Record Crowds and a First-Time Winner Highlight NHRA Gatornationals
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) started their 2023 season in Gainesville, Florida this past weekend, and the Gatornationals played host to great weather and huge crowds. In fact, the Saturday crowd was a sell-out, leading to some close qualifying and tight fields for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Fifteen different classes would crown winners on Sunday, and among them would be a first-time winner in one of the four professional classes.
The well-known Vance & Hines team has been on the leading edge of Pro Stock Motorcycle since its debut in the 1980s, and this season the team brought on new rider Gaige Herrera.
This article is brought to you ad-free by Sick The Magazine’s print subscribers. Do your part to support quality automotive journalism and the future of print media by subscribing to our awesome 200-page print book today!
Gaige ran the table in his first national event on the team’s Suzuki bike, qualifying number one at 6.68 at 203.49 mph, then rolling through eliminations to get the win over Angie Smith in the final round with a 6.70 at 202 mph..
In Top Fuel, number-five points finisher Mike Salinas came from the number seven qualifying spot to stage opposite four-time class champion Steve Torrence in the final round.
At the start, Torrence got the better reaction time, but Salinas had the better performance, 3.700 to a 3.754 from Torrence. Combined with the reaction times, the finish line timers put Salinas in front by .002-seconds, approximately 16 inches.
The Funny Car class uses the same 11,000 horsepower nitro-gulping HEMI engines to Top Fuel, but with the engine in front of the driver and a carbon-fiber replica-body.
Matt Hagan came into Gainesville as the defending event winner, and he got the job done once again, defeating the 2021 Gatornationals winner J.R. Todd via a 3.92 at 329 mph after Todd exploded the engine just past half-track.
The naturally-aspirated Pro Stock also witnessed a wire-to-wire victory. Troy Coughlin Jr. qualified his Chevrolet Camaro number one thanks to a 6.5615 at 212.29 mph time slip, then defeated Mason McGaha in the final round thanks to a 6.63 to 6.76 difference. .
The next race on NHRA’s schedule is the Arizona Nationals, held at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park on March 24th through the 26th.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of NHRA and Valmaria Strobel.