There is just something magical about Gainesville Raceway for Top Fuel standout Josh Hart.

Just two years ago, the Ocala, Florida, native won his first race in his very first start in Top Fuel at the historic facility that has been a part of the NHRA professional tour since 1970. On Saturday, that magic continued as Hart won the Pep Boys All-Star Top Fuel Callout over Mike Salinas in his first try at the specialty race.

With the win, Hart collected a cool $80,000 in the race within a race, and he marches into Sunday’s elimination rounds at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals with momentum on his side.

“It is a huge accomplishment for our team,” an elated Hart said. “We have prepared like no other this December, January and February, and to go right out again and win a specialty race right off the trailer is pretty awesome. (My team) are the ones who should be sitting in this seat talking, not me. I am the jockey who gets to hit the gas. As long as I do that part right and keep it straight, I am OK. All of the credit goes to the team.”

Hart saved his best run of the day for the final round, driving his R+L Carriers/TechNet dragster to his quickest pass of the weekend to earn the win. Hart had a solid light and drove his green-and-white machine to a 3.748-second pass at 331.53 mph. Salinas immediately lit the tires in his Scrappers Racing dragster and limped across the line as the runner-up in his first Pep Boys All-Star Callout final-round appearance.

In the specialty race, which features higher-seeded drivers selecting, or “calling out,” their opponent each round among the eight qualified drivers, Hart was left with the scraps in Round One and was then called out in the second round by the top overall seed.

And he made them pay in each.

Hart defeated Austin Prock in a first-round duel with a 3.765, 331.77 mph as Prock began to haze the tires and was forced to click it off near midtrack. In Round Two, Hart bristled at being called out by Brittany Force and delivered a solid 3.757 at 330.88 mph. Force, the defending Pep Boys Callout winner, 2022 Top Fuel champion and low E.T. holder from Round One, immediately lost traction as the light turned green.

Salinas, who reached the semifinal in last year’s Pep Boy Callout race, defeated Justin Ashley and Doug Kalitta to reach the final.

“Nice guys don’t finish last,” Hart said with a laugh. “When you go up against Austin Prock, you have to be deadly on the tree. I was off my game a little bit in my first competitive pass with this car, but (crew chief) Ron Douglas and the team saved me on that one. In Round Two against Brittany Force, when she called me out I think everybody was expecting that, so it was a kill-with-kindness type of situation.

“Then going against Salinas, he has made some crazy numbers in testing and you always have that in the back of your mind, but I am glad I left on him. With Ron Douglas and this team, that consistency will get it done every time. I am very proud of the team.”

After the race, Hart was reflective of his past 48 months behind the wheel, going from two-time race winner in his inaugural season to winless and mid-pack much of last season, to back on top Saturday.

“The Josh Hart (of two years ago) didn’t know anything,” Hart said. “I don’t think I knew I was supposed to be nervous. When you taste (victory) and then it gets taken away from you in your sophomore season, you just want to get back to that place. I think we found a little bit of magic here. Gainesville has always been good to us, and now that I have a little bit more seasoning on me, we will do our best to get this thing in the winner’s circle more often.

“This year, when I show up I want to try to enjoy every single moment, and this is obviously off-the-charts awesome. I am going to savor this moment.”

But his weekend's work is far from over. With a best of 3.748 in qualifying, Hart will enter Sunday’s elimination rounds in the No. 7 position, and he will face Tony Schumacher in Round One.

Force, meanwhile, will try to gain redemption after her Callout loss, entering Sunday’s Gatornationals eliminations on pole -- the 43rd of her career. Force will line her Monster Energy dragster up against Keith Murt in round one.

“Overall, we got the No. 1 qualifier, but it was a bummer to lose out on the All-Star Callout,” Force said. “We felt good going into it, and we got to the semifinals, but we got beat. Our bigger focus now is race day tomorrow. We put today behind us. We got in that last qualifying session, which was a good, solid run for us, and now we start all over again going into race day.”

Pep Boys Top Fuel Allstar Callout Results

First Round

Josh Hart (.084) 3.765, 331.77 mph, def. Austin Prock (.063) 4.564, 164.89 mph

Brittany Force (.049) 3.744, 335.48 mph, def. Clay Millican (.067) 5.247, 128.69 mph

Mike Salinas (.074) 3.751, 333.41 mph, def. Justin Ashley (.033) 3.870, 299.06 mph

Doug Kalitta (.073) 3.753, 330.88 mph, def. Steve Torrence (.099) 3.774, 331.28 mph

Semifinals

Mike Salinas (.068) 3.763, 330.63 mph, def. Doug Kalitta (.072) 7.924, 101.35 mph,

Josh Hart (.041) 3.757, 330.88 mph, def. Brittany Force (.075) 8.884, 74.07 mph

Final

Josh Hart (.052) 3.748, 331.53 mph, def. Mike Salinas (.077) 10.235, 74.57 mph