Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL
1 – STATEMENT DEFINED – In his first race with John Force Racing, Josh Hart delivered the kind of statement victory teams dream about. Hart defeated 2025 NHRA champion Doug Kalitta on Sunday at Gainesville Raceway to win the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
Hart powered his Burnyzz/Speedmaster dragster to a 3.733-second run at 337 mph in the final round to secure his third career Top Fuel victory and his second at Gainesville Raceway. The win also gave Hart the first diamond Wally trophy of NHRA’s 75th anniversary season.
The victory capped a remarkable weekend for Hart that began with a track speed record on Friday and continued with the first No. 1 qualifying position of his Top Fuel career on Saturday. By Sunday evening, Hart had completed a sweep of milestones in his debut with the legendary organization.
Hart advanced through a demanding elimination ladder that included wins over Dan Mercier, Tripp Tatum and four-time Top Fuel champ Antron Brown. The final round paired him with Kalitta, one of the most consistent drivers in the category.
“The last time I did this, it was a storybook,” Hart said. “I think we just beat it and we crushed every record that I have had in my career all in the first weekend with John Force Racing.”
Hart said the preparation for the opportunity began months earlier when John Force approached him late last season about joining the team. That moment changed the direction of his offseason.
“I would say Indianapolis of last year,” Hart said. “Force walked up to the support vehicle and he said, ‘Your contract will be on your desk when you get home.’”
Hart spent the offseason preparing physically and mentally for the opportunity while closing down his operation. The work included improving his conditioning and sharpening his reaction times.
“I lost 15 pounds,” Hart said. “I started focusing on reactions, started paying attention to closing my team down with dignity, making sure everybody landed where they wanted to land.”
For Hart, the victory validated the decision to join one of the sport’s most recognizable teams. It also reinforced his belief that the program can contend for wins immediately.
“One hundred percent,” Hart said when asked if this victory meant more than his first. “When you think about driving for John Force, that by itself is just monumental.”
The result delivered an emotional payoff for Hart and set the tone for the season ahead. As he reflected on the journey back to the winner’s circle, Hart offered a simple explanation.
“Karma,” Hart said. “I really do try to do the right thing all the time.”
2 – IT’S LIKE HE OWNS THE PLACE – Chad Green is turning Gainesville Raceway into something of a personal stronghold. Green captured his second straight Funny Car victory at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, defeating Alexis DeJoria in the final round to open the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Green drove his Bond-Coat Ford Mustang to a 3.959-second run at 329.91 mph to seal the victory. The win marked the third of his Funny Car career, with two of those coming at Gainesville.
The performance also extended Green’s remarkable run at the historic event. He has now posted eight consecutive elimination-round wins at the Gators.
Green advanced through a demanding elimination ladder that included victories over Terry Haddock and four-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan. The second-round win against Hagan came on a holeshot, highlighting the Green’s consistency behind the wheel.
He followed that with a semifinal victory against Jordan Vandergriff, who was making his first start in the Funny Car category with John Force Racing. That round set up a final-round matchup with DeJoria, Vandergriff’s teammate.
DeJoria reached her first final round in two years and the 17th of her Funny Car career after defeating Cruz Pedregon, 2025 NHRA Rookie of the Year Spencer Hyde, and former world champion J.R. Todd. Her run ended early in the championship round, allowing Green to close out another Gatornationals victory.
Green said repeating at Gainesville had been on his mind throughout the offseason. The team tested extensively leading into the season-opening event.
“Last year was actually so special, of course, to win the Gatornationals for the first time,” Green said. “For the last couple months during the offseason, we know the Gatornationals is coming up, but I’ve just been thinking about how awesome would it be if for some reason we could win that race again, and back to back – which it’s so hard to win any race, especially for somebody like me.
“But yeah, it all came together and it’s so great. And in the same term, I was also thinking how nice would it be to win one of those diamond Wallys, just once, just win one race this year, which, again, is so difficult to do. And to get it done on the first race, that’s just really awesome.”
Green credited the performance of his crew chiefs and the consistency of the Funny Car throughout eliminations. The confidence in the car allowed him to focus entirely on his job behind the wheel.
“Oh, it makes it so much easier as a driver when you’re not thinking about ‘What’s this car going to do?” Green said. “After we got past that, I really felt very confident in the car all day, and as each run went by and the car’s just making it down the track and hauling, it definitely helps you as a driver.”
3 – THAT’S MY PLATE – Richard Gadson opened the 2026 season the same way he finished the last one — proving he belongs atop of the Pro Stock Motorcycle category. The reigning champion defeated John Hall in the final round Sunday to win the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
Gadson rode his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki to a 6.753-second pass at 200.05 mph to secure the victory. The win marked the fifth of his career and his first at Gainesville.
The result delivered the first diamond Wally trophy of the season in Pro Stock Motorcycle. It also provided an early reminder that Gadson intends to defend the championship he secured last season.
Gadson advanced through eliminations with wins over Geno Scali, Chase Van Sant, and Clayton Howey to reach the final round. His run through the ladder mirrored the consistency that carried him to last year’s championship.
In the final round, Gadson left first and never trailed. His .018-second reaction time allowed him to control the race against Hall from start to finish.
Hall reached the eighth final round of his career with victories over Brayden Davis, Gaige Herrera, and veteran Steve Johnson.
The victory came during a milestone weekend for Gadson. He celebrated his 40th birthday, and received his championship jacket and ring during pre-race introductions before racing to the win.
The win also carried personal meaning following the recent loss of a young family member. Gadson said the victory was dedicated to his cousin Layla Gadson.
Gadson said the offseason also brought motivation as he prepared to defend his title after the rain-shortened championship finale in Pomona.
“Yeah, I kind of rode with that all weekend,” Gadson said. “I would like to say it was a long winter. I already had my own kind of issues with how things went.”
The defending champion said outside criticism surrounding last season’s finish added fuel heading into the new year.
“It was more so what people said,” Gadson said. “They didn’t break me, but it at least crept a little bit in there. I kind of still felt like I had something to prove.”
Crew chief Matt Hines offered a simple message before the season began. Gadson said that advice shaped his approach throughout the weekend.
“Matt Hines told me, before I left the shop, he says, ‘Don’t race like you’re the world champion. Race the way that got you to championship. Don’t let up,’” Gadson said.
Gadson followed that advice with a steady weekend that ended in victory lane.
“So that was what I came in here with,” Gadson said, “and it worked out for me this weekend.”
4 – HARTFORD SEALS THE DEAL – Matt Hartford waited nearly two seasons for another Pro Stock win, and when it arrived Sunday at Gainesville Raceway, it came against one of the toughest opponents in the class. Hartford defeated six-time world champion Greg Anderson in the final round of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals to secure his first victory since 2023 and open the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season with a statement performance.
Hartford drove his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro to a 6.530-second run at 210.41 mph in the championship round. The victory marked the ninth of his Pro Stock career and his first at the historic Gatornationals.
The win also ended a frustrating stretch that saw Hartford go 40 races without reaching the winner’s circle. After several close calls during the 2025 season, the veteran driver finally broke through at the first event of NHRA’s 75th anniversary campaign.
Hartford’s route to the final round required navigating one of the toughest elimination ladders in Pro Stock. He defeated Kenny Delco, Aaron Stanfield, and reigning champion Dallas Glenn before lining up against Anderson in the final.
The run through the ladder underscored the depth of the modern Pro Stock field. Hartford acknowledged that the level of competition across multiple teams has made winning more difficult than ever.
“We were sitting having dinner the other night, and we were saying we need to get one of these diamond Wallys,” Hartford said. “To get the first one in Pro Stock is incredible.”
Hartford said the current generation of Pro Stock drivers and teams has raised the standard across the category. The margin for error, he said, has essentially disappeared.
“This is going to be the most grueling Pro Stock season that I think you guys in the media have ever seen,” Hartford said. “The caliber of the drivers who are out there right now are over the top.”
“You make one mistake, you’re not qualifying. It’s just so competitive from all the camps right now.”
Anderson reached the 192nd final round of his career after defeating Deric Kramer, son Cody Anderson, and longtime rival Erica Enders earlier in the day. Cody Anderson’s matchup against his father marked his Pro Stock debut on the NHRA tour.
Hartford, however, finished the job when it mattered most.
5 – BACK-TO-BACK SELLOUTS SAY MORE ABOUT GAINESVILLE FANS – Saturday and Sunday sellouts at Gainesville Raceway offered a reminder that the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals still holds a special place on the sport’s calendar. For three legends who helped build drag racing’s modern history, the packed grandstands were proof the connection between Gainesville and NHRA remains as strong as ever.
Five-time Top Fuel champion Joe Amato, six-time world champion Kenny Bernstein and “Big Daddy” Don Garlits spent the weekend celebrating NHRA’s 75th anniversary, and all three pointed to the fans as a defining part of the event’s staying power. Their message was consistent: Gainesville still feels like one of drag racing’s biggest stages.
Amato said the fan response during autograph sessions made the anniversary celebration feel personal. He said the turnout reflected both the event’s history and the way Gainesville continues to resonate with longtime followers of the sport.
“We can’t say enough about the fans,” Amato said. “They brought more Kenny Bernstein, Joe Amato and everybody’s stuff from the past. And you see pictures of when you were a little younger and you realize what you did 50 years ago and 30 years ago and 20 years ago.”
Bernstein echoed that view, saying the weekend felt first class from the moment the legends arrived at the race. He said reconnecting with familiar faces from the sport’s past added to the atmosphere created by a full house.
“The fans have been wonderful,” Bernstein said. “All the people that we’ve been used to for years, a lot of guys and girls are still here, so we get to see them.”
For Garlits, Gainesville’s appeal starts with the facility itself and extends to the people who fill it. He called Gainesville Raceway the best dragstrip in the world and said its location, weather and layout make it a natural draw for fans coming out of winter.
“The beautiful part about this place is it’s always good weather,” Garlits said. “The ones that come from the north, they’re coming out of terrible weather, and they come down here and it’s nice sunshine and it’s exciting.”
Amato said Gainesville has always offered racers and fans a little more than just another stop on the schedule. Between the college-town setting, the history and the season-opening energy, he believes the race continues to start the year the right way.
“It’s always been a good time to come to Gainesville, Florida,” Amato said. “It starts off with a bang.”
The crowd this weekend backed up every word. In a season built around NHRA’s 75th anniversary, Gainesville once again looked and sounded like one of drag racing’s true homes.
6 – WENT TO A DRAG RACE AND A DRIFT BROKE OUT – The racing surface at Gainesville Raceway created unexpected challenges during the NHRA Gatornationals weekend, forcing teams in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock to adjust quickly as track conditions deteriorated under rising temperatures. Sources close to the situation indicated the issues had been present since pre-event testing and became more pronounced once eliminations began.
According to those familiar with the situation, the problem centered on a section of the track where rubber struggled to adhere to the concrete surface. That condition created a difficult stretch early in the run where high-powered cars attempted to transfer power to the track.
Safety Safari crews worked throughout the weekend alongside teams to address the problem. Despite those efforts, the affected portion of the track remained difficult to manage as racing progressed.
The trouble spot began near the starting line and extended downtrack through the early portion of the run. Drivers reported that navigating the stretch between roughly 60 and 180 feet required additional attention to keep the car in the groove.
The issue was particularly noticeable once Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars began applying clutch power shortly after launch. That transition area made maintaining traction more difficult than usual at one of the sport’s most respected racing surfaces.
As temperatures increased during the day, the challenge became more visible. Track conditions grew increasingly sensitive, forcing teams to make adjustments to both setup and driving style.
Several runs highlighted how narrow the margin for error had become. In one instance, veteran Top Fuel driver Billy Torrence crossed the centerline while fighting to keep the car under control.
Crew chiefs acknowledged the surface presented a different challenge compared to earlier testing at the same facility. Teams that had experienced strong results in preseason sessions found themselves adjusting on the fly.
“Well, this track’s been a struggle,” Funny Car crew chief Dean Marinis said. “We were here testing two weeks ago and couldn’t do anything wrong, and gave us a reality check here.”
Despite the conditions, teams continued working with track officials to manage the surface throughout the weekend. For competitors in the pits, the goal remained the same — get through the difficult section and complete a clean run.
7 – JOHN SMITH BEATS CAPPS – Veteran Funny Car driver John Smith delivered one of the biggest surprises of the opening round Sunday at Gainesville Raceway, knocking off No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps during eliminations at the NHRA Gatornationals.
Capps entered the race after earning the 38th No. 1 qualifying position of his career, tying him with Kenny Bernstein for sixth-most in Funny Car history. The result looked favorable on paper, especially considering Capps had previously held a 2-0 advantage over Smith in head-to-head meetings.
The matchup unfolded on a challenging racing surface that proved difficult for many teams throughout the day. Capps left the starting line first but quickly encountered trouble.
His Funny Car rattled the tires early in the run, dropped a cylinder and forced the veteran driver to lift off the throttle before reaching mid-track. Smith also faced a brief moment of instability but managed to recover.
About 200 feet into the run, Smith pedaled the throttle once to regain traction. Once the slicks hooked, the car accelerated cleanly the rest of the way to secure the upset victory.
Lane choice also played a role in the round’s results. Capps ran in the right lane, which produced only one winning pass in the first round — Alexis DeJoria’s victory in her matchup.
The win marked a rare first-round triumph for a No. 16 Funny Car qualifier at Gainesville. The last time a driver starting from that position advanced past the opening round at the Gatornationals was 2014, when John Force pulled off the feat.
8 – IT’S MADDI’S WORLD AND WE’RE JUST LIVING IN IT – If John Force had been born a 21-year-old blonde Top Fuel rookie in 2026, he might look a lot like Maddi Gordon.
Vibrant, fearless and seemingly powered by pure enthusiasm, Gordon spent the weekend turning Gainesville Raceway into her personal coming-out party while delivering not one but two round wins for the new Ron Capps Motorsports Top Fuel operation.
Her first victim was no small name. In the opening round, Gordon knocked off the quickest and fastest driver in Top Fuel, Shawn Langdon.
The moment produced something rare inside the Gainesville Raceway media center — emotion. The room, which traditionally reacts to everything with the enthusiasm of a tax seminar, erupted in cheers.
To be clear, the applause wasn’t against Langdon. Gordon simply made a lot of fans during the weekend, including a crowd that nearly emptied her apparel trailer.
Then she grabbed the microphone.
“Oh, my God,” Gordon said. “That win — that’s everything he worked for. Oh, I’m so happy. That’s amazing.
“This is 100% a team effort. I didn’t have him on the tree, but it was good enough. I heard him pull the tires loose, and I seriously said in my car, ‘Holy something, that wasn’t me. We’re going, we’re going.’
“And we saw the finish line. I’m so stoked. I can’t wait to go another round. Man, this is what dreams are made of right here.”
If that weren’t enough excitement for one interview, Gordon punctuated the moment by chugging a Monster Energy drink on camera.
She then went out and defeated the winningest Top Fuel driver in history, Tony Schumacher, before finally falling to Doug Kalitta in the semifinals.
And when that happened, the same media center that had erupted earlier let out a collective sigh.
Because for a few rounds Sunday, it really did feel like it was Maddi Gordon’s world — and everyone else was just living in it.
9 – LOOKS LIKE A RIVALRY TO US – For the first time since Antron Brown publicly questioned how NHRA handled the controversial unapproved device discovered on Tony Stewart’s dragster in Reading, Pa., last September, the two finally met in competition.
Brown got the win.
Naturally, the moment prompted Fox Sports reporter Amanda Busick to ask the obvious question: Is there now a rivalry between the drivers?
“It’s a rivalry against everybody, Amanda,” Brown said. “Smoke, he wants to win and he’s eager. He’s always aggressive, and I’m the same way. Everybody always looks at me smiling and happy around the pits and everything else, but when I’m in that car, I’m an animal, too.”
The run itself wasn’t perfect for Brown’s team, which encountered an issue near half-track, but it was good enough to advance.
“So we got out there, we just gave it all we got,” Brown said. “Something happened at half-track. It dropped the hole, but it was running better than .82. So we’ll go back, look at it.”
Brown closed with a line that made it clear his focus remains on the bigger picture.
“The good part is the Eagle experience is moving on,” he said. “I don’t know who our next prowler is, but we’re going to go after him, too.”
10 – BELLEMEUR HEADLINES LUCAS OIL WINNERS — The 2026 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season opened Sunday at Gainesville Raceway with a full slate of sportsman eliminations during the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, highlighted by Sean Bellemeur’s victory in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Bellemeur drove Tony Bartone’s “Pirate Ship” past Chris Foster, cutting a .025-second reaction time and running 5.43 seconds at 268 mph to claim the first victory in the division of NHRA’s 75th anniversary season. The win was the 49th national event triumph of Bellemeur’s career, moving him within one victory of joining the 50-win club.
It also capped a weekend in which team tuner Steve Boggs was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.
“This weekend proves why Steve Boggs belongs in the Hall of Fame,” Bellemeur said. “When we unloaded the car, it wasn’t happy. The computer was giving us some goofy data and misled us for a couple of runs. Race Data came over and helped us out. Then Steve went to work.
“The car kept getting better and better, and last night we laid down low ET of the weekend. In the middle of that run, I knew we had our hot rod back. It was just a matter of managing the racetrack in the final today.”
Jamie Noonan earned his second career national event victory in Top Alcohol Dragster with a 5.249-second run at 273.22 mph to defeat Anthony Troyer.
Ricky Hord secured his third career national event win in FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown by defeating David Janac with a 7.735-second run at 178.28 mph.
Peter D’Agnolo captured the Competition Eliminator title with a holeshot victory over Matthew Alvey, earning his seventh national event win and third at Gainesville.
Dan Fletcher added to his historic résumé in Super Stock, scoring his 109th national event win with a holeshot victory over Kent Hanley.
Jeff Adkinson won Stock Eliminator over Jim Marshall with a 9.138-second run.
Kelly Kundratic won her first national event title in Super Comp when Tim Millwood red-lighted.
Jason Dewitt repeated as a Gatornationals winner in Super Gas.
James Hinkle won Top Sportsman, while Jackie Bennett captured a first national event victory in Top Dragster.
