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(UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DAY)

TOP FUEL ROUND 1

It’s a chilly 63 degrees and just 1,018 feet of altitude as the round kicked off at 9:30 a.m. to try to beat possible weather issues later in the day, but the track temperature was just 70 degrees, so the killer air was offset by racers tip-toeing down the track and tire shake and smoke were a common sight.

Tony Stewart, celebrating the one-year anniversary of his Top Fuel debut, kept his record against Brittany Force unblemished with his third straight career win over the two-time world champ. Stewart’s first of 17 round wins in his rookie year came against Force in Phoenix after losing in the opening stanza in Gainesville and Pomona last year.

Shawn Langdon’s Kalitta Air team took advantage of its lane choice perogative after watching Force smoke the tries ahead of them and moved to the right lane for his 23rd career race against Justin Ashley in a battle of two of the sport’s best starting-line artists. Both lost traction early, and Ashley appeared to recover first, but then his cylinders went wet and Langdon eased by for a 5.02 win to bring their head-to-head record to 12-11, still favoring Ashley, but he’ll cede lane choice to Stewart in round two.

Josh Hart and Clay Millican both shook the tires and lost traction early, but Millican recovered better and eased to a 4.36 , low qualifier Antron Brown also survived a pedalfest against Krista Baldwin with a 4.66, as did Doug Kalitta against Ida��Zetterström.

“When it does that, the first thing you think is ‘Don’t over-rev and it and don’t blow it up,’ then you look at where your opponent is,” said Millican. “You just have to figure it out. First round win of the year; that’s a great way to start the year.”

Saturday's rainout bought time for Dan Mercier's team to repair chassis damage caused by a Friday tire blowout and took a first-round victory over past Gatornationals champ and No. 2 qualifier Tripp Tatum, who took a wild ride.

Tatum's car got loose downtrack, and he lost control of the car after pedaling it and��made contact with the left wall, which blew the left-rear tire. With the front tires off the ground and useless for steering due to the rear tire issue, the car then went back across the track and nosed into the right wall before spinning again and nudged back into the left wall. Tatum was able to exit the car on his own.

As the cleanup from Tatum's crash was completed and the NHRA Safety Safari was doing a quick scrape, it started to sprinkle, so we're on hold for a while.

Four-plus hours, two rainshowers, and one power outage later ...�� we're back with the conclusion of round one of Top Fuel.

It's amazing what a little time and rain and re-prep will do for a track. Steve Torrence blasts to a 3.74 to 3.75 win over Doug Foley to extend his dominance over Foley to 5-0 lifetime, and Jasmine Salinas closes the round with a 3.75 victory over Shawn Reed

Top Fuel second-round pairings (lane choice first): Clay Millican vs. Antron Brown; Steve Torrence�� vs. Doug Kalitta; Jasmine Salinas vs. Dan Mercier; Tony Stewart vs. Shawn Langdon

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FUNNY CAR ROUND 1

The only two Funny Car drivers to possess a 341-mph time slip, world champ Austin Prock and Bob Tasca III, squared off in an epic race. Prock didn’t make it on the track on either pass Friday and qualified just No. 15 and doesn’t here either with perhaps a throttle malfunction. Tasca broke traction downtrack and pedaled it a few times and was all over the track en route to a 5.16 win, which evens their head-to-head record at 3-3.

Alexis DeJoria was low for the round in her first outing with JCM Racing with a blower-booming 3.92 against Terry Haddock. Ron Capps, in the green Carlyle Tools Toyota, also ripped to a 3.96 against John “Bode” Smith but it cost him, too, though not as much, as he lost the roof hatch in the traps.

The other big highlight of the round was Buddy Hull collecting his second career round win in Funny Car but just missing his first three-second pass in a 4.04 to 4.17 victory over Daniel Wilkerson, but he’ll cede lane choice to Chad Green, who clocked a 3.95 to get around Paul Lee.

Low qualifier Jack Beckman put on a master class in pedaling as both he and Blake Alexander shook, and “Fast Jack” took the win light with a 4.35. Bobby Bode did the same right in another pedalfest right behind him, lighting the win light ahead of J.R. Todd.

Matt Hagan, who has two wins at Gainesville (2022 and 2023), starts the 2025 season with the longest active winning streak in any pro category. He’s won at least one event in each of the last 12 seasons — the next longest streak belongs to Steve Torrence, who’s won 10 straight years in Top Fuel — and puts another win the column by tight-roping past Cruz Pedregon with a 4.17, Hagan leads the head-to-head series, 26-11.

Funny Car second-round pairings (lane choice first): Matt Haga vs. Jack Beckman; Chad Green vs. Buddy Hull; Alexis DeJoria vs. Bob Tasca III; Ron Capps vs. Boddy Bode

PRO STOCK ROUND 1

To suggest that conditions changed between Friday’s second Pro Stock qualifying session and the first round of eliminations at 3 p.m. on Sunday would be a massive understatement. One thing that was certain is that Greg Anderson’s national record 6.443 is secure, at least for this weekend.

Anderson didn’t run in the 6.4s but he did win his round one race against Chris McGaha, which was his biggest concern. Anderson shifted his HendrickCars.com Camaro to a 6.540 to out-pace McGaha’s 6.657.

Defending event winner Erica Enders qualified No. 9, which meant that she was the in the first pair of the round along with No. 8�� seed Derrick Reese, who made one of the most surprising runs of the round with a 6.502. Reese used lane choice to his advantage with a 6.594 for the upset win after Enders, the defending Gainesville champ, rattled the tires and shut off.

The elapsed times were not competitive, but Mason McGaha picked up a big round win over Matt Hartford in a strange 6.932 to 6.983 racer where both drivers shook the tires. When that happens, the best strategy is to get the car in high gear as quickly as possible. McGaha did just that and advanced.

A red-light by Greg Stanfield sent Jeg Coughlin Jr. into the quarterfinals while Coughlin’s nephew, Troy Jr., also moved on with a much more competitive 6.555 in his JEGS.com Chevy. The battle between Stanfield and Coughlin involved two drivers that have combined for 10 world titles and more than 100 national event wins.

Dallas Glenn was not among the upset victims as he made a stellar 6.547 run to take care of business against Brandon Miller’s Dodge. Glenn had low elapsed time of the round until Cory Reed delivered a 6.539 in his win against Deric Kramer.

By the end of the round, Eric Latino had low E.T. with a 6.538 in his victory against Kenny Delco.

Round two pairings (lane choice first): Dallas Glenn vs. Troy Coughlin Jr.; Greg Anderson vs. Derrick Reese; Eric Latino vs. Jeg Coughlin Jr.; Cory Reed vs. Mason McGaha.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE ROUND 1

Kelly Clontz’s long climb back into contention paid dividends when she topped Ryan Oehler in the opening round of Pro Stock Motorcycle. Clontz rode to a strong 6.827 on her Steamfitters UA Local 602 Suzuki to advance.

A red-light by Ron Tornow sent John Hall to the quarterfinals. The loss had to be especially frustrating for Tornow who ran a 6.857 to Hall’s slower 6.885. Hall’s teammate, Angie Smith, also advanced with a win over Braden Davis and the MSR team went three for three when Jianna Evaristo scored a 6.809 win against March Ingwersen.

It was a clean sweep for the Smith team after Matt Smith hammered out a 6.753 on his Denso Buell to stop Lance Bonham. Smith set low elapsed time of the round although rival Gaige Herrera came close when he ran a 6.766 in his round win over Geno Scali, who fouled.

Round two pairings (lane choice first): Jianna Evaristo vs. Angie Smith; Richard Gadson vs. Chase Van Sant; Gaige Herrera vs. Kelly Clontz, Matt Smith vs. John Hall.��

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TOP FUEL ROUND 2

Jasmine Salinas, who did not run the Gatornationals in her rookie Top Fuel season last year – father Mike was still driving the car before his medical issues – has reached her first Top Fuel semifinal after beating Dan Mercier. Salinas, who won just four rounds in 19 events last year, already has half again as many in her outing of 2025.

Salinas will not have lane choice in the semifinals as Shawn Longdon defeated Tony Stewart on a quick 3,73 to 3.74 count.

World champ Antron Brown, who won the season finale in Pomona, extended his win streak to six rounds with a 3.72 over Clay Millican.

Doug Kalitta was off the line first against Steve Torrence until the pipes started spurting flames as the engine began eating itself up, allowing Torrence to recover and take the win with a 3.97.

All four semifinalists will now compete in the first Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Pomona.

Top Fuel semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Antron Brown vs. Steve Torrence; Shawn Langdon vs. Jasmine Salinas

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FUNNY CAR ROUND 2

Alexis DeJoria, who had a major thrash between rounds — both the JCM Funny Car and Top Fuel teams were working hard — after a major engine/blower/body explosion in her Bandero Café entry on her 3.92 low e.t. eliminations blast in round one, advanced to the semifinals with a 3.99 against traction-plagued Bob Tasca III.

"We have one car, one chassis, we barely got the car together to get here, but 'Zippy' [Mike Neff, crew chief] and Todd Smith, thank you so much in our first race together. The car is running so good; it feels good to be back here," she said.

Chad Green, who went to two semifinals in a competitive 2024 campaign, is back in the final four again after defeating Buddy Hull with a 4.10, but he won’t have lane choice against two-time Gators champ Matt Hagan, who ran 3.98 after low qualifier Jack Beckman rattled the tires early. Ron Capps, meanwhile, ran the second-best e.t. of eliminations with a 3.95 to defeat Bobby Bode.

Funny Car semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Matt Hagan vs. Chad Green; Ron Capps vs. Alexis DeJoria

PRO STOCK ROUND 2

In round 2 of Pro Stock Dallas Glenn and Troy Coughlin Jr. were the first pair up. Using a holeshot (.026-to-.029), Glenn got out of the gate first and outpaced the JEGS.com machine to earn a 6.571-to-6.591 win.

Top qualifier Greg Anderson was up next and he continued his winning ways with a 6.541/209.56 pass over Derrick Reese, who shut off early in the run.

The left lane continued to be the place to be, as Cory Reed defeated Mason McGaha, running 6.539 at 209.69 mph to beat McGaha’s slower 6.622 at 207.18 mph.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. in his SCAG Camaro was sharp on the tree, prevented the KB Racing sweep. He used a .025 light and 6.565 pass to take out Eric Latino’s quicker 6.553 effort. Latino was second off the line with an .028 light, which equated to a .0018-second margin of victory in favor of Coughlin at the stripe.

Pro Stock semifinal parings (lane choice first): Greg Anderson vs. Jeg Coughlin Jr.; Cory Reed vs. Dallas Glenn

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE ROUND 2

Chase Van Sant continues to prove that there are more than two competitive camps in Pro Stock Motorcycle when he rode his WAR-tuned Suzuki to a narrow 6.790 to 6.814 against Vance & Hines rider Richard Gadson.

Gadson’s teammate, Gaige Herrera stretched his unbeaten streak to 10 rounds at Gainesville Raceway with a 6.765 win over Kelly Clontz, who remained consistent with a 6.833. Herrera will race Gadson in the semifinals.

The bottom half of the ladder featured all four bikes from the Matt Smith Racing camp and Matt Smith and Angie Smith advanced to the semifinals where they will engage in a husband/wife battle. Angie wheeled her Denso Buell to a 6.810 while Matt produced a 6.763 in his win against John Hall, who grabbed a big starting line advantage, but could not maintain the lead.

Pro Stock Motorcycle semifinal pairings (lane choice first): Matt Smith vs. Angie Smith; Gaige Herrera vs. Chase Van Sant

SPORTSMAN UPDATE

Due to rain and other issues today, Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series action will be completed at multiple events.

The plan is to finish the Factory Stock Showdown in Gainesville and also try to finish both Top Alcohol classes, along with Stock and Super Gas. If we are unable to finish the latter two, Stock will finish at the Richmond national event and Super Gas at the Bristol event. If Top Alcohol is unable to complete, it will finish at the Charlotte four-wide event.

Comp will finish in Charlotte while Super Comp, Top Dragster, and Top Sportsman are scheduled to complete in Bristol. Super Stock will be completed at the Norwalk national event.

TOP FUEL SEMIFINALS

Shawn Langdon, who in the two months before the Gatornationals won two races and had two runner-up finishes racing in Qatar’s Arabian Drag Racing League for his friend, Khalid AlBalooshi, as well as some local racing events in Bahrain and Dubai, is in another final round, his second straight at this event after his win last year after beating Jasmine Salinas, 3.72 to 3.77.

The other semifinal featured a pair of four-time world champs and Antron Brown stayed true to his stated pre-season message to get better on the Christmas Trree, cutting an .032 light to beat Steve Torrence's otherwise impressive .044, and Brown pulled further away with for a 3.75 to 3.77 win, meaning that Langdon will have lane choice i the final round that will decide the season's first points leader.

FUNNY CAR SEMIFINALS

After having to complete a last-minute engine change and rolling to the line a little late, Chad Green��and the Bond-Coat team lit the win light on a 3.92 to 3.98 count against Matt Hagan. It's Green's first final-round appearance since winning the 91���� Finals in 2023.

Green will have lane choice in the final round against Ron Capps, who ran 4.01 in beating double-stepping Alexis DeJoria. Capps' lime-green Carlyle Tools Toyota broke loose at about halftrack, slowing hi to just 280 mph.

PRO STOCK SEMIFINALS

The Pro Stock final round will feature KB Titan teammates Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn with Anderson having lane choice by just a thousandth of a second. The final will be rematch-up the winner-take-all final from last season’s In-N-Out Burger 91���� Finals.

The opening pair featured a marquee match-up between veterans Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Greg Anderson, two of the most successful racers in the history of the class. Coughlin was off the starting line first, but couldn’t hold off Anderson’s HendrickCars.com Camaro, 6.541 to 6.573. Anderson crossed the finish line first by .003-second.

Glenn advanced after Cory Reed fouled by .003-second in his J&A Service Camaro. Glenn motored to a 6.542 just a thousandth slower than Anderson.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE SEMIFINALS

The best rivalry in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class will take center stage in the final round as reigning and two-time champion Gaige Herrera will match-up against six-time champion Matt Smith.

Herrera got a free pass to the final after Chase Van Sant left too soon by .003-second but it might not have mattered as Herrera cut a competitive .014 light and ran a 6.764 on his RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki.

Matt Smith prevailed over his wife, Angie, with a monster 6.738 run that gives him lane choice in the final. Matt will pick his choice of lanes when he races Herrera in the final round.

FINAL-ROUND RESULTS

Brown, Green, Glenn, and Herrera score victories at Gatornationals opener

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