The Gatornationals is an annual professional drag racing event hosted by the National Hot Rod Association each March at the legendary Gainesville Raceway.
For only the second time in NHRA history, the Camping World NHRA Drag Racing Series kicked off over the weekend at the 54th annual Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals.
At the first of the twenty-one national events scheduled for the 2023 season, the best Nitro (Top Fuel & Funny Car) teams and drivers worked feverishly over the weekend to figure out the fastest way to get to finish line at the historic patch of concrete.
Mike Salinas Wins Top Fuel at Gainesville Opener
Coming off a costly loss to grudge-race veteran Josh Hart in the Pep Boys All Star Callout, Mike Salinas proved his 2023 goals are to win the NHRA Top Fuel championship. The driver of the Scrapper’s Racing dragster eliminated Brittany Force with a 3.699 ET and Leah Pruett with 3.727 elapsed time enroute to final round matchup against multi-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence.
Torrence’s weekend hadn’t gone to plan, as the defending Pep Boys All Star Callout was eliminated by his round-one callout Doug Kalitta. The CAPCO Contractors driver got revenge by eliminating Kalitta in the semi-final round to challenge Salinas in the Top Fuel Final. Although slower off the tree and slower at the line, Salinas posted a 3.700 ET to Torrence’s 3.754 ET.
Matt Hagan Wins Funny Car Again at Gatornationals
Ron Capps, the legendary driver of the NAPA Funny Car, claimed the number one qualifier on Saturday with 3.874-second elapsed time that was .004 and .005 seconds faster than John Force and Robert Hight, respectively. Unfortunately, Capps fell in round two to a red-hot Alexis Dejoria. But, nobody could stop the event’s defending champion Matt Hagan enroute to final round matchup with JR Todd.
Todd had eliminated Blake Alexander and number three qualifier Robert Hight before outrunning Chad Green in the semifinal event. Todd was 2 - 1 against Hagan in prior NHRA final rounds. Nothing was settled at the tree after the veteran duo posted identical reaction action times of .054 seconds. When Todd’s engine exploded midway down the run, Hagan pulled away for his 44th Funny Car career win.
artwork courtesy of National Hot Rod Association
UP COMING:
NHRA Arizona Nationals
NHRA’s annual duel in the desert returns to Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix on March 24-26. The race will also mark the debut of the #2Fast2Tasty Mission NHRA Challenge, pitting the semifinalists against each other during Saturday qualifying in the pro classes for a chance at bonus money and points.
