, but Herrera was slightly quicker off the starting line.

��Adding to the drama, Smith’s team had trouble starting their bike before the match. Herrera’s team waited patiently, but V&H crew chief Andrew Hines had to fire the first salvo of the season, reminding the audience that the “ready line” behind the water box, is supposed to be where any final adjustments are made. Naturally, that didn’t sit well with the Smith team.

One gets the feeling that the rivalry that has simmered all winter is now on the front burner. Welcome to Pro Stock Motorcycle 2025.

CHAD GREEN IS THE REAL DEAL

Two years ago, Chad Green won the season-ending In-N-Out Burger 91���� Finals in Pomona and it was obvious then that it was not a fluke. Green’s second nitro Funny Car win in Gainesville was undoubtedly more impressive as he took a new car, and a relatively new crew, and got them to the winner’s circle at one of NHRA’s premiere events.

Green, who is adding his son, Hunter and Blake Alexander as a teammate this season, didn’t make a full run in qualifying and had to start from the No. 13 spot. That wasn’t much of an obstacle as he topped Paul Lee, Buddy Hull, and Matt Hagan to reach the final, where Ron Capps rattled the tires. Green ultimately made the quickest run of the day in the final with a 3.921 to seal the win.
Green wasn’t the only one who gained a lot of street cred with the win. Crew chiefs Dean Marinis and Joe Serena showed the entire field that they are top tier tuners.

Bottom line, expect to see a lot more late round finishes from the Bond Coat team this year.

DAN MERCIER IS A PART-TIME TEAM WITH FULL TIME ABILITY

Disaster nearly struck for Canadian Dan Mercier when he lost a tire during Friday’s Top Fuel qualifying runs. While Mercier ran a 3.79 to qualify for the quick field, the mishap left him with a damaged chassis. Without a back-up chassis, Mercier’s options were limited to fix the car or go home, and many expected it would be the latters.

Saturday’s wet weather gave Mercier and crew chief Serge Blanchet more time to assess the situation, and they were able to find the correct length and strength tubing in order to effect repairs to a small section of chassis that sustained damage. Their efforts paid off as Mercier scored a win over Trip Tatum, who had his own share of troubles with an encounter with the guardwall. Mercier gave Jasmine Salinas a run for her money in the quarterfinals and yes, he’s someone fully capable of winning anytime he shows up.

DALLAS GLENN GETS HIS REVENGE, SORT OF

Dallas Glenn will likely win a championship or two at some point in his career, but he’ll forever be haunted by “the one that got away,” specifically last November’s winner-take-all final round in Pomona that went to teammate Greg Anderson by .002-second.

Revenge is often best served cold but for Glenn, another race against Anderson couldn’t come soon enough and his got his wish in the Gainesville final. This time, Glenn was the better driver with the better car as Anderson rattled the tires, sparing what was likely going to be a holeshot loss since Glenn was .032-second quicker off the line.

Since Anderson and Glenn are teammates (technically Anderson is Glenn’s boss), there isn’t much real animosity between the two. In fact, it’s more of a good-natured ribbing and Glenn couldn’t resist a crack about “old man” Anderson after the final round.

Pro Stock is also going to be wild this season. Sure, the KB Titan team scored a decisive knock-out in their first encounter of the season against the rival Elite squad, but anyone who thinks there won’t be a hard push back by Elite drivers Erica Enders, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Troy Coughlin Jr., and the father son duo of Greg and Aaron Stanfield is mistaken.