EVENT RESULTS (sat) EVENT NOTEBOOK (sat) POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS

THURS. GALLERY (posted) FRI. GALLERY (posted) SAT. GALLERY (posted) SUN GALLERY (posted)

 

BRITTANY FORCE COMPLETES QUEST BY WINNING AT GAINESVILLE - After paying her dues in the Super Comp and Top Alcohol categories, Brittany Force endured nearly 80 practice runs before making her debut in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel class in 2013.

That diligence paid dividends in a big way Sunday at Gainesville Raceway, as Force completed her frustrating quest by grabbing her first victory.

“This is such an incredible feeling,” Force said.  “I’ve been chasing this for so many years. I cannot believe I’m standing here holding this trophy. It is a very proud moment.”

Force was coming off an emotional final round loss to Leah Pritchett in the last race at Phoenix.

“We almost made it there.  Definitely bummed after that, but proud of my team,” Force said. “They have worked so hard to get here.  This weekend we came out and I was feeling good.”

With John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight winning in Funny Car, Brittany completed the first double for the JFR team.

Force ran a 3.772 in the final round while first-time finalist Terry McMillen encountered mechanical gremlins before experiencing a blown engine just before the finish.

Brittany joined her father, John, and sisters, Ashley and Courtney, as NHRA national event winners.

Force had confidence that she could finally grab her first Wally Sunday.

“Sometimes a driver just feels that way and I had it,” she said. “I felt it in my stomach, and I was hoping we were going to go all the way, and we did.”

John Force expressed his delight over Brittany’s long-awaited conquest and the rare double.

“As an owner, you can’t expect much more than this today,” John Force said. “To look at Robert Hight, and we know he knows how to drive a race car, and Mike Neff.  The whole operation, with all the changes, we expected that car to come around.   Robert’s driving ability on the race track is unbelievable.

Alan Johnson, the first-year advisor to Force, celebrated along with the rest of the John Force Racing empire.

“With Brittany, we put her with a brand new team and with Alan Johnson … it’s all about putting the right team together.”

Force admitted that his entire team faced a learning curve with the dragster.

“Like I said before, I failed as an owner, as a father, everything,” Force said. “We don’t know how to run dragsters. It wasn’t the people running it, it was the combination of people from a Funny Car.

“Took several years for [Brittany] to struggle and go through all the teams that she loved and the crew chiefs.  But what Alan said, was that you could put me over there with that other stuff but to make me any better, put me with what I know.  .  A lot of it is money. I invested in this Top Fuel team and in Alan Johnson, and he made this team work.”

The opening round of eliminations featured a track temperature of 102 degrees, sun and downright wacky results.

Crew chief Aaron Brooks opted to have No. 1 qualifier Richie Crampton compete in the opening round against No. 16 qualifier.  Chris “The Golden Greek” Karamesines. That surprising plan backfired when Crampton’s Lucas Oil rail smoked the tires off the starting line.  Crampton posted one of the top five times in NHRA history with a time of 3.698 seconds.

Karamesines took the victory with 4.03. It was the first round win since the 2014 Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway for Karamesines, a beloved driver who is over 80 years old and still drives the transporter for his team.

“I feel sorry for my Lucas Oil friend, but he will have another chance,” Karamesines said.

Another bracket busting upset followed moments later when defending NHRA Mello Yello champion Antron Brown smoked his tires en route to a loss against McMillen, who ran a 3.85.

The rest of the day belonged to Brittany. Allen Gregory

HIGHT WINS FUNNY CAR PEDAL FEST AT GATORS - This wasn’t a scintillating final round race in nitro Funny Car, but it was a win, and that’s all that mattered to Robert Hight.

Hight, driving for John Force Racing, won a pedal fest against Ron Capps to take the title Sunday at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Hight made it to the 1,000-foot mark in 4.429 seconds at 280.95 mph to defeat Capps who had more trouble than Hight and was eventually disqualified for crossing the center line.

“When you’re racing Ron Capps, you have to get after it,” Hight said at the top end of the track moments after his win. “That guy is good and he’s been doing this a lot of years and he’s won this race a lot of times (2006, 2007, and 2015). But, I tell you what, I was so amped up. We needed to get a win for Chevy and Auto Club. This is the best.”

Hight’s victory parade consisted of wins over Terry Haddock, Matt Hagan, Chad Head and Capps. Hagan and Capps compete out of the Don Schumacher Racing stable.

“We felt like we had a great race car the first two races and we actually felt that we let a couple slip by that we actually could have won,” Hight said. “So to come in here and actually get it done and get it done with Brittany (Force, winning Top Fuel), it doesn’t get any better than this. It has been a lot of hard work and it is finally paying off.”

Hight also addressed how big a deal this was for John Force to have double winners – especially Brittany getting her first career Top Fuel victory.

“This is pretty big for John, especially with all the work we have went through to get these race cars where they need to be and be competitive,” said Hight, who is his son-in-law. “We were definitely dejected last year and going into the final two races of the year not in contention for the championship, that’s pretty painful and that was pretty good motivation all winter long. All the hard that everybody has done to get back here is very rewarding. Alan Johnson coming onboard and I’ve never seen Mike Neff more focused ever. He wants to win. He has something to prove.”

Hight pilots the Auto Club Chevrolet for JFR and this was his 37th career win since he made his Funny Car debut in 2005. The last time Hight won before March 20, was the fall race at The Strip at Las Vegas, Nov. 1, last year when he beat Tommy Johnson Jr., in the final round.

This also was Hight’s third career victory at the Gatornationals to go along with the titles he won in 2012 and 2014. Hight became the third different Funny Car NHRA national event winner in 2016, joining Capps (Winternationals, Pomona, Calif.) and Tim Wilkerson (Phoenix).

“The first five or six years I came here (to the Gatornationals) I don’t even know if I won a round,” said Hight, who won the Funny Car world championship in 2009. “I just had a heck of a time here. Then, when you start winning, it’s kind of funny sometimes there’s just race cars you do well at and this is one of them now. This (the Gatornationals) is a major race. The East Coast kickoff is pretty rewarding.”

ANDERSON CLAIMS PS GATORNATIONALS TITLE - The Pro Stock powerhouse team of Ken Black was the unhappiest about the changes implemented by NHRA in the 2016 season.

That’s hard to believe now after three races.

Teammates Greg Anderson and Jason Line met for the second time in the final round this season and the result was the same.

Anderson, on a holeshot, was able to defeat Line.

Anderson clocked a 6.598-second run at 210.01 mph to edge Line’s quicker 6.581-second lap at 210.57 mph Sunday at the Gatornationals.

The difference was Anderson’s outstanding 0.009 reaction time compared to Line’s 0.064 reaction time.

Anderson, however, acknowledged his reaction time wasn’t part of a special game plan.

“That was just a stroke of luck,” said Anderson, who pilots a Summit Racing Equipment Camaro like Line. “I told you I needed a miracle and somehow the good Lord looked over me. He let the clutch out there. It was an odd staging deal because we hit the light at the exact same time and usually when that happens something crazy happens. I had crazy in my favor, thank the Lord. It’s just a great day for Summit and for Chevrolet and all our great sponsors. This Rob Downing-led crew that we have got here, our race cars are just awesome. They are so much fun to drive and you know when you make the final like that with both cars, you win the race. It doesn’t really matter who wins, but don’t get me wrong when me and him (Line) lock horns, I want to win and he wants to win. It stings for him right now and it stung for me a couple of weeks ago, and I got him back.”

Anderson also beat Line in the finals at the season-opening Winternationals Feb. 14 in Pomona, Calif. Line regrouped at the second race at Phoenix, defeating Chris McGaha in the finals Feb. 28. During Line’s race victory in Phoenix, Line ousted Anderson in the semifinals.

This was Anderson’s 80th career win. Anderson, who won Pro Stock world championships in 2003-2005 and 2010, made his NHRA Pro Stock debut in 1998.

“I had no idea,” said crewchief Rob Downing when asked who he thought would win Sunday’s final. “I just send them up here and hope they both make good runs and may the best man win. I credit KB horsepower. All the guys on team have done a phenomenal job and the engine is running really good and makes my job a little easier.”

Anderson’s victory march consisted of wins over V. Gaines, Jeg Coughlin, Allen Johnson and Line.

“Our weekend was great for KB Racing and as the weekend went and we made run after run after run and Jason was absolutely the strongest car, I kind of just told myself if you can just do your job (Sunday) and find your way to the final round and take a runner-up and go home and try and get things for the next race and I will be happy if can be an all-Summit final. These races are not decided on paper, they are decided on the race track every time and we are human and things happen different on the starting line and I sure don’t understand it. I would be the last person to say I have it figured out. I had a couple of 60 lights the prior two rounds and I was kicking myself and wondering what was going on.”

As good as things are going for KB racing, the veteran racer Anderson knows the future offer no guarantees.

“We are having a blast, but we know this isn’t going to last forever that you have a little performance edge on the class,” Anderson said. “This is Pro Stock and there’s a lot of very intelligent people that race in this class, we know that gap is going to close up as time goes on through the year. So, when you have an advantage, you tell yourself you know what you may never have advantage like this again, you better make the most of it, and thank the Lord we have made the most of it in the first three races. So far, so good, we have got the job done so far, but there’s a lot of season ahead of us and we have a lot of learning to do with this fuel injection. It’s a new challenge for all of us and definitely has us all thrown for a loop and get asked 10 times a day that it looks like you guys really have this deal figured out and that’s not the case.” Tracy Renck

KRAWIEC TAKES PRO STOCK BIKE OPENER - It was another Harley kind of day at Gainesville Raceway.

Three-time Mello Yello champ Eddie Krawiec earned his 32nd career victory and fourth Gainesville Wally by stopping Hector Arana Sr. in the finals.

Krawiec powered his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a time of 6.820 seconds at 198.23 mph to defeat Arana’s 6.920 at 196.44 on his Lucas Oil Buell. Arana was actually ahead off the starting line before slowing.

“I’ve had a monster bike all through testing and everything,” Krawiec said. “Hat’s off to my team. Everybody busted their butt all weekend long – all winter long actually.”

With 32 career victories, Krawiec is now just one win behind the late John Myers for fourth place on the all-time win Pro Stock bike win list.

Krawiec was also the No. 1 qualifier with a run of 6.801 at 196.42.

“Matt [Hines] is giving me a great motorcycle to ride up and down that dragstrip,” Krawiec said. “We’re running big speed. It’s not quite that 200 mph run people have been looking for, but we’re good.”

Krawiec gained an extra dose of inspiration Sunday, as Willie G. Davidson was in his pits. Davidson, the son of former Harley-Davidson president William H. Davidson, is the former senior vice president and  chief styling officer of Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

“To have Willie G. on the starting line along with his son is extra special,” Krawiec said. “It’s just an awesome deal , and we’re going back home with the Wally.”

The final round matchup between Kraweic and Arana marked the 98th time that the No. 1 and No. 2 qualifiers met in Pro Stock Motorcycle final round
Krawiec outran Michael Phillips, and Jerry Savoie before dispatching Harley Davidson teammate and defending world champion Andrew Hines in semifinals

“I had a great motorcycle and a great crew behind me, but the key thing for me was to not screw it up,” Krawiec said.

“You have the first round jitters after four months of not racing, but I knew I had a fast motorcycle. We’re glad one of our Harley-Davidsons got the win.” Allen Gregory

 

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK – A DAY OF UPSETS ENDS WITH A FIRST-TIME DOUBLE-UP

FIRST-TIMERS RANK HIGH - The first round was not kind to experienced drivers. Only three drivers with winning experience advanced to the second round. One round later all three were gone.

MCMILLEN DOES IT AGAIN - In winning his fifth 2016 round win, Terry McMillen pulled to within one round of equaling his entire win total last season. Additionally, in his three rounds won, he beat three drivers, Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher and Clay Millican, a trio with multiple series championships.

25 OUT OF 1762 AIN'T BAD - In the second round John Force gave up lane choice to Jack Beckman by a slim margin but as the tree came down Force’s foot hit the pedal .162 seconds early handing the victory to Beckman with a red-light start. As Force’s PEAK Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car came off the starting line he watched as Beckman’s Funny Car went up into smoke, lost power and coasted down the right lane with a winning time of 8.061 seconds. It was Force’s 25th career red-light in 1,762 elimination rounds. His last red-light came at the 2014 Spring Nationals in Houston.

HEAD GAMES - Chad Head drove his Toyota Camry Funny Car to victories over Tommy Johnson Jr. and Courtney Force to advance to the semi-finals to lead Toyota at Sunday’s Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at the Gainesville Raceway.

Head registered six consecutive 3.9-second runs to start the weekend before closing out with a 4.03 in the semi-finals against eventual winner Robert Hight.

“We’re really excited about our performance,” said Head, who climbed up to eighth in points. “The car did a great job. I was a slipping a little bit on reaction time, but we can get that straightened out. I just can’t say enough about my guys to keep putting this thing back together between rounds, we aren’t a big team that can move crewmen over to help out after one of their other cars goes out, so they just did a terrific job.”

ACCENTUATING THE POSITIVES – Jeg Coughlin Jr. qualified a season-high No. 6, beat Chris McGaha in the first round, and scored a huge starting-line advantage on Greg Anderson in the second round before shaking the tires and falling out of the running.

 
"We took a small bite of their margin of performance advantage," Coughlin said of the KB Racing-powered cars, each of which has won at the first two races. "I think the class itself is getting caught up a little bit by the looks of it. The Gray Motorsports cars are going faster, and we inched up on them a little bit more on the Mopar side.
 
"I know we're heading in the right direction. We've said that by the first three to five races we need to get our act together and get some consistency. We felt like we had a little bit better race car here, and we did: We qualified in the top half with our best effort at No. 6, showing that we're making strides."

DEJA VU - Ron Capps and John Hale met in the first round of this event last season and the NAPA team won the event handily. As fate would have it, they met in the first round with the same result.

HURRY UP AND STAGE - In the semis as Jack Beckman rolled into the stage beams, his engine began smoking profusely. Beckman rolled in and double bulbed opponent Ron Capps. Capps, thinking Beckman needed extra time in the staging process, rolled in slowly to stage.

The green light flashed and Beckman's car went dead, then Capps went out just past the 60-foot mark and smoked the tires. Unaware of Beckman's predictament Capps began pedaling the traction challenged race car.

“It happened to me once before,” said Beckman of the smoke billowing from the engine. “It seized the bearing for the blower drive and when that happens it gets so hot it boils the seal and all the fluid in the front of the supercharger shoots out the front. The thing was, for whatever the reason, we got multiple issues out of the way on that one run. Our car didn't want to back up after the burnout and it was barely moving. At that point you pretty much know the only chance you have is to make the other car redlight so I changed my entire starting line routine. Ron's experienced and he didn't fall for it.

“To rub salt into our wound then we saw he had trouble, but that's the nature or drag racing. We got a break in the second round when (John) Forced smoked the tires and we won.”

GOOD DAY FOR BRUTUS - Reaching the semifinal round for the first time this season, Pro Stock racer Allen Johnson felt very pleased with the performance of the car and the tune-up calls his team made in qualifying and on raceday.
 
“You know, we started out this weekend very conservative. We made progress the fourth qualifying run and every run today. We’ve still got a ways to go to catch up with the guys up front but we made a lot of progress this weekend.”

Johnson beat Erica Enders and Bo Butner before losing to eventual winner Greg Anderson.

SHAKIN' - Shane Gray took the race weekend off in Phoenix to get his car sorted out.  The first round loss to Vincent Nobile didn't provide a wealth of confidence the car was where it needed to be,

"I think we went about an inch before it started rattling the tires," Gray said. "I felt like I had a decent light (reaction time), and it turns out I beat him off the line by .011-second, but after that I was toast. It's disappointing but it happens, and all you can do is get back to work and do better next time.

"We've still got some work to do, obviously, with our setup. The car's still a pretty new piece, but we've had trouble finding consistency with it. I'd imagine we'll find time to test before Vegas. I'll sit down with the team tomorrow and we'll come up with a plan."
 
Gray is an four-time winner on the NHRA tour. His last victory came at the prestigious U.S. Nationals in 2014.

WOE IS THREE - Woes continue for DSR's three Top Fuel dragsters. For the second consecutive event, DSR dragsters did not escape the second round of eliminations. Several DSR teams will remain in Gainesville and spend Monday testing at the track.

CHAMP STILL WINLESS - Back-to-back and reigning world Pro Stock champion Erica Enders remains winless this season, suffering her third straight first-round loss at Gainesville.
 
"We're getting so close to where we want to be, and we knew making the switch to Mopar would take some adjustments, but it's still frustrating when you lose a drag race," Enders said, "especially when you consider all of the success we've had the last two seasons.
 
"I know we'll be alright, and the guys are upbeat and telling me not to get down, but I suppose I've gotten a little spoiled. At the same time, I know we have the best team, the best crew guys, the best tuners, the best engine builders in the world under this awning, so there's no doubt we'll be back to our winning ways very soon. We just have to be patient.
 
"I keep saying it but we've only had these Hemi motors for a month, so it's new to all of us, but when Jake Hairston and Nick Ferri tell me there are big things to come, I believe them. The more and more runs we make and the more dyno time those two have, the better it will be. Like I said, we have to be patient."

NO FORMALITY - Quite possibly the biggest upset of the was today when 84-year old Chris "the Golden Greek" Karamesines took out low qualifier Richie Crampton in round one.

"I'm pretty stunned at the moment," Crampton said. "The car didn't seem to move an inch and the tires immediately lost traction. It's a huge disappointment after such an awesome qualifying effort, and I'm sick about this result. I guess losing to another Lucas Oil-sponsored car is the only silver lining. Good on 'the Greek' and that team."
 
"When you smoke the tires that early it's almost impossible to get it under control and get moving again. I tried to pedal it because I could see he was having a bit of engine trouble, but it wouldn't hook back up, and when I saw his car streaking away I just said, 'Enough of this,' and saved the engine from any damage.
 
"Aaron (Brooks) has already made the call for us to stay and test tomorrow. This one hurts a bit, and while we're thrilled to have been top qualifier, we want to make sure we can be consistent as well. I'm very confident we'll be back at it in Las Vegas and hopefully we can make amends for letting this one slip from our grasp."

THAT’S ONE IN A ROW – Matt Hagan might have lost in the second round, but at least he was there. This is a feat the two-time champion hasn’t been able to say up to this point in the season.

Hagan feels the performance of the Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots team is getting stronger following some early season struggles to make consistent runs down the 1,000-foot course.
 
"I feel like we are making headway. We got out of first round and we're taking baby steps. The guys did a great job servicing between rounds and really all weekend. We just need a little here and there and we'll be turning on consecutive win lights."

 

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK

TOP FUEL

NOW YOU KNOW - Richie Crampton powered his Lucas Oil dragster to the fifth-quickest Top Fuel pass in NHRA history with a 3.698 at 317.42, earning his first No. 1 of 2016, fourth of his career and first ever at Gainesville Raceway. Crampton, a South Australia native, will open Sunday’s eliminations against Chris Karamesines.
 
“We struggled a bit yesterday and we were looking forward to the overcast conditions today because we didn’t know what (crew chief) Aaron Brooks could do when the weather was like that, with a cool track temperature,” said Crampton, the 2014 Rookie of the Year. “To do what we did in the first qualifying session today and then run a 3.6 was very cool. Hats off to Aaron Brooks and my Lucas Oil guys.”

 

 

FUNNY CAR

THE IRRELEVANT RECORD -  Jack Beckman set a national elapsed time record during Saturday's Q-4 session.
 
Beckman posted a 3.879-second at 329.26 mph sprint in his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T to reset the elapsed time national record and become the No. 1 qualifier. His time was a Gainesville Raceway track record. He has 17 No. 1 qualifiers in his career and two so far in 2016. This is his first No. 1 at Gainesville Raceway and he will hope to secure his first win at the facility tomorrow. Beckman will open eliminations against Jeff Diehl.
 
“I’m always excited to come here,” said Beckman. “This place was setting records long before I ever came out here when I was reading about it in National Dragster. Driving for (crew chief) Jimmy Prock, we can set records most places we go.”

NOT JUST A NUMBER - Two of Don Schumacher Racing's drivers stand on the verge of a major performance milestone.

Funny Car drivers Tommy Johnson Jr. and Jack Beckman are each set to claim 300 professional round victories.

“In reality, it’s just a number," said Johnson, "You always want to win as many rounds as you can,” said Johnson. “But it’s nice to know that I’ve been blessed with success over the years and I’m lucky to still be racing long enough to earn 300 round wins.”

As much as Beckman would like to get 300, he prefers a larger number.

“Honestly I’m not shooting for my 300th round win. I want to leave Gainesville with 303 round wins,” said Beckman. “I want to take the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T all the way to the winner’s circle.”

Beckman admits he didn't realize what was on the line for this event until the days before this event.

“I didn’t realize until last week I had 299 professional round wins. It really made me think: 299 is a lot of round wins. If you told me 20 years ago that I would have 22 National event wins, three Shoot-Out wins and the 2012 Funny Car World Championship – I don’t know if I would have believed you,” said Beckman. “It is a true testament to my crew chiefs over the years that I am able to reach this milestone.

“I’ve been fortunate to have Don Schumacher stand behind me and help me see so many win lights in my career.”

LEADING THE DOUBLE LIFE – Matt Bynum leads a double-life.
Twenty-four times a year, Bynum works the bottom end of the engine for the DHL Funny Car driven by Del Worsham. On those rare weekends off, he climbs behind the wheel of a classic Mustang Funny Car owned by Cecil Matthews. Truth be told, he’s pretty darned good at both.

Recently Bynum reached the semi-finals at the prestigious Bakersfield March Meet.

“We changed a lot of stuff over the winter trying to make it quicker and faster to have the results that we did and run the way we did,” Bynum said of the classic themed Funny car. “We’re consistently picking at it but it’s a pretty amazing feeling.”

Bynum’s efforts behind the wheel didn’t always go so smooth. In fact, twice in his first season he had to wonder if his Funny Car had a magnet in the frame rails because in those times his opponents drove into his lane where they impacted.

Sadly the first time was when popular Funny Car driver Roger Garten suffered medical issues and collided with the car driven by Bynum. A couple of months later fellow racer Marc Meadors suffered mechanical failure and ended up running into Bynum.

Back to back incidents such as this might test the mettle of even the most determined rookie, and the death of Garten, really affected Bynum.

“Losing Roger still bums me out,” said Bynum. “Going back to Bakersfield each time, thinking about it - because he was such a good guy and good friend to us.  I think about him all the time when I’m out here racing.  

“I found myself saying after the Roger thing that if I got hit again I’d have to quit driving. Then the Mark Meadors thing happened and I almost had to quit.  I’m glad I didn’t and that it all worked out the way that it did.”

Right now Bynum is content racing in the Nostalgia Funny Car scene, but one day he has aspirations of the big stage of NHRA competition,
“Ultimately I’d love to go to the big show but that takes a bunch of money,” said Bynum. “I’m definitely not going to give up on it because you never know what could happen or the situations and it could all just work out, hopefully.  I’d love the opportunity and the chance to do it but I’m perfectly happy with the program Cecil Matthews put together.”  

To be perfectly honest, driving a Funny Car is all Bynum has ever wanted to do since he was a kid.

“Growing up around it and seeing it I’ve always had a love for Funny Cars,” said Bynum. “Watching the old Diamond P videos and funny cars on fire in the shutdown areas, it’s cool.  It’s exciting and it definitely got my interest at a very young age.”

TEENAGE DREAM - Gainesville Raceway isn’t just any track to Tommy Johnson Jr. It also holds special significance to him because it was where he competed in his very first NHRA National event as a teenager.

“The first national race I ever competed in was the NHRA Gatornationals back in 1984. I was only 15 years old driving a Super Gas car. Needless to say, shortly after I competed in that race, NHRA changed the minimum age in the rule book,” said Johnson. “Gainesville Raceway will always be a special place for me. Hopefully I will make it even more special by raising a Wally this weekend.”

A DIFFERENT PATH - Ron Capps wants to defend his Gainesville title, but prefers to follow a different path than he took to the winner's circle last season.

"We started the weekend by blowing up on Friday and destroying our brand new Dodge Charger R/T, and I got it out of the groove on another qualifying run," he said. "I was mad at myself after that but (crew chief Rahn) Tobler and our NAPA Know How guys worked long hours to give me a great race car for Sunday.

"There are just days you feel like you can't be beat, and that was one of those days. Then you realize at the end of the day when you take that last turnoff that you just won the Gatornationals for the third time. It's usually not until the morning after when you wake up and realize it wasn't a dream and you won the Gatornationals again."

AN INAUSPICIOUS START - Matt Hagan is experiencing a dream season, one nightmare at a time. The two-time champion has yet to win a round.

"That's not we expected, hoped for, dreamed of or thought about all winter," said Hagan, who won the first two races last season. "But that's life and racing too; you never know what's going to happen.

"We've had some unfortunate turn of events. We started at Pomona with a new chassis that we realized wasn't what we needed. Then we brought out our old car from last year for Phoenix and we had some wiring and timing issues with it.

"But the buck stops with us, absolutely. You can say whatever you want or make up excuses but it stops with me and my team. It's up to us to turn it around."

In 2011, Hagan recorded back-to-back first-round losses in the third and fourth races of the season but rallied to win two of the last six events. It was a similar pattern three years later when the Mopar/Rocky team led by crew chief Dickie Venables and assistant Michael Knudsen didn't get past the opening rounds in the second, third and fourth races but finished by winning three of the last six races to earn his second world title.

PRO STOCK

KB CONTINUES DOMINATION - Jason Line raced his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro to the No. 1 qualifier with a 6.584 at 208.84. Line, riding momentum from his recent win in Phoenix, has 42 No. 1 qualifiers in his career. After a first round bye, Line will meet the winner of Shane Gray versus Vincent Nobile in the second round.
 
“We made good runs,” said Line, a four-time Gatornationals winner. “We struggled a little bit with the race car but my Summit hot rod is pretty fast right now. My car has been very good and that’s probably one of the reasons she’s been a little faster than everybody else’s. We fell a little bit short but still had very good runs today and I’m very happy about that.”
 
Line’s Ken Black Racing teammate, Bo Butner, pushed his Jim Butner Auto Chevy Camaro to the No. 2 qualifier with a 6.591 at 209.26. Butner will open Sunday’s eliminations against V. Gaines. Greg Anderson, the third member of the Ken Black Racing team, qualified third with a 6.595 at 209.65 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro. The defending event winner will go up against Matt Hartford Sunday morning.

KB Racing has led every session, qualified No. 1 at all three events and won every event thus far since the EFI era began,

JUST WIN, THAT'S ALL - Erica Enders has won 21 NHRA Pro Stock national events in her illustrious career. However, none of those victories have come in Gainesville.

This doesn't mean she hasn't come close on occasion.

Enders raced to the final round in Gainesville early in her Pro Stock career, losing to Tom Martino in 2006. She also reached the Gatornationals final in 2014, her first season with Elite, before falling to Allen Johnson.

"I really want to win here," Enders said. "It's a tall order right now, but we'll certainly go in with a positive attitude and a winning mentality. You never know what could happen."
 
Actually Enders would love to win a round as she is winless in round competition thus far in 2016.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS - Five-time Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. has his eye on the perfect gift for his Hall of Fame father, Jeg Sr., who celebrates his 78th birthday this week: the Wally trophy.
 
Coughlin has earned 58 Pro Stock trophies in his illustrious career and another 18 in the Sportsman ranks, placing him ninth on the all-time list. Two of those Pro Stock trophies came at Gainesville Raceway, in 2001 and 2008, giving him confidence heading into this weekend's meet.
 
"I remember back in the '70s when I was a kid, sitting down at breakfast with a box of cereal while I read the latest National Dragster magazine with all the coverage from the Gatornationals," Coughlin said. "It's always been a marquee event on the schedule, the first on the East Coast, and one that is super-packed because it's spring break, which makes it so much fun.
 
"As a racer, it's one you check off as a major event, one you really want to win during your career. We've been fortunate enough to win it twice, and we'd love to make it three."

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

EDDIE CRUISES TO NO. 1 - Eddie Krawiec posted a 6.801 at 196.42 on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to become the No. 1 qualifier at the first of 16 Pro Stock Motorcycle events in 2016. Krawiec has 28 No. 1 qualifiers in his career and two at Gainesville Raceway. He has won this event three times and was the event runner-up one year ago. Krawiec will face Michael Phillips in the first round of eliminations.
 
“You want to get back on that motorcycle,” said Krawiec, a three-time world champion. “Definitely wanted to come out here to Gainesville, blow the dust off, get the cobwebs behind me and start moving forward. The key yesterday was making a good lap off the trailer and setting the tone for the weekend. Anybody could win. Every round is important and every round you have to do your best.”

STREAK ENDS FOR SMITH - Two-time world champion Matt Smith failed to qualify, ending a streak of 186 consecutive NHRA starts that dates back to 2004.
 
"It's unbelievable to me that we had so many problems in four rounds of qualifying," said Smith, the 2007 and 2013 series champion. "We tested so well this off-season, running 6.82s at 195-plus mph all day long, and we get here and have nothing but problems.
 
"I'm extremely frustrated right now, to say the least. We had one of the longest qualifying streaks in the class and now that's gone. All we can do is regroup, test some more, and be ready to start fresh at the next race."

Fortunately for the factory-backed team, his wife, Angie, managed to post a competitive 6.914-second pass at 192.85 mph on her identical Gunner to claim the No. 13 spot overall.
 
"We have a Victory Motorcycle in the field and that's very important for us," Angie said. "My bike has been very consistent, and even though it looked like we wouldn't be able to get all four runs in with the weather forecast, we got lucky and ran them all."

LITTLE HECTOR’S NEW TUNER - Team Arana added a crew chief over the winter, William Cavallo. This came at the request of sponsor Forrest Lucas of Lucas Oil.
 
"I have a lot of big expectations for this year," Arana said. "We've got a lot of great things going on. Forrest Lucas wanted us to add some new help, and I told my dad, 'Let's look for someone who can really help us, rather than just getting another crew guy to turn some wrenches on the bike.' "
 
Arana was introduced to Cavallo by his future father-in-law, John Nobile, and after numerous conversations, Cavallo was hired to serve as crew chief. Cavallo has raced in Pro Stock car and Pro Extreme Motorcycle in IHRA, and Arana is confident he will help the Lucas Oil Pro Stock Motorcycle team.
 
"We know we have really good horsepower, but we were struggling leaving the starting line," Arana said. " Sometimes we'd get it, but for whatever reason in these last two years, we've struggled with that. We figured it would be a good move to hire a guy like William."
 
Arana holds the class record for speed, 199.88 mph set last year in Charlotte, and he hopes Cavallo can help translate that horsepower into better elapsed times.

PRO MODIFIED

THE FIRST WINNER - Pro Modified made its debut 15 years ago in NHRA competition when the Glendora, Ca.-based sanctioning body, which had resisted the temptation to include the volatile doorslammer category in its lineup, finally relented and invited 24 drivers to compete in the first of five scheduled exhibitions.

Rickie Smith, a two-time NHRA Pro Modified champion, won the inaugural event by beating Kirk Kuhns in the final round. He had played around with Pro Modified Quick Eight events in the Carolinas and had run the IHRA events a time or two, but now with NHRA considering the class, even on an exhibition basis, found a way to get in on the ground floor of something big.

"It was a class that I could afford to run and be able to do so up front," Smith recalled. "The Pro Stock thing was starting to get a little bit out of hand at that time and I saw it but I didn’t have the sponsorship to run Pro Stock.  When this Pro Mod thing came along, I jumped into it not long after it started because I liked the big motors, the challenge of wild and crazy cars and it just kind of fell into my hands."  

The Pro Modified debut had an invitation list of 24 of the wildest and most on the edge race vehicles known to doorslammer racing. It took only six pairs into qualifying before the class showed its true colors.

Johnny Rocca owned a supercharged 1949 Mercury sponsored by the Mohegan Sun casino and driven by Paul Athey.

Athey had no sooner passed the tree when the Mercury made a turn right, crossing the centerline and sideswiping the Corvette driven by Pro Mod pioneer Ronnie Hood. The impact was the most normal aspect of the situation.

Athey returned to his lane as if nothing had happened. Hood backed up to the starting line and at the flash of the green, the victim of the hit and run driver went to the early provisional No. 1.

Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Jay Payne sat back and watched the incident, and just like many NHRA fans and racers saw the immediate entertainment value in these cars.

“I sat there and watched this 1949 Mercury do a burnout, swap lanes – come over in the other lane, hit the other car – go back to his lane, and back up,” Payne explained. “Then this guy in an Indian suit ran around the car, tapped on it and then they made the run.

“I looked over at Brad [Anderson, team owner] and said, ‘We gotta get one of those.”

Smith qualified on the bubble of the debut event with a 6.337 elapsed time at 221.96. However, even for Smith, the event was far from normal.

Rains postponed the event until the next weekend, and unfortunately for all but four of the invited participants, the reschedule conflicted with the IHRA season-opener in Darlington, SC.

Smith raced the first weekend with a Corvette he'd sold to Kenny Koretsky. Koretsky was to take delivery of the car on the Monday after the event, leaving Smith to rush a new Dodge Viper into service.

Though Smith's roots run deep in IHRA, there was no second thought where he was going to race on the conflicting weekend.

"The NHRA has basically always been the number 1 drag racing body," said Smith. "The IHRA was very close with them back in the 1970s and halfway thru the 1980s but when Winston pulled out it pretty much split the sanctioning bodies to where one was a lot bigger than the other one.  I wanted to go try to run the big one."

And running the big one ensured he'd have a chance to be the first-ever winner - a feat he pulled off.

"You always want to be the first to anything most of the time unless you’re jumping off a cliff," said Smith. "I’ve been the 1st to do a lot of things throughout my career and that’s what you strive for- to try to do that.  I’m just tickled that I won the first and nobody else can say they won the first NHRA Pro Mod race because I did it."

STILL THE ONE - Sidnei Frigo claimed the No. 1 qualifying position and first round victory Saturday during the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, co-presented by the Pro Line Racing and Jerry Bickel Race Cars, Inc., is the first of 10 events on the season.
 
Frigo’s second-session pass of 5.839 seconds at 240.47 mph in his late model Artivinco Racing/FuelTech Chevy Corvette held up for his first career No. 1 qualifier.
 
In the first round of eliminations, Frigo outran Kevin Fiscus, of Jacksonville, Fla., with a 5.810 pass at 254.04. Fiscus ran an 8.643 at 85.99 in his 2012 Ford Mustang. Frigo will face Chip King in the second round of eliminations on Sunday.
 
PATRICK FALLS IN ROUND 1 - Robert Patrick Jr.’s second round pass of 5.850 at 242.58 kept him qualified at second in his Purvis Ford Mustang. Patrick Jr. fell in the first round of eliminations to No. 15 qualifier Danny Rowe, of Laguna Hills, Calif., in his Agave Tequila ’68 Chevy Camaro with a pass of 6.016 at 243.41. Rowe will matchup against Steve Matusek, from Olathe, Kan., in the second round.
 
Matusek, in his Agave Underground ’68 Camaro, took out eleventh place qualifier and reigning world champ Troy Coughlin with a 5.873 pass at 247.57. Coughlin ran a 5.822 at 256.65 in his late model Corvette.
 

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK

TOUGH DAY AT THE OFFICE – The idea of getting two professional qualifying sessions in the books on Friday was considered wishful think looking at the long range weather forecast on Thursday.

NHRA managed to pull off the feat amidst some challenging situations.

Sportsman qualifying was washed out by morning showers, which eventually ended just shy of 10:45 AM.

Once qualifying began, the first two cars down the track became entangled in a two-car crash. Top Dragster racers Kara Stricker, from Downingtown, Pa., and Kathy Woeber, from Palm City, Fla., were checked and released by NHRA medical personnel.

Qualifying was delayed by a little over an hour when a Top Alcohol Dragster oiled the racing surface to the point the Safety Safari had to completely cover the left lane in the gold dust rosin.

TOP FUEL

WAITING TO HAPPEN - Brittany Force is a win waiting to happen. On Friday, Ms. Force picked up four qualifying bonus points and secured the provisional pole position with a 3.745 second run at 309.56 mph.

“To be able to come out here and run well was great. We didn’t know what we could expect with the weather conditions," said Force. "We were hoping to get one good run in and we did that first round. We really stepped it up on the second run. When I got out of the dragster at the top end and they told we what we ran I was blown away,” said Force, who has four career No. 1 qualifiers. “It felt like an awesome run early on but at the end of the run I pulled my foot up early because I thought it was getting into trouble. I am excited and proud of this Monster Energy team. We made quite a few changes and we are starting to see that on the race track.”

In the first session Force was the third quickest Top Fuel dragster tucked in behind Steve Torrence and Tony Schumacher. The technical alliance between Torrence Racing and John Force Racing which is led by Alan Johnson continues to pay dividends for both organizations and gives Force a boost of confidence as well. On the heels of her runner-up finish in Phoenix Force is ready to take the next step of her professional career.

“I have been to quite a few finals now and the first few I was excited to be in a final. Now I don’t feel the same way. You are happy to be there but you want to bring home the win now. That is all we want. We want to bring home that win,” said Force whose previous best qualifying position was No. 7 in 2015. “I feel good about this season and I think you are seeing it with the performance at the first two races and then today. This shows you what we are capable of and what is to be expected.”

COMMON GROUND - Being precise is in Steve Torrence's DNA. Those skills have come in handy with both of his hobbies.

When he's not rocketing down the 1000-foot quarter-mile strip, he's using those skills in big game hunting where hand-eye coordination, focus and consistency are key elements.  

Currently second in driver points, Torrence sees a host of similarities in the two activities for which he has so much passion.

“When you’re on the practice range, you’re trying to group your shot patterns,” he said.  “You’re firing tight shot groups and trying to consistently put them in the same location.  That’s basically the same thing we’re trying to do with the dragster.  We’re looking for ‘repeatability’ at whatever performance level conditions allow.

“Then there’s the concentration that you have to have whether you’re focused on a target or on the Christmas Tree,” he said.  “Shooting is good training for racing and racing is good training for shooting.”

SHE’S A RACER – The way Leah Pritchett sees it, she can have her cake and eat it, too. She regards herself as a racer and all of her competitors as racers, not setting herself aside as a “female racer” and not sorting them out by gender. But the fact that others do and make a big deal of it just brings notoriety for her in her career and for her team owner, crew, and the ever-crucial sponsors.
 
Pritchett’s victory over Brittany Force in the Phoenix final undeniably happened between two women, was the first time since 1982 that happened, and it made the Bob Vandergriff Racing driver the 101st female winner in the NHRA. Pritchett never would dismiss that, but it isn’t something she dwells on or flaunts.
 
“When I think about racing Brittany or another female, I just think about them as a racer, not about their gender, by any means. I have been in a lot of high-pressure situations in a lot of other categories in my life, and they were all from a racer standpoint. Now it's really not any different. If there was more extra pressure on it, I don't know. It's already there and I don't think about it and I'm not sure that I ever will. For me it's just straight racing,” Pritchett said. “I'm around men all the time, and that's just what I'm comfortable with. It's a cool thing [the female aspect and the distinctions]. I think it's a wonderful, excellent by-product to be able to be a female and set these milestones. But the race car does not know any different, who is behind the wheel. But the path to get there, I would definitely say is different, and I think that's very important and that that is something to be looked at. But man, as a female, the pressure of that side of it, I think comes from outside the race car. It comes from a media standpoint and what people expect and maybe stereotypes. But in my mind, they don't exist.
 
“In my mind, my normal is being around men, whether it be the team or crew chiefs or team owners or sponsors. My whole life has really been surrounded by testosterone, so that's normal. I really haven't had the female aspect of it weigh in so much as it has here lately, which is just an increased amount of benefit,” she said. “I'm not the type of person to put myself in a situation to think, man, I'm going to be the absolute person to completely look up to and set all these goals – just because I'm trying to do them naturally. And the fact that they have come about and have been inspirational . . . for other people is a bonus. I think if I looked at it a little bit differently throughout my efforts of the last year to try and be a female doing things in a phenomenal sport, I might not have been able to do them the way that I was. I'm fortunate that it's happening that way. That has not been my focus and – I can't speak for them – probably has not been the focus of other female drivers, say, [two-time and reigning Pro Stock champion] Erica Enders. She's just out there doing her thing, knowing what she knows how to do. I think it's an added benefit, and I don't think it has extra pressure.
 
“I wouldn't sell ourselves short, by any means, because we're female and guys aren't looking to see what we're doing,” she said. “We do have a little bit, I'm sure, more to prove. Brittany and I, we have a lot more to prove on the racetrack to get to a point where maybe other racers are looking to us for what we're doing, but there's not a lot different. There's not a lot of differences on really how you drive a car. You can't watch somebody go down the track and go, ‘I'm going to go do what they did.’ You can see what they did right or what they did wrong but at the end of the day, how you drive that race car in my opinion is what feels right to you – and you can't duplicate that, no matter who you're watching. That's an all-natural thing, and you can learn, but you can't replace time on the track.”
 
She benefited from advice that Melanie Troxel gave her when they were teammates driving for Roger Burgess at R2B2 Racing. “I was fortunate to be team members with Melanie Troxel, and she set some mile markers of her own in being successful in both Pro Mod and in Funny Car and in Top Fuel. So we got to go through together. I did actually look to Melanie to teach me a number of things from a driving standpoint throughout Pro Mod and in Funny Car, and it wasn't because she was a female. It was because she was my teammate and she was a really good racer.”
 
Although Pritchett inherited some honors just because she is female, she said she’s happy about them, happy to be in an elite group of winners and achievers.
 
“It's absolutely incredible. It’s a very small list. I believe I'm No. 9 and what I do know is that that list is going to grow exponentially with the amount of female racers coming up through the ranks at this moment. But to be No. 9 in a sport that has been around for so long; and with our sanctioning body that has really embraced the diversity of females in all-around, No. 9, it's really incredible,” she said.
 
“I'm just honored. I'm honored to do it,” Pritchett said of her historic feat. “I can't say that's ever been the next focus, to be that next female. It really is just to win, just the same amount of drive and same amount of passion for the sport as every other competitor. To be able to have that special notoriety is just kind of like having your cake and eating it, too, and in life, you don't get to do that that often. So I'm really fortunate to be able to do that.” – Susan Wade

IN THE HALL - Mark Oswald, former NHRA world champion driver and current co-crew chief for Brown, was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame at a ceremony Thursday at Wyndam Gardens in Gainesville, Fla.

Oswald, 63, who won the NHRA Funny Car title in 1984 with the Candies & Hughes team, and Brian Corradi are the tuning duo that has won two of the past four championship titles - including last year - with Antron Brown.

"Mark is a very special person," Brown said. "He's my hero not only because of what he has done in this sport of NHRA drag racing but how he has done it. With an incredible work ethic, the way he leads this team and how he does it from the heart. That's what makes Mark special and that's why I admire him. We're lucky to have someone like him on this Matco Tools team."

NOT YOUR AVERAGE PART-TIMER - Morgan Lucas races part-time, but his track record sure doesn't look like it.  
 
Lucas has won three times and has an 18-12 round-win record in the 15 races he has participated in since stepping back from full-time competition. And one of those victories was at the prestigious U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
 
"Racing part-time is different because you race with a different mentality," Lucas said. "I feel like in order to be a good driver you have to race with a sense of purpose, whether it's your competitive edge or your fear of failure or whatever it is. You have to have something that motivates you to be consistent and where you need to be mentally."

DURING THE DOWNTIME - Clay Millican isn't the kind of racer who embraces an off weekend, much less three of them,

The driver of the Parts Plus dragster used his off time to get in some shopping time at a Polaris dealer, and made the most of the downtime breaking in his new toys.

Millican then flew out west to join Weld Wheels in their unveiling of the new HiPer Technology DM58 wheel, one named in tribute to his son Dalton Millican, who was killed in a non-racing accident last August.

Millican wrapped up the downtime with a day of training at the Bob Bondurant Racing School in Phoenix, Arizona.  

FUNNY CAR

BECKMAN LEADS WITH NEW TRACK RECORD - Jack Beckman established a new Gainesville Raceway track record of 3.913 seconds at 323.74 mph. Before today's runs, no Funny car driver had run in the threes in Gainesville.

The fact anyone even got to run was even more incredible.

"It's always tough when you show up to a race and the forecast is rain, rain, rain," Beckman said. "It rained yesterday, and it didn't look good for today. Gainesville is the Winternationals (season-opener) of the East Coast, and you want to race for the fans.

"We got the first run in and we smoked the tires. I was sure that was going to be our only run of the day. I was a little frustrated.

"To be able to get both sessions in for the fans, and to be able to run that good makes it a perfect day," said Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car world champion who won a category and career best seven races a year ago.

HE TOLD YOU SO - In his recent CompetitionPlus.tv video Unbreakable, John Force promised there would be a renewed interest in his operation. Today those words have proven prophetic,
 
The four-car JFR team (Top Fuel’s Brittany Force, Funny Car drivers John Force, Courtney Force and Robert Hight) has posted two final appearances through two events.
 
Three of the four are in the top three in points and the 16-time Funny Car world champion hopes the momentum leads to the team’s first win this weekend.
 
“I think we are just more focused,” Force said. “Having PEAK with us all year and also all our sponsors back from Traxxas to Auto Club to Monster, (and) we have a really good group leading the brain trust. We have Alan Johnson and Brian Husen over on the Top Fuel dragster and Mike Neff is leading the brain trust for the Funny Cars. I still love this and I think all the work we did in the off-season is starting to pay off. We are running with all the top teams again.”
 
GAINESVILLE AREA PLAYED KEY ROLE IN DEJORIA’S CAREER – As Alexis DeJoria climbed the ladder to the top ranks of NHRA Funny Car racing, her Stealth Motorsports team called the greater Gainesville area home. 

She owned and operated the team in Bronson, Fla., from 2009 through 2011 while running in Top Alcohol Funny Car (TAFC). 

During that time with her Florida-based team, she became just the second woman ever to win a TAFC race. Since then, she became the first woman ever to win in both TAFC and Nitro Funny cars in winning three Mello Yello Series races, including the 2014 U.S. Nationals.

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ROLLING WITH BESSIE - Tim Wilkerson is going to roll with the old girl one more time. He's racing with "Bessie" this weekend, the car he drove to the CARQUEST NHRA Nationals victory three weeks ago in Phoenix.

“We do have the new chassis in the trailer and we hope to get some test runs in on Monday,” explained Wilkerson. “This new car has a whole new fuel system, and it doesn’t act the same as the other car. My co-crew chief Richard Hartman and I want to get a handle on this new set-up before putting it into competition.”

PRO STOCK

NO RESTING - Just because they have dominated every race in the EFI era is no reason for KB Racing to relax in their approach to racing Pro Stock.

Jason Line won Phoenix, defeating Chris McGaha in the final round while Anderson beat Line to win the first race. Anderson and team driver Bo Butner have both qualified No. 1 thus far.
 
Line and Anderson tested their Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros all this week at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.
 
"We're not completely satisfied with everything on the car yet. There are still lots of improvements we can make and more power to pull out of it,” said Line. "We have to keep up with all the Pro Stock teams out there trying to go faster."

Line drove his way to No. 1 today with a 6.613 at 209.39 while Butner posted a 6.617 at 209.33 in his Jim Butner Auto Chevy Camaro.

ADAPTING ALONG THE WAY - Chris McGaha was at the front of the line last season, advancing to five final rounds and becoming a legitimate championship contender.

That was last year.
 
McGaha feels like he is starting over and he is just fine with embracing that challenge. The class has new rules and a new look, including fuel-injected engines, shorter wheelie bars, flat hoods and a 10,500 RPM rev-limiter.
 
“Like we did last year, we are going back to the start,” said McGaha, who advanced to the final round at the most recent event in Phoenix. “Where we want to improve is to win a race. As an engine builder, I don't want us to get lost because you can get lost with the tune-up real quick with this new fuel injection. It can happen to us, and it could happen to any of the teams out here. We want to win a race. That's our first goal because everything has changed.”
 
McGaha lost in the first round, not the way he hoped to start this season.  He rebounded in Phoenix before falling to Jason Line in the final round. There are questions that still need to be solved and adjustments that still need to be made, but McGaha, who finished fourth in points in 2015, is confident his team will get there.
 
“We did adjust some things going into Phoenix, but we had a lot of the same issues in Phoenix,” McGaha said. “Our plan was to suck it up because I'm confident in our team that the worst case scenario would have us fifth or sixth in the qualifying order. We knew we had issues, but we just let it be and went to the finals.
 
“We felt pretty comfortable after doing the first test session in Phoenix before Pomona but still, there’s been ongoing little issues, and we’ve been addressing them. We’ve found some things the last two weeks that will help us overcome those issues. We think we found some of the issues, but we just need to get to the racetrack and see when we test before Gainesville.”

PRACTICING ‘TIL PERFECT - A little extra practice should make a world of difference for Pro Stock racer Shane Gray,

Gray, the front-running Pro Stock driver who sat out last month's CARQUEST NHRA Nationals, believes the extra time spent testing will make his team more competitive in the new EFI Pro Stock era.

"The guys have done a fantastic job of straightening this car out and matching the power the engines are making with the new electronic fuel injection setup," Gray said. "By the last test session, we were right there with the top cars in the class, so we're very pleased and optimistic about our chances."

Gray had some challenges adapting to the newly mandated EFI configuration, as well as the rpm limitations and shorter wheelie-bar length instilled by NHRA.
 
"I'm not out here to run up and down the track and just go through the motions," Gray said. "If we don't have a legit chance to win the race, we're going to stop what we're doing and work our tails off until we're ready to challenge for the win every time.
 
"Skipping Phoenix made sense for us. Sure we could have gone out there and qualified and gained a few points, but if you look at the big picture, it was smarter to come home and work on the car. I believe our testing results confirm we made the right decision."
 
Gray has four wins in 12 final-round showings in his 141 NHRA starts.
 
"We'd love to add a Gainesville win to our résumé," Gray said. "It's a big race, the first one of the season on the East Coast, and it's not too far down the road from our home in Charlotte, so it's a comfortable place for us to go.
 
"I know the guys are anxious to get back out there and have a good showing. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out. We're certainly optimistic after testing, but testing and a real race are two different things. You can gauge yourself against the other teams testing, but you really have no idea what they're doing. We tend to focus on our program and just keep our heads down.
 
"We'll be alright. I'm excited to get down to Florida."

THE LITTLE GUYS - The new Pro Stock has been a challenge to many of the part-time teams.

John Gaydosh, who drives for one of those teams, accepted the challenge head-on despite incurring the cost of adapting his Chevrolet Camaro to meet the specs.

"The new rule changes have made the field closer which will allows us to be more competitive," said Gaydosh. "On the other hand this rule change has come with some costs to our small family team because we don’t have the same resources as the bigger teams. I look forward to seeing how the new program grows the sport."

Gaydosh is still searching for his first round win in the NHRA Pro-Stock category.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

TOP GUN - Eddie Krawiec raced to the provisional lead with a 6.808 at 197.71 on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson. Krawiec has 27 No. 1 qualifiers in his career and one at Gainesville. He has three wins at the event.
 
“Anytime you can come off the trailer and make a great run like [we did] it sets the pace for the season,” said Krawiec, a three-time world champion. “That’s the way I look at it; not just the event but the season because that’s what’s all in front of you.”
 

 

THE MAGIC MARK - Andrew Hines sees drag racing history being made this weekend. One of the great, noteworthy NHRA milestones remains the first 200 mph pass in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
 
“I think we'll see that sitting on a scoreboard somewhere early in this year,” Hines said. “It could be one session where you might see two, three, maybe even four motorcycles run over that 200 mph mark, and it might just stack up on who goes out first that qualifying session. It could be as exciting as that, or heck, you might see maybe the last two bikes of a certain session put it up side by side.
 
“That would be pretty spectacular. We are all looking for it. I know a lot of us motorcycle guys have been trying to get it the last couple years. It’s just a matter of all the stars aligning correctly and finding that couple horsepower that we all need to push us to that next threshold.”

NOT YOUR AVERAGE ROOKIE - Cory Reed found an ideal landing spot for a rookie, learning to race under the tutelage of championship team owner George Bryce and champion Angelle Sampey, who own a combined six championships.  

Reed is no stranger to drag racing as he comes from a family steeped in racing the quarter-mile. He is the son of Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Annie Whiteley and stepson of Jim, the 2-time Top Alcohol Dragster World Champion
 
“When my mom met my stepdad Jim, he got us into Jr. Dragsters and we raced them from about age eight to fourteen,” said Reed. “When I was a teenager, I started racing dirt bikes and got really deep into that and really fell in love with it. It took me away from drag racing for a little bit because I dedicated my life to it.”

Reed attended George Bryce’s drag racing school and knew immediately Pro Stock Motorcycle was the perfect destination.

“This is less stressful than riding dirt bikes," Reed explained, I don’t have to wake up every morning wondering if I’m going to break my leg or wind up in the hospital that day, so it really makes it sweet going somewhere and being so comfortable and happy.”

Reed has already raced once, making his debut in Las Vegas in October, and this outing confirmed his talent level with Sampey,
 
“I don’t see him as a rookie,” said Sampey. “He’s so talented that I don’t look at him as a rookie rider. I’m so excited to have him as my teammate; I’ve been blessed to have the best teammates in the world and Cory falls right in that bracket.”

Reed understands he's now where his famous racing family prefers him to be,

“I knew my family would love to see me get back into drag racing, and I felt really comfortable on a bike. Coming back to drag racing means I can see my family a lot too, and that’s a plus.”
 

PRO MOD

STEVENSON BURNS CAR UP - NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series racer Dan Stevenson, 59, from Bolingbrook, Ill., was transported by ground to University of Florida Health Shands Hospital for further evaluation.

Stevenson’s car caught fire during the first qualifying session of the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.

Stevenson exited his vehicle on his own power and was checked by NHRA emergency services officials before being transported.

TOP TEN - How's this for parity? Ten different drivers won races during the 2015 NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series season.

THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM - Last season Troy Coughlin captured his second Pro Modified title in come from behind fashion.
 
“It's been a pretty remarkable run these last four years," said Coughlin, who also claimed the 2012 title. "You don't think about it as it's happening because you're generally focused on the next round, the next race, but it's neat when you do have time to reflect to see how well we have done.

"It's definitely all about this remarkable team. Steve Petty is the best crew chief in the business, and having guys like Mike Rees, Justin Beaver, and Kyle Pettis stick with us for so many years, that makes such a huge difference. I'm so honored to drive this race car and work with these guys."
 
Coughlin edged Mike Janis by a mere 14 points one year ago.