Jack Beckman secured the No. 1 qualifying spot for the Funny Car class Saturday at the 49th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the third of 24 events on the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Mike Castellana powered to the No. 1 qualifier Saturday during the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service portion of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Dragway. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented Jerry Bickel Race Cars, is the first of 12 events this season.

Castellana ran a 5.750-second pass at 253.56 mph in the fourth qualifying session in his Al Anabi Racing ’69 Camaro to take the No. 1 slot. Castellana used the final pass to better his time and speed from Friday evening to earn the top spot at the opening race for the category.  

Dale Emery, famous for his talents as a driver of Fuel Altereds and Funny Cars, and even more famous for his role as a crewmember on the famed Blue Max, has died. 

Emery, 78, died on March 16, 2018 and is survived by his wife, Brenda.

Jack Beckman is on the cusp of earning his first No. 1 qualifying position at the 49th annual Amalie NHRA Gatornationals after leading both of Friday’s Funny Car qualifying sessions at Gainesville, Fla.

The 2012 NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car world champion recorded the day’s best time of 3.911 seconds at 332.18 mph in the early evening session after being one of only three Funny Cars to dip into the 3.9-second range in the opening session when his 3.958 topped the list.

Going slower to get better is an uncommon strategy in drag racing, but that’s the approach taken by Clay Millican’s Great Clips/Parts Plus Top Fuel dragster team led by crew chief David Grubnic on Friday night to open the 49th annual Amalie NHRA Gatornationals.

The world’s quickest Top Fuel dragster owned by Stringer Performance has four of the 10 quickest runs in history and the two best ever.

Mike Castellana powered to the qualifying lead Friday during the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service portion of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Dragway. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented Jerry Bickel Race Cars, is the first of 12 events this season.

Castellana ran a 5.753-second pass at 251.11 mph in the first of two qualifying sessions in his Al Anabi Racing ’69 Camaro to take the current No. 1 position.

Clay Millican and crew chief David Grubnic arrive at Gainesville, Florida, for this weekend’s Amalie NHRA Gatornationals with the quickest Top Fuel dragster in history and the second fastest ever on a 1,000-foot dragstrip.
 
No other dragster has been as consistently quick this year and toward the end of the past Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. The Great Clips/Parts Plus dragster of Stringer Performance has the two quickest runs ever and four of the 10 best.
 

Anytime is a good time for a sponsor. At least it's the way Rickie Smith sees it. 

The multi-time champion and doorslammer drag racing icon was prepared to enter the 2018 tour unsponsored when the day before the season-opener he received an unexpected call from Sheikh Abdullah of Bahrain informing him he didn't have to worry about a sponsor. 

"That was kind of unexpected," Smith admitted. "I really wasn’t expecting him to step up and take me on board.  I just can’t say enough for him to help pull me through this year again, and enable me to stay out here and keep racing."

Fans can expect more power than ever when drag racing’s most spectacular four-wide thrill show returns to zMAX Dragway April 27-29. NGK Spark Plugs (U.S.A.), Inc. Friday announced their entitlement sponsorship of the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

“NGK Spark Plugs is thrilled to sponsor the prestigious NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway,” said Danielle Orlando, the general manager of marketing for NGK Spark Plugs. “We’ve partnered with Charlotte Motor Speedway for nearly a decade, and we relish the opportunity to kick our support into high gear by sponsoring one of drag racing’s premier events at one of the world’s most iconic racing and entertainment venues.”