NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

In addition to the Camping World Drag Racing Series action taking place at Gainesville Raceway, nine champions were also crowned in Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competition at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, led by Matt Gill, who won the event for the second straight year in Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Julie Nataas stood in the Gainesville Raceway Top Alcohol Dragster winner’s circle for the second straight weekend as the driver of the OTG/Randy Meyer Racing A/Fuel Dragster, winner of the Baby Gators” Division 2 Lucas Oil Series regional event, stopped fast-rising Cody Krohn in the final round for the second straight time. Nataas saved her best run of the meet for the final, racing to a 5.14 to chase down Krohn’s holeshot-aided 5.21 for the victory, the fifth of her young career and the second at the Gatornationals. [video]

Matt Gill went back-to-back in Gainesville, in two ways. The Top Alcohol Funny Car winner of the “Baby Gators” Division 2 Lucas Oil Series regional event the weekend prior, Gill won then won his second straight Gatornationals title, driving the Moduline Cabinets Camaro to 5.51 final-round conquest of D.J. Cox Jr., who had to shut off early in the final. Gill is a perfect three-for-three in NHRA national event finals. [video]

Past U.S. Nationals Comp champ Jim Greenheck added another prominent Wally to his collection with his win at the Gatornationals, powering his C-Tech Manufacturing B/EA Camaro to a final-round (-.52) 7.59 to defeat Joseph Arrowsmith’s (-,50) 7.93 for his third career win. Greenheck previously was runner-up at the Gatornationals in 2016. [video]

What better way to begin a title defense than by winning the first event of the season? That’s exactly what reigning Super Stock champ Peter D’Agnolo did in Gainesville when he stopped five-time champ Kevin Helms in the final. D’Agnolo got the best of the double-breakout final with a 9.566 on his 9.58 dial. [video]

Former two-time world champ Jeff Strickland won the Gatornationals for the third-straight year and for the fifth time overall when he captured the Stock title in the GMPartsNow.com Camaro. Strickland, who also won the Baby Gators Division 2 event, ran 9.269 on his 9.26 dial to stop Brenda Grubbs in the final. [video]

Mike Robilotto is now officially a handful to deal with as he picked up his fifth career Super Comp victory and his first at the Gatornationals, winning a double-breakout final round against Kent Hanley, 8.880 to 8.863. [video]

John Taylor got his first win at the 2014 Gatornationals and his fifth career Super Gas victory nine years later at the same place in the same vehicle. At the wheel of his ’99 Dakota truck, Taylor used a clutch .005 reaction time and a 9.293 to fend off Jeffrey Jensen’s better-but-later 9.914 for the win. [video]

Colby Fuller, who just missed winning the Gatornationals four years ago, got the job done this year in Super Street with his Georgia-based ’68 Camaro, collecting his first national event victory with a tight 10.28 to 10,924 holeshot final-round decision that denied Dan Fletcher his 107th career win by just .002-second. [video]

Doug Crumlich came from the No. 6 qualifying spot to claim his second career win in the Right Trailers Top Sportsman class when he stopped Mark Beuhring in the final round. Crumlich won the final by .002-second with a 6.595 against his 6.57 dial. [video]