EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

SUNDAY FINAL - BROWN, GRAY, JOHNSON AND ARANA JR. RACE TO GATORNATIONALS VICTORIES

Antron Brown raced to the Top Fuel victory at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals Sunday at historic Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, giving Don Schumacher Racing its 200th team win.
 
Johnny Gray (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners at the tradition-rich NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event.
 
One month after walking away from a spectacular high-speed crash at the season-opening race at Pomona, Calif., Brown powered his Matco Tools dragster to a 3.761 second run at 318.77 mph to finish in front of Clay Millican, who posted a 3.813 at 319.67 in his Parts-Plus dragster. It was defending world champion Brown’s 38th career victory and his first of the season.
 
“It’s a great team effort,” Brown said. “It felt good to bring that win home and hopefully we can put Pomona behind us and keep moving forward.”
 
Brown outran Larry Dixon, Steve Torrence and Spencer Massey in the first three rounds to advance to the final. He moved into the points lead, four up on second place Tony Schumacher, who lost in the opening round.
 
“To win you have to have every piece of the pie,” Brown said. “It was important to be consistent and as fast and quick as you can be. Every round was tough. It’s a great win for this team. It gives you great confidence as a driver to see the car running like this and come out and win after what happened in Pomona.”
 
Schumacher earned five of his victories as a driver and 195 have come over the years from a variety of drivers in all four NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series categories. Only John Force Racing has more team victories in NHRA history, with 218, all earned in the Funny Car category.
 
“It’s incredible,” Don Schumacher said. “It started in 1970 in Indianapolis when I won the U.S. Nationals. I am not someone who ever counts things like that. I never thought it would happen or even considered it. Thanks to all of my drivers. They do an incredible job day in and day out.”
 
Prior to Brown claiming the 200th DSR win, Gray earned his fourth career victory in Funny Car and the 199th team win for Schumacher as he held off Del Worsham at the finish. Gray covered the distance in 4.053 at 315.49 in his Pitch Energy Dodge Charger while Worsham trailed in his DHL Toyota Camry with a 4.100 at 303.50.
 
Gray, who was runner-up at this race one year ago, defeated early round opponents Jeff Arend, Alexis DeJoria and defending world champ Jack Beckman to get back to the final round here.
 
“The Gatornationals is such a prestigious race and to win it is just a great feeling,” Gray said. “I was disappointed last year we had a great race car and should’ve won it, but it wasn’t our day.”
 
Gray, who says he will retire from full-time driving at the end of the season, was also thrilled to play a key role in his team owner’s special day.
 
“Don has been great to me and to be a part of that it’s an awesome feeling for everybody down the line who has contributed to this, which started with Don winning the first one,” Gray said. “To be a part of his organization is unbelievable.”
 
In Pro Stock, Johnson used a quicker reaction time to defeat teammate Jeg Coughlin in the final round for his first victory of the season and the 17th of his career. The defending world champion finished in 6.535 at 212.59 in his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger, just in front of the quicker, but losing, JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger of Coughlin, which posted a 6.514 at 212.25.
 
“Everyone asks me why I would hire two assassins,” Johnson said about his teammates Coughlin and Vincent Nobile. “They make me better. Vincent challenges me and it’s the same with Jeggie; I knew I would have to do my ultimate best to beat him. I hope we have to go head-to-head like that a bunch more.”
 
It is the first Gatornationals victory for Johnson and his first final round in The Swamp. To advance to the final, Johnson drove around Matt Hartford, Erica Enders-Stevens and Jason Line.
 
“I think we’re one of the premier teams in Pro Stock now,” said Johnson, who moved to third place in the points standings. “We have a great team that makes great decisions based on scientific methods and data and we keep improving those decision making tools. We aren’t the fastest car right now, but we are consistent and we can win some races like that.”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Arana Jr. scored his fourth career victory and first in more than a year when he outran veteran rider Steve Johnson in the final. Arana Jr. rode his Lucas Oil Buell to a 6.885 at 195.65 to hold off Johnson’s Suzuki, which trailed with a 6.920 at 193.99.
 
“To grab the race win for Team Arana and Lucas Oil is a big accomplishment and it proves that having a third bike (with brother Adam riding the third team bike) isn’t going to slow us down, but actually speed us up,” said Arana Jr., who beat Michael Phillips, defending world champ and three-time defending Gatornationals winner Eddie Krawiec, and Hector Arana Sr. to advance to the final.
 
“I am looking forward to a very competitive season and some close racing this season,” Arana Jr. said. “This is a step in the right direction. When my dad won his championship he won the Gatornationals and Eddie Krawiec has done that the last two years. I hope to keep that trend going this year as well.”
 
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues April 5-7 with the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

SATURDAY QUALIFYING - KALITTA, C. PEDREGON, EDWARDS AND SMITH CLAIM TOP GATORNATIONALS SPOTS
 
Veteran Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta raced to the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
 
Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were No. 1 qualifiers and will lead their categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event.
 
Kalitta claimed his second straight top qualifying effort of the season and 33rd of his career with a 3.779 second run at 326.32 mph in his 8,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster. Kalitta moved around defending world champ Antron Brown on his final qualifying attempt to claim the No. 1 spot at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville.  Kalitta will face rookie Leah Pruett in the first round.
 
Brown, who briefly held the top spot late Saturday with a 3.787 at 324.20 in his Matco Tools dragster, will start second and face three-time world champ Larry Dixon in the opening round.
 
“I was surprised when Antron went out there and ran that .78 because everybody was bunched closer than that,” Kalitta said. “Hats off to Jim (Oberhofer, crew chief) and all my guys and the decision they made at the end to get it to run like that. It was nice and straight and planted to the middle of the grove and I am really looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully the conditions will be the same as today and we won’t have to mess with our tune-up much and put a string of runs together tomorrow.”
 
In Funny Car, Pedregon scored his first No. 1 of the season and 51st of his career as no one was able to better his Friday run of 4.047 at 296.05 in his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry.
 
On his final qualifying attempt, Pedregon said his car sounded funny after the burnout so he shut it down on the starting line prior to the run.
 
“We had some kind of mechanical problem,” Pedregon said. “You just have to put it behind you. Tomorrow is another day. You just have to shake it off. We’ll put the car back where it was and just let it rip. We’re going to have to press the issue a little bit because there are a couple of cars that can run with us. That 4.04 isn’t going to buy us any round wins tomorrow. We are going to have to take it to them.”
 
Johnny Gray was second in his Pitch Energy Dodge Charger with a 4.071 at 313.22 and Matt Hagan was third with a 4.084 at 308.99 in his blue and yellow Magneti Marielli Charger.
 
In Pro Stock, Edwards claimed his third consecutive No. 1 position of the season and 44th of his career with his national record time of 6.473 at 214.31 in his Interstate Batteries/I Am Second Chevy Camaro. The 2009 world champ will try to earn his first win of the season when he opens against six-time champ Warren Johnson.
 
“We feel like we have a good shot at it and we’re going to do our best to pull it off tomorrow,” Edwards said. “We made a really good run this morning and we were trying to run a little better in the afternoon. All of my guys have done a tremendous job and we’ve done a lot of testing. I feel like we’re going in the right direction. I can’t say how happy I am with my new Camaro, it is just phenomenal. We weren’t consistent last year at all. This year we are making better decisions and making better runs. Confidence goes a long way in this class because it is so competitive. All things being equal, I feel really good about our chances.”
 
Defending world champ Allen Johnson qualified second with a 6.481 at 213.64 in his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger and four-time Gatornationals winner Jason Line will start third in his Summit Racing Chevy Camaro with a 6.483 at 213.10.
 
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Smith earned his 18th No. 1 qualifying position with his Friday performance of 6.804 at 197.28 on his Viper Motorcycle Company Buell. Hector Arana Jr. and Hector Arana Sr. are second and third in their Lucas Oil Buells and are followed by Steve Johnson’s Suzuki and Andrew Hines’ Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.
 
“You have all three makes in the top five,” said Smith, who will race veteran rider Chip Ellis in the opening round. “We’ll just have to see what happens tomorrow.” 
  

FRIDAY QUALIFYING - PEDREGON, KALITTA, EDWARDS AND SMITH ARE DAY ONE LEADERS
 
Cruz Pedregon raced to the qualifying lead in Funny Car Friday at the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
 
Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders in their categories at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville.
 
Two-time world champ Pedregon, whose only win at this event came in 1998, powered his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry to the provisional No. 1 position with a performance of 4.047 seconds at 296.05 mph. If the effort holds through Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions (11:30 a.m. and 1:45 p.m.) it will be his fourth No. 1 at this event and the 51st of his career.
 
“We just have a good car,” Pedregon said. “It’s very forgiving and maybe making us look better than we are. It has been running good since mid-year last year and carried through over the winter and we have made some improvements. If anything it has picked up more consistency. This is definitely a good track here and one we like. It’s a good start for the Snap-on Tools Toyota."
 
Johnny Gray was second in Funny Car with a 4.071 at 313.22 in his Pitch Energy Dodge Charger, while Del Worsham drove his DHL Toyota to the third position with a 4.110 at 309.98.
 
Kalitta led Top Fuel qualifying with a 3.801 at 325.85 in his Mac Tools dragster, holding off Shawn Langdon and defending world champion Antron Brown for the top spot.
 
“I am real proud of my guys, the car left real straight and ran great down through there,” Kalitta said. “My whole Mac Tools team has the car running good so I am happy to have a good ride here at the Gatornationals which is always a great event. It’s always a race you look at in the series and hope you can do well. I am real proud of what is going on and real hopeful that we can hold up tomorrow.”
 
Winternationals winner Langdon was second in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster with a 3.802 at 324.59, while Brown’s Matco Tools dragster was third overall with a 3.812 at 321.88.
 
Edwards moved to the top of the Pro Stock order with a national record time of 6.473 at a track record speed 214.31 in his Interstate Batteries / I Am Second Chevy Camaro. If Edwards can hold onto the national record time until the completion of this event he will earn 20 bonus points.
 
"It’s fun to set the record, but tomorrow’s another day,” Edwards said. “We’ll see if we can adapt to the conditions. The air is so good here and we make so much power that you just have to be careful off the starting line because these engines are aspirated and they breathe what the air is and they love this kind of weather and make a lot of power. It’s a great way to start. We run really good in the first two races and now to come here in totally different conditions and keep it going, I’m just really proud of my guys.”
 
Defending Pro Stock world champ Allen Johnson was second in his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger with a 6.481 at 213.64 and four-time Gatornationals winner Jason Line was third in his Summit Racing Chevy Camaro with a performance of 6.483 at 213.40.
 
Smith was quickest in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a 6.804 at 197.28 on his Viper Motorcycle Company Buell.
 
“It feels good,” said Smith, the 2007 Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ. “We worked hard all winter long and made a big gain at the end of last year in the last two races and we thought we were in the right direction and proved it in testing. I think we are going to be a strong team all year long. It’s going to be a fun year and I think the class is very, very equal. It will be like Pro Stock car, where you will live and die by the starting line.”
 
A pair of Lucas Oil Buells were second and third in the bike qualifying order as Hector Arana Sr. clocked a 6.817 at 195.22 and Hector Arana Jr. was third with a 6.831 at 194.55. Defending world champ Eddie Krawiec, who has won this event the last three seasons, sits 16th on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson with a 6.986 at 185.72. His time will not carry over to Saturday’s two sessions.
 

THURSDAY QUALIFYING - ROSENTHIEL, EAKINS, LEONG LEAD NHRA GATORS SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING

Great weather during the first day of the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals yielded impressive performance for three of the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series divisions.

Homestate racer Rodney Rosenstiel, of Pace, Fla., was the top runner in Comp eliminator as he pushed his '23 T Roadster to -.814 under the AA/AM index. This was the first of three sessions scheduled for the eliminator. Slipping into the second spot was Kevin Robb, who ran -.782, 8.038 under the D/Econo Altered index. Arnie Martel was third [B/EA, -.771, 7.559].

Stock eliminator was a murderer's row as the top 15 qualifiers were -1.001 or better. The top hitter after three sessions was Randy Eakins in a D/Stock Automatic  Challenger. His -1.216 hit was more than enough to fend off Kevin Helms' -1.177. Helms drives a 2013 Mustang in AA/SA.

Arthur Leong was Super Stock low qualifier as he blistered the SS/GS index with a 12.602 elapsed time against a 13.85 index. Past Pro Stock ace turned sportsman racer Roy Hill settled for the second spot as he ran an 8.231, -1.169 under the SS/AAA index.

Sportsman eliminations kick off on Friday morning followed by two professional qualifying sessions.

THURSDAY SPORTSMAN - QUALIFYING

COMP

  1  210  AA/AM Rodney Rosenstiel, Pace FL, '23-T Ford     6.196  7.01  -0.814
  2 1414   D/EA Kevin Robb, Denver PA, '07 Cavalier        8.038  8.82  -0.782
  3    5   B/EA Arnie Martel, Tewksbury MA, '07 GTO        7.559  8.33  -0.771
  4   21   E/EA Glen Treadwell, Sorrento FL, '23-T Ford    8.187  8.94  -0.753
  5 2467   C/DA Jim Kimbrough, Pace FL, ProStart           6.908  7.60  -0.692
  6 2211   G/AA Van Puckett, Monroe GA, '05 Cavalier       8.159  8.85  -0.691
  7  394   B/ED Greg Kamplain, Brownsburg IN, Spitzer-Che  6.831  7.52  -0.689
  8   25  D/SMA Lee Sharp, Maryville TN, '09 G5            8.272  8.95  -0.678
  9   37   J/AA Steve Ambrose, Woodhaven MI, '23-T Ford    7.723  8.39  -0.667
 10   13   G/EA Steve Szupka, Willow Grove PA, '32 Bantam  8.108  8.76  -0.652

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE RESULTS

SUPER STOCK

  1 2095  SS/GS Arthur Leong, Richmond Hill GA, '95 Neon  12.602 13.85  -1.248
  2  243 SS/AAA Roy Hill, Sophia NC, '12 Mustang           8.231  9.40  -1.169
  3 1273 SS/AAA Bo Kenney, Manassas VA, '12 Mustang        8.313  9.40  -1.087
  4  324   SS/B Brandon Wilkinson, Bowling Green KY, '69   8.822  9.90  -1.078
  5 2471  GT/KA Ronnie Dutton, Southside AL, '80 Monza    10.393 11.45  -1.057
  6 3043  SS/DA Allen Wade, Rochester IN, '69 Camaro       9.153 10.20  -1.047
  7 2018   SS/B Jimmy Bridges, Nashville TN, '65 Corvette  8.871  9.90  -1.029
  8 2428  GT/AA Andy Fogle, Aiken SC, '05 Cavalier         9.071 10.10  -1.029
  9 5333 SS/AAA Randy Hopkins, Mission TX, '12 Mustang     8.375  9.40  -1.025
 10 1922  SSA/A Paul Cambria, Buffalo NY, '12 Camaro       8.710  9.70  -0.990

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE RESULTS

STOCK

  1 5715   D/SA Randy Eakins, Sikeston MO, '10 Challenger 10.334 11.55  -1.216
  2 3805  AA/SA Kevin Skinner, Grove City OH, '13 Mustang  8.823 10.00  -1.177
  3 3540    G/S Charley Downing, Britton MI, '10 Mustang  10.736 11.90  -1.164
  4 3909  AA/SA Drew Skillman, Greenwood IN, '12 Mustang   8.846 10.00  -1.154
  5  209   A/SA Larry Smith, Davenport FL, '10 Challenger  9.855 11.00  -1.145
  6 7784    U/S Paul Wong, Las Vegas NV, '86 C-10         13.527 14.65  -1.123
  7   27   C/SA Jim Marshall, Indian Land SC, '98 Camaro  10.357 11.40  -1.043
  8 3200   K/SA Tim Lowe, Macy IN, '72 Gran Sport         11.608 12.65  -1.042
  9 2004   B/SA Jeff Hairrington, Perry GA, '13 Mustang   10.211 11.25  -1.039
 10 1574  AA/SA Frank Maiolo, Mt Vernon NY, '12 Mustang    8.962 10.00  -1.038

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE RESULTS