NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

It took much longer than expected but qualifying for the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals finally took place yesterday to set the professional fields for the annual East Coast season opener. After rain moved out and a cold front descended on Gainesville Raceway, Racers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock got to make one qualifying run while the field in Pro Stock Motorcycle was set by 2021 points after it was determined that the track temperature was too cold to run.

Tripp Tatum earned the first low qualifier award of his brief Top Fuel career with a personal best 3.674. Tatum, whose car is prepared by the Torrence team and tuned by Bobby Lagana with the help of John Stewart and Tony Shortall, will race Lex Joon in round one.

Brittany Force and Steve Torrence also found the 3.6-second zone with runs of 3.684 and 3.697. Force will race against Clay Millican in Sunday’s opening round while reigning world champion Torrence is paired against Tony Schumacher in a battle between two of the sport’s most successful nitro drivers.

Robert Hight continued his strong start in Funny Car with a 3.831 in his Auto Club Camaro to lead the field for the 72nd time in his career. Hight kicked off the season with back-to-back wins in Pomona and Phoenix with a perfect 8-0 record in elimination rounds. Hight will look to extend that streak in his round one race against John “Bodie” Smith.

Tim Wilkerson (3.891), Cruz Pedregon (3.891), and Matt Hagan (3.898) round out the top four qualifiers.

Pro Stock fans got what they’d hoped for with the quickest performance of the EFI era. That honor went to current points leader Aaron Stanfield who drove the Janac Bros. Camaro to a 6.468 to take the top spot. Kyle Koretsky also ventured into the 6.4s with a 6.482 in the Lucas Oil Camaro for the No. 2 spot.

The rest of the field is tightly bunched and the top eight qualifiers have all run 6.528 or quicker. One notable non-qualifier is Chris McGaha who shook the tires in his Harlow Sammons Camaro.

Due to falling track temperatures, the Pro Stock Motorcycle class was notable to complete their lone qualifying session which means the field was set according to last year’s points. That makes world champion Matt Smith the low qualifier and he will race against Lance Bonham in round one.

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2021 EVENT WINNERS

Josh Hart, Top Fuel; J.R. Todd., Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock; Matt Smith, Pro Stock Motorcycle

MOST EVENT VICTORIES: Tony Schumacher, 5, TF; John Force, 8, FC; Warren Johnson, 9, PS; Eddie Krawiec, 6, PSM.

TV SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, March 13, FOX TV will televise 90 minutes of finals coverage at 2 p.m. (ET)