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Following last weekend’s “Baby Gators” Southeast Division Lucas Oil Series event and two days of professional testing, Gainesville Raceway is once again the center of the drag racing universe with the first day of the professional qualifying at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.��

Friday’s schedule includes eliminations for Lucas Oil Series sportsman racers as well as the first rounds of qualifying in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle, Congruity Pro Mod, and the FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown.��

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q1

To the surprise of no one, Matt Smith and Gaige Herrera claimed the top two spots after the opening round of qualifying at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals although the order might be a bit surprising. Smith, the runner-up in the championship battle, claimed the provisional pole when he rode his Denso Buell to a 6.679. Smith edged Herrera, who was just a few thousandths behind with a 6.683 on his RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki.

While Smith and Herrera were the only two riders in the 6.6’s, they have plenty of company at the top of the charts. Smith’s wife, Angie, is third quickest with a 6.716 on her new Denso Buell while Herrera’s teammate Gadson is fourth with a 6.742. Each of the top four riders is over 200 mph with Matt Smith’s 203.49 the fastest.

The WAR team had a lot to feel good about in Q1 as former Rookie of the Year Chase Van Sant comes in at No. 5 with a 6.792 while Kelly Clontz, Ron Tornow, and Marc Ingwersen round out the top half of the field.

Tornow was particularly impressive as he improved on his career best by a wide margin with a 6.812. Tornow has also announced that the 2025 season will be his final year as a Pro Stock Motorcycle rider.

PRO STOCK Q1

Pro Stock racers took advantage of cool conditions to start the 2025 Mission Foods NHRA drag racing season at the Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals. The teams came prepared as the 500-cubic-inch Factory Hot Rods blasted into the 6.40s with Matt Hartford setting the pace with a stout 6.496 at 212.43 mph in his Total Seal Camaro.

After finishing 6^th place in 2024, Hartford ran 6.40s during pre-season testing, so it was no surprise that he came out swinging, but he’ll need s few more solid runs to maintain pole position. Certainly not a runaway, Dallas Glenn trailed by just .001 with a 6.497 at 212.39 mph. He was followed by Troy Coughlin Jr. at 6.498/212.46, Erica Enders at 6.504/212.09 and Greg Anderson rounded out the top five with a 6.508/211.89 mph effort.

With three more sessions of qualifying, it’s likely we’ll see some shakeups. Teams will return to the line with data and we’re sure to see quicker elapsed times before round 1 on Sunday.

FUNNY CAR Q1

There were a lot of new faces in new places for the opening session and a number of them turned heads.

Jack Beckman, of course, is back in the John Force Peak/BlueDef Camaro and paced the field with a 3.878, just ahead of Paul Lee’s 3.895 and 3.901 of Daniel Wilkerson.

Bobby Bode was the biggest surprise with a 3.925 in his first official outing in Del Worsham’s car – in which Top Alcohol Dragster world champ Julie Nataas ran 3.94 on Wednesday --- and then had a heart-stopping moment after a brake system failure. He managed to squeeze past Lee, who was about to make the right turn onto the return road, missing him by inches.

Alexis DeJoria, Worsham’s former driver, also looked good in her debut with JCM Racing in her Mike Neff- and Todd Smith-tuned Bandero Café entry, with a 3.932. Matt Hagan, with new crew chiefs Mike Knudsen and Phil Shuler, closed out the three-second runners with a 3.953.

Reigning world champ Austin Prock’s weekend got started on a sour note with a devastating rear-end failure, much like we experienced last year in Las Vegas, on a 4.23 pass while defending event champ J.R. Todd, with new crew chief Dickie Venables, shut down early with a 4.116.

Spencer Hyde, the new driver for Jim Head, shut off early to an 8.742 in his first ride for the team while Blake Alexander, in his first official ride for Chad Green Motorsports, also shut his Matt Bynum-tuned entry down early to a 4.260.

TOP FUEL Q1

The 90-minute-plus delay to clean up after Prock’s broken rear end pushed The Top Fuel cars into better air and the sun sunk behind the starting-line tower, casting the launch pad in shade, and the results were immediate.

The Kalitta Motorsports tandem of Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta went 1-2 with identical passes of 3.690, but Langdon, the defending event champ, claimed the provisional No. 1 spot on speed, 335.23 to 328.78.

Two-time Top Fuel world champ Brittany Force, whose David Grubnic-tuned Monster Energy machine ran 302.46 mph to the height -mile in testing — the fastest ever run to 660 feet — on a 3.64 pass, clocked a 3.696 e.t. but at just 294.63 mph for the No. 3 spot.

Four-time world champ Steve Torrence sits fourth at 3.704 and then it’s a half-tenth drop to local favorite Josh Hart’s 3.755. Tony Stewart celebrated his one-year anniversary on the class with a 3.760, just ahead of Doug Foley’s 3.761 and Shawn Reed rounded out the top eight with a 3.767

Dan Mercier rode out a frightening episode at the height of a 3.79 run when his left rear tire blew. The Canadian driver did a masterful job of stopping the car, but we’ll have to see if it damaged the chassis to see if he can continue at the event.

“The car feeling was very good and the e.t. was a good run, then it blew,” said Mercier. “I'm OK, but I don’t have a backup car, which is my problem for the weekend.”
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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Q2

The latest round of the ongoing battle between Pro Stock Motorcycle powerhouses Gaige Herrera and Matt Smith went to Herrera, who took over the top spot with a 6.670 on his RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki. Herrera now leads the field after two of four sessions.

Smith opened with a 6.679 on his Denso Buell and backed that up with a 6.698. Smith also has the current top speed of the meet with a 203.89.

As a whole, the field got quicker and tighter as Angie Smith improved to a 6.709 for the No. 3 spot while Richard Gadson is fourth with a 6.727, nearing the quickest run of his career.

Further down the order, Chase Van Sant, Jianna Evaristo, John Hall and Ryan Oehler also found the 6.7s. A 6.798 was exceptionally rewarding for Oehler, who made is best run in more than a year.

There was a good chance that Ron Tornow and Marc Ingwersen were also going to run in the 6.7s but Tornow hit a timing block at the end of his run, causing both riders to lose their qualifying times.

Newcomers Brayden Davis and Brandon Litten were also impressive with runs of 6.920 and 6.895, respectively.

PRO STOCK Q2

Reigning world champion Greg Anderson added to his long list of career achievements with the quickest run in this history of the Pro Stock class under the lights on Friday night at Gainesville Raceway. Anderson drove his HendrickCars.com to a 6.443 to establish a new NHRA E.T. record. The previous record was 6.450 set by Erica Enders in 2022.

Anderson leads what is shaping up to be an incredibly quick field that also includes Deric Kramer, who ran 6.463 and Dallas Glenn, who picked up a qualifying bonus point with a 6.466. The top four spots are occupied by KB Titan teams including Eric Latino, who ran 6.467.

Greg Stanfield currently has the quickest Elite car with a 6.491 followed by Troy Coughlin Jr. at 6.494.

One Of the most surprising runs of the round came from Mason McGaha, who wheeled his colorful Harlow Sammons Camaro to a 6.505. McGaha was the runner-up at the 2024 season-opener in Gainesville.

Second-year rider Derrick Reese also showed significant improvement with a 6.502 in his Mustang, which is run as a team car along with Kenny Delco.

With two runs remaining, the bump spot is already quick with a 6.597 by Chris McGaha.

FUNNY CAR Q2

Bob Tasca III impressed with a 3.833 despite dropping several cylinders and making a hard left turn near the finish line but first-session leader Jack Beckman returned to the top spot a few runs later with a 3.832.

Ron Capps and the special green Caryle Tools Toyota is third with a distant 3.857 with Paul Lee in the final 3.8-second spot with a 3.895.

Daniel Wilkerson (3.901), Bobby Bode (3.925), Alexis DeJoria (3.932), and Cruz Pedregon (3.950) round out the top eight with Matt Hagan’s 3.953 also in the threes.

Blake Alexander siTs on the provisional bubble with a 4.260

World champ Austin Prock’s Friday was not a great start. After destroying the rear end on his opening pass, the car went about 60 feet (if that) under power in the night run. He ended the day in the No. 15 spot.

Funny Car rookie Spencer Hyde probably lost his first 3.9-second pass when he crossed the centerline in what was his first full run at night in Jim Head’s car. Dave Richards, running in the other lane, got no time either,

TOP FUEL Q2

Tripp Tatum, whose greatest moment came at Gainesville Raceway when he won his first (and still only) Top Fuel title at the 2022 race, clocked a career-best 3.685, but world champ Antron Brown also ran the same e.t. but at a faster speed (334.24 to 326.56 mph) for the No. 1 spot.

First-session leader Shawn Langdon (3.690) ended up third behind that duo, with teammate Doug Kalitta now in fourth.

Steve Torrence had the third-best run of the session with a 3.694 for the fifth spot while Shawn Reed, who won the pre-season test event in Bradenton, Fla., a few weeks ago, carried on his hot streak with a 3.697 that slots in behind Brittany Forc3’s 3.696, The top eight is rounded out by Clay Millican at 3.716.