NHRA Stock Season Opens at Gatornationals
Unlike many of drag racing facilities across the country, Gainesville Raceway is available for rental year round to host private or group Pro Class test sessions, including both Nitro and Stock divisions. Owned and operated by the NHRA, the state-of-the-art facility features a full quarter-mile race track with smooth concrete surface launch pad and the longest shutdown area on the circuit.
While the racing world has seen declines in attendance following the pandemic years, Gainesville Raceway is still posting “Sorry the Event is Sold Out” signs for the historic Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. In addition to being one of the most historic dragstrips, the pavement at Gainesville has delivered many record-setting passes over the years. Including the first plus 260 mph and plus 300 mph runs in Top Fuel and Funny Car.
Before the 50th annual Gatornationals, the NHRA continued its commitment to track and facility improvements for both racers and racing fans. Well known for its 675-foot concrete launch pad, a complete resurfacing in 2019 saw the old pavement removed and repaved as an all-concrete 60-foot wide race track to better accommodate the high speeds of today’s 11,000-horsepower, nitro burning Top Fuel and Funny Car machines.
Six-Time Champion Wins Her First Gatornationals
The winningest female driver in motorsport’s history is Erica Enders. The six-time NHRA Pro Stock World Champion entered the 55th annual Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals still seeking his first overall win at the historic Gainesville Raceway. Enders jump started her weekend by earning her 35th Number One qualifier on Friday. With a boat-load of confidence, she eliminated Kelley Murphy, Aaron Stanfield and longtime rival and the winningest Pro Stock driver in history, Greg Anderson.
The Number Two qualifier in Pro Stock at Gainesville Raceway and Elite Motorsports teammate to the six-time champion was Cristian Cuadra. Cuadra knocked off Larry Morgan with a 210 mph pass, got by teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. who turned the tree red, and relied on a .010-seconds reaction time to outpace Dallas Glenn. In the Final Round, Enders laid down an outstanding run with a 6.494-seconds elapsed time at 211.93 mph (a tick slower than her win over Anderson) to earn her 48th Pro Stock Wally and the special Golden Gator trophy.
Gaige Herrera Continues His Winning Ways
Vance & Hines superstar Gaige Herrera was eager to return to Gainesville Raceway the site of his first-ever career win in Pro Stock Motorcycle just a year ago. The Suzuki ace begins his sophomore season as the owner of the top ten quickest Pro Stock Motorcycle passes in NHRA history and all aboard his Vance & Hines-prepared Gen III Suzuki Hayabusa. Herrera earned the 15th Number One qualifier with a 6.746 ET at 200.50 mph before eliminating Joey Gladstone, John Hall, and Matt Smith Racing’s Angie Smith.
Sporting new colors on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki, Herrera secured his second Gatornationals victory with a time of 6.636-seconds ET at 204.39 mph to top Smith's 6.748-seconds elapsed time at 200.83 mph. After a sensational 2023 rookie season, Herrera earned his twelfth career Wally at Gainesville. As the Number Two qualifier Matt Smith scored victories over Chris Bostick, Marc Ingwerson and LE Tonglet enroute to the final. Although Hererra lost the battle off the line, he posted a winning ET at 6.636 seconds.
Artwork courtesy of NHRA
UP COMING:
Lucas Oil Winternationals
NHRA teams will cross the country for the second race of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Series at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in two weeks on March 31-24. For the 64th time the historic Southern California facility will host both nitro classes as well as the Pro Stock division. In addition, the popular #2Fast2Tasty Mission NHRA Challenge will also take place in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock on Saturday.
