Now it its 49th year, Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida has played host to the exciting and widely popular NHRA Mello Yello Amalie Gatornationals. The Gatornationals is the third stop on the NHRA tour and the first on the East Coast. Race fans packed the facility with a sellout crowd and they were not disappointed as racers from Stock to Top Fuel pounded the quarter-mile with wild wheelies, 330mph top speeds, and wild fireball explosions.
While much of the north was pounded by snow, we were treated to four days of clear skies in the Sunshine State. Hardcore Thursday at the Gators is the day for serious Sportsman action. Three rounds of qualifying was followed by heads-up action in Stock and Super Stock, as racers battled for Wally trophies in their individual categories.
On Friday, Pro qualifying kicked off and fans were also treated to qualifying in the School of Automotive Machinists Factory Stock Showdown. SAM Tech Factory Stock (the home for Ford Cobra Jet, Dodge Drag Pak, and Chevrolet COPO Camaros) is now an official category, separate from Stock Eliminator. These factory drag machines represent the latest technology with current-style engines and intercooled supercharging. They produce well over 1,000 horsepower and run on “Stock Eliminator” 9-inch wide tires.
Amazingly, 30 racers attempted to qualify for the 16 spots and after three sessions it was the COPO Camaro of David Barton at the top. Barton ran 8.020 at 169 mph to secure the pole. Pete Gasko Jr. in a COPO at 8.04/170 mph; Randy Taylor (COPO 8.06/169); Chris Holbrook (Cobra Jet Mustang, 8.08/167); and Geoff Turk (8.09/168 mph) made up the top five. The bump was held by Waldemar Rodriguez at 8.18/167 mph. Other notables included Top Fuel pilot Leah Pritchett who qualified in a Drag Pak Dodge and former Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson, who failed to qualify with his brand new Mopar entry.
Come Sunday, the racing was tight with a few upsets and lots of side-by-side action. The Dodge and Ford driver fell early, leaving an all-Camaro final. Aaron Stanfield got the holeshot (.010 to .097), but his Chevy broke traction and he watched Stephen Bell march on to capture the win with an 8.17/167 mph effort.
In addition to production-car racing, the 2018 Gatornationals was also packed with nitrous, turbo’d, and supercharged muscle. We saw 250-plus mph Pro Mods, an amazing show in Top Sportsman and Top Dragster, fire-breathing Nitro Harley bikes running 6s at 230 mph, and huge fireballs in Funny Car. So if that sounds exciting to you, click over to the gallery and take a look at the action for yourself!
The 2018 NHRA Gatornationals was filled with excitement, especially in Funny Car where drivers experienced multiple body-shredding explosions. During Friday qualifying, Cruz Pedregon turned his Snap-On Fuel Coupe into a fireball. Thankfully, Cruz was unhurt in the incident.Robert Hight was on a solid pass in the first round of competition when he ka-boomed his Chevy AAA-backed Funny Car.The explosion and concussion that followed ripped the body from the chassis.Amazingly, the body tore completely away and Hight was able to steer and ultimately stop the car.Here you see the body is mostly gone and Hight is left with a bare chassis.Moments after Hight exploded his AAA Funny Car, Matt Hagan experienced a similar failure which destroyed the body of his Mopar flopper.Jim Marshall shoots for the sky with his 1979 Chevy Nova. Marshall qualified 6th at the Gators running 11.01 with his H/SA entry.Stephen Bell (left lane) was the victor in SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown. Bell qualified 6th with an 8.10 but drove a smart race and defeated Aaron Stanfield in the final.Randi Lyn Shipp was gathering frequent-flyer miles with her 10-second 1967 Pontiac FirebirdTii Tharpe took the Top Fuel Harley crown on his 6.27-second 230-mph two-wheel rocket.Papa John Schnatter made exhibition runs for charity in his supercharged Camaro that’s set up by B&B Race Cars. The pizza delivery was on target with Papa John defeating Leah Pritchett who was wheeling the SAM Tech Camaro in the opposite lane. The Papa John’s Charity Challenge is set up to benefit the Infinite Hero Foundation and Overcome Academy.Local hero “Big Daddy” Don Garlits was on hand to greet the fans and take in the action.Kurt Neighbor brought out his classic 1964 T-Bolt that’s packing a 427 FE and backed by a four-speed and runs down near the 8-second zone.In addition to running Top Fuel and the Papa John’s Charity Challenge, Leah Pritchett wheeled her Dodge Drag Pak Challenger in the SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown. Pritchett qualified 7th running 8.10 at 168 mph. Pritchett bowed out in the Second round of competition.Bill Skillman when wheels-up with his clean 2017 Ford Cobra Jet Mustang. The supercharged pony ran 7.97 at over 170 mph in qualifying. Skillman, along with his son Drew, lasted until the semi-finals in Super Stock.The top seed going into eliminations in Factory Supercar Showdown was David Barton in Gary Wolkwitz’s COPO. Barton ran 8.020 at 169.72 mph in qualifying but spun in the opening round of eliminations.Mickey Whaley put on a show with his beautiful ragtop 1969 Camaro.Bill Hawk had the quickest B/SA on the property running 10.04 at 129.39 mph, unfortunately, he got beat for the class title on a holeshot (.053 to .025) by Keith Bakies who ran 10.06 at 125 mph and took the win by .012 second.The lanes were packed all weekend long with amazing iron from Stockers to Top Fuelers.Jeff Taylor (far lane) left first and held off Ken Miele for the Stock Eliminator crown.Chip Johnson heats the slicks in his 2018 COPO Camaro. Johnson lasted until the third round before falling from competition.Ronnie Proctor hoists the “Wally” trophy after winning Top Sportsman. This was Proctor’s first NHRA national event win.NHRA Stock Eliminator is a serious race class that doubles as an amazing Muscle Car show. This is Woody Gary’s immaculate Hemi-powered 1970 B/SA Dodge Challenger that ran 10.20s.Matt Tankersly gets mad cool-factor points for his Lenco-equipped 1970 GTO that he runs in Super Gas.This Funny Car match was a dead heat until Cruz Pedregon lit it up at the top end, handing Ron Capps the win.NHRA fans can get right up to the ropes and watch the teardown and rebuild process which takes nitro teams roughly 30-40 minutes. Here, the Monster Energy crew preps NHRA Top Fuel champ Brittany Force’s dragster for a qualifying pass.Pat Ross ran strong with his 2005 Competition Eliminator Grand Am. The Pontiac ran 7.54 in D/Altered with a small-block and a five-speed clutchless transmission.Reigning Pro Stock Bike champion Ed Krawiec faced off against teammate Andrew Hines in the final. After a cheeky burndown, both riders staged, Hines got the holeshot (.035 to .042), but Krawiec’s mount was too strong. The current champ drove around the former Pro Stock Bike champ running 6.82/198.44 mph to Hines’ 6.85/197.19 mph effort.Here’s a look at Matt Tankersly’s GTO.During Friday qualifying for the NHRA Gatornationals, Hector Arana Jr. became the first Pro Stock Bike competitor to run over 200 mph. Arana Jr. ran a best of 201.01 mph. For his effort he received $10,000 for being the first to enter the Denso Spark Plug 200 mph club.Top Fuel cars generate over 10,000 horsepower and apply serious force to the tires. Check out the insane distortion of the rear Goodyear slicks as they fight the forces of traction and downforce.One of our favorites was Jim Nichols’ ultra-clean 1965 Plymouth that ran 9.70s in Stock Eliminator.Former Pro Stock racer Allen Johnson brought out his new Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak. Despite a beautiful wheels-up launch, Johnson was unable to crack into the 16-car eliminator.Jim Whiteley in his ’69 Camaro ran 5.868/244.16 to defeat his son Steven Whiteley, in his ’14 CTS-V, which ran 5.869/250.88 mph.
