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  GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Sunday's first-round pairings for eliminations for the 55th annual NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the first of 21 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings. Top Fuel -- 1. Shawn Langdon, 3.682 seconds, 334.15 mph vs. 16. Cody Krohn, 3.850, 317.64; 2. Steve Torrence, 3.690, 333.08 vs. 15. Shawn Reed, 3.766, 314.61; 3. Mike Salinas, 3.705, 331.53 vs. 14. Doug Foley, 3.764, 318.84; 4. Antron Brown, 3.709, 332.43 vs. 13. Tripp Tatum, 3.757, 292.39; 5. Tony Schumacher, 3.712, 326.79 vs. 12. Josh Hart, 3.744, 322.65; 6. Billy Torrence, 3.713, 334.15 vs. 11. Brittany Force, 3.730, 328.70; 7. Doug Kalitta, 3.714, 330.80 vs. 10. Clay Millican, 3.726, 332.67; 8. Justin Ashley, 3.719, 325.37 vs. 9. Tony Stewart, 3.725, 310.34.  Funny Car -- 1. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 3.820, 334.65 vs. 16. John Smith,...

 GAINESVILLE  – NHRA announced a special “NHRA Honors” program that will take plaing the 2024 season, beginning with the 55th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals on March 7-10. The program will honor all military members, veterans, first responders and community heroes and each will be celebrated throughout the race with a special presentation during the first pro qualifying session on Saturday. Introduced at last year’s In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, special event-specific NHRA Challenge Coins will be distributed to all service members and first responders at each race and will be available at the following locations: The special VIP red-carpet box office window reserved for service members and first responders Top Eliminator Club check-in Ticket renewal display in the midway Pep Boys All-Star Callout autograph session Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge autograph session Nitro Alley Stage  The NHRA also urges fans to nominate a deserving service member, veteran, f...

INDIANAPOLIS ( www.sportsdayjax.com ) – After an incredible opening to the season this year, including a massive sellout crowd on Saturday, NHRA officials announced the 2024 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will again open at historic Gainesville Raceway next season, with tickets now on sale for the 55th annual NHRA Gatornationals, which takes place March 7-10, 2024, at the famed facility. The race in Gainesville has been a legendary weekend for more than five decades and will serve as the season-opener for the second straight season, as fans will be treated to incredible action in all four professional classes (Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle), along with the Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout specialty race. Gainesville Raceway has long been hallowed grounds for NHRA drivers eager to leave their mark at the storied facility in front of what has always been a huge crowd. With tickets on sale for the 2024 event – where the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Brittany Force raced to her first career victory and took control of the Top Fuel point standings Sunday at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. Robert Hight (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also victorious at the third of 24 events in the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Force powered her Monster Energy dragster to a 3.772-second run at 318.77 mph to outlast Terry McMillen’s 3.981 at 266.90 in his Amalie Motor Oil XTERMIGATOR dragster. This was Force’s eighth career final round appearance and first ever at Gainesville Raceway.  After also racing to the finals three weeks ago in Phoenix, Force became the first female Top Fuel racer to appear in back-to-back finals since Melanie Troxel in 2006. As the No. 5 qualifier, Force defeated Morgan Lucas, Tripp Tatum and Dave Connolly before beating McMillen in the final. “It feels good to finally bring home the win,” said Force, daughter of...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - - Sunday's first-round pairings for eliminations for the 47th annual AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the third of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.  Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings. Top Fuel -- 1. Richie Crampton, 3.698 seconds, 319.37 mph  vs. 16. Chris Karamesines, broke; 2. Clay Millican, 3.722, 326.71  vs. 15. Ike Maier, 3.937, 301.00; 3. Antron Brown, 3.729, 319.07  vs. 14. Terry McMillen, 3.895, 308.57; 4. Leah Pritchett, 3.744, 325.69  vs. 13. Tripp Tatum, 3.862, 317.05; 5. Brittany Force, 3.745, 320.81  vs. 12. Morgan Lucas, 3.810, 315.64; 6. Tony Schumacher, 3.754, 315.12  vs. 11. Shawn Langdon, 3.783, 318.84; 7. Steve Torrence, 3.757, 325.22  vs. 10. J.R. Todd, 3.779, 323.35; 8. Doug Kalitta, 3.761, 324.05  vs. 9. Dave Connolly, 3.762, 325.45. Funny Car -- 1. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 3.879, 329.26 ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla.  – Brittany Force raced to the qualifying lead in Top Fuel at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals on Friday. Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders at the third of 24 events in the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season. Force powered her Monster Energy dragster to a 3.745-second pass at 309.56 mph to earn the qualifying lead at Gainesville Raceway. Force, who was the runner-up in Phoenix three weeks ago, has four No. 1 qualifiers in her career. She is chasing her first career victory. “Coming out here, we didn’t know what we were going to get with the weather conditions,” Force said. “We were at least hoping to get one good run in and we did that our first run today and then we really stepped it up on the second run. When I got out and they told me that we were number one and what we ran, I was blown away.” 2015 Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown pushed his Matco Too...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A remarkable 10 different drivers won races during the 2015 NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series season, meaning not a single racer won more than one. Of those 10 winners, none were Troy Coughlin, something he hopes to change in 2016 and as soon as this weekend’s season opener as part of 47th annual AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.  This weekend’s Pro Mod racing is presented by Pro Line Racing and Jerry Bickle Race Cars. One thing Coughlin would like to keep, however, is the finish, as he claimed his second NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Series world championship a year ago in his late model JEGS.com Chevrolet Corvette. “It's been a pretty remarkable run these last four years," said Coughlin, who also claimed the 2012 title. "You don't think about it as it's happening because you're generally focused on the next round, the next race, but it's neat when you do have time to reflect to see ho...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns to the swamps of Gainesville, Fla., March 17-20, for the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals – the third event of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello season.                 Fans in the Sunshine State will be in for a treat at the circuit’s traditional East Coast opener at Gainesville Raceway as the world’s best drag racers power their 10,000 horsepower, fire-breathing machines down the strip in pursuit of championship points and early-season momentum.  Spencer Massey (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year’s winners of the event that will be televised on FOX Sports 1, including live finals coverage at 1 p.m. (ET). The excitement and energy of NHRA racing on the track will be as adrenaline-pumping as ever, but in 2016, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is shifting gears and venturing bold...