Brittany Force closed out the 2022 NHRA season at the summit of the drag racing mountain.

The 36-year-old capped a five-win season with multiple track records and 10 pole positions by claiming her second Top Fuel world championship. And she was successful largely because of her prowess for starting races at the head of the field.

On Friday, Force kicked off her 2023 campaign right where she left off as she drove her Monster Energy dragster to the head of the pack on opening day at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

There’s no time like your first time. And for J.R. Gray, there was no time like the season’s first race to score his first career No. 1 position during the second day of the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. 

Gray, driving for Pro Modified legend Mike Janis, overtook Justin Bond atop the Pro Modified leaderboard during abbreviated qualifying with a 5.731 at 250.97 mph; Bond ended up No. 2 in the sixteen-car field with a 5.751, 249.90 pass.

“I’m really stoked,” Gray said. “This is the first No. 1 qualifier of my life in any competition, and I have raced in many classes. The Gatornationals is like my personal Super Bowl because I grew up in Florida and went to this race many times. To be the top qualifier at a track where my dad and Granddad brought me all the time as a kid is just amazing.”

It's a safe bet that nobody is more excited about the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season than Bob Tasca.

After unexpectedly losing much of his team during the 2022 offseason after a three-win, five-final campaign, Tasca wasn’t sure what the year ahead had in store. And then the pieces started to fall into place.

Just a few months removed from that turmoil, Tasca has more excitement than he has had in years. With new crew chiefs Aaron Brooks and Todd Okuhara calling the shots, Tasca is ready to turn the page and start fresh beginning this weekend at Gainesville Raceway.

Top Fuel drag racer Clay Millican figured if the NHRA's Pep Boys Call-Out event was essentially like Street Outlaws on nitro, they might as well go in all the way. Friday's Pep Boys Call-Out ceremony was television-quality entertainment. 

That's why when Millican, as the No. 8 seed, was called out by the top runner Brittany Force, he challenged her to a $1000 side bet. Judging by Force's reaction, the move caught her off-guard. 

Millican, satisfied with that belief, made sure before he threw the side bet out there that he didn't catch his wife Donna by surprise. 

Reigning world champ Brittany Force opened the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season in impressive fashion, racing to the provisional No. 1 qualifier on Friday at the 54th Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Steve Johnson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the first of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. The second qualifying session in Top Fuel and Funny Car on Friday was cancelled due to inclement weather

As J.R. Todd stood there, looking down the Gainesville Drag Strip, the thoughts of a new season, a new challenge, and a chance at a third championship flooded his thoughts.

The thoughts rarely change from one season to the next, but mainly it's about shaking off the rust and getting comfortable in his office. After all, almost 90 days between runs is enough to ensure the first hit of the throttle is a breathtaking experience.

"Winning a championship always preoccupies your mind," Todd admitted. "People will say to me, 'you guys finished in the top ten, so you had a good season."

One of the staples in Justin Ashley’s relatively short professional drag racing career has been the ability to bring in non-automotive sponsors. This weekend he will roll down the Gainesville Racing surface with National Debt Relief branding. 

Ashley will be focused on the communication and promotion of National Debt Relief’s messaging through various media outlets and during the Pep Boys All-Star Callout specialty race which will be contested during the Gatornationals.

In some respects, Gaige Herrera’s got to feel like a young actor who’s been shoved onto a stage into the heat of a glaring spotlight.

Given an opportunity to race in Pro Stock Motorcycle competition late last season, the 29-year-old Herrera didn’t make the field at the first two NHRA races in which he competed. He came back to qualify in his next four outings, and even though he didn’t win a round of competition, his performance on the Xtreme Dragbike Association circuit and a test session earned him a full-time ride with the Vance & Hines team. 

The first day of the 2023 season is in the books, with completed qualifying for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series divisions at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. 

Jim Greenheck made the trip from Wisconsin worthwhile as he drove his B/Econo Altered to the top spot with a 7.526 elapsed time, -.744 under the index. Veteran class runner Pat Ross was second at -.721 under the E/Altered standard. Doug Engels D/Dragster was third. 

CompetitionPlus.com, through its CompetitionPlusTV YouTube Channel, will present coverage of the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing's International Drag Racing Hall of Fame on March 9, 2023, at 8 PM EST.

Viewers can watch for FREE as John Force, Shelly Anderson Payne, Ron Attebury, Sonny Messner, Carol "Bunny" Burkett, Graeme Cowin, Vinny and Richard Napp, Bob Frey, and Linda Jones are inducted as the Class of 2023. 

Tonight's broadcast marks the second season the event has been live-streamed in a joint effort with Masters Entertainment.