Josh Hart received in his debut with John Force Racing at Gainesville Raceway, taking down reigning Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta within the last spherical of the 57th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
Chad Green (Funny Car), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) and Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) additionally received in entrance of a capability crowd on the first of 20 races in the course of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. It additionally marks the beginning of NHRA’s seventy fifth anniversary season.
Hart, who set the observe velocity report on Friday, went 3.733 seconds at 337.83 mph in his Burnyzz/Speedmaster dragster to knock off Kalitta, who slowed to a 3.877 at 319.60. It marks the third profession win for Hart and first in almost 5 years.
Since then, it had been a grind for Hart, who received in his Top Fuel debut in 2021 at Gainesville Raceway. Now with John Force Racing, Hart is off and working. He certified No. 1 for the primary time in his profession on Saturday after which dispatched of Dan Mercier, Tripp Tatum and four-time champ Antron Brown to succeed in the ultimate spherical. Hart shortly tracked down Kalitta and made a powerful impression that he will likely be a championship risk within the loaded class in 2026.
“I’m so grateful for everybody,” Hart mentioned. “I got the crap kicked out of me for four years and I’m having a hard time believing this is happening. I have so many people to thank and there was so much energy from these fans today. John Force, thank you for picking me.
“It was just awesome. It was a storybook. We crushed every record that I have had in my career, all in the first weekend with John Force Racing. Those guys are absolutely awesome. The most professional team I’ve ever been a part of and communication is second to none. I just want to say thank you to John Force and Brittany Force for even considering me, let alone picking me to take that seat, and I’ll get more comfortable, and we’ll win more races.”
In Funny Car, Green continued his dominant efficiency at Gainesville Raceway, making it back-to-back victories on the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals due to a run of three.959 at 329.91 in his Bond Coat, Inc. Ford Mustang towards Alexis DeJoria within the last spherical. Green has three profession victories and remarkably two of them have come at Gainesville Raceway, as he’s now posted eight straight spherical wins at one of many largest races on the NHRA tour.
On Sunday, that included spherical wins towards Terry Haddock, four-time world champ Matt Hagan and John Force Racing’s Jordan Vandergriff, who was making his first profession begin within the Funny Car ranks. That arrange a matchup with one other JFR driver, as DeJoria superior to the ultimate in her debut together with her new group.
But she bumped into bother early and Green put collectively one other strong efficiency to say the victory and take the factors lead on the first race in NHRA’s seventy fifth anniversary season.
“Last year was actually so special to win the Gatornationals for the first time, and during the last couple of months here I’ve been thinking how awesome it’d be to win the race again,” Green mentioned. “It’s so hard to win any race, especially for somebody like me. It all came together, and it’s so great to go back-to-back. I was also thinking, how nice it would be to win a Diamond Wally. To get it done on the first race, that’s just really awesome.
“It makes it so much easier as a driver when you’re not thinking about what this car is going to do. We qualified well, but that first round is always so nerve-racking to me. After we got past that, I really felt very confident in the car all day, and as each run went by, the car just made it down the track and that definitely helps you as a driver.”
DeJoria superior to the ultimate spherical for the primary time in two years and seventeenth time in her profession due to spherical wins towards Cruz Pedregon, 2025 NHRA Rookie of the Year Spencer Hyde and J.R. Todd.
Pro Stock’s Matt Hartford had his personal winless streak snapped on Sunday as effectively, choosing up his first victory since 2023 by going 6.530 at 210.41 in his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro to carry off six-time world champion Greg Anderson.
It’s the primary win for Hartford in 40 races and after coming shut a number of occasions in 2025, Hartford was greater than prepared to interrupt via in Gainesville to open the seventy fifth anniversary season. The victory is his first on the Gatornationals and the ninth in his profession, getting previous Kenny Delco, Aaron Stanfield and reigning world champion Dallas Glenn earlier within the day.
Hartford took down a powerful lineup simply to succeed in the ultimate spherical after which completed the job towards Anderson, showcasing what he hopes will likely be a banner 2026 marketing campaign.
“We were sitting having dinner the other night, and we were saying we need to get one of these Diamond Wallys and not one of them – we need to stack them up, and the best way to do that is to start with the first one,” Hartford mentioned. “To get the first one in Pro Stock is incredible.
“This is going to be the most grueling Pro Stock season that I think you guys in the media have ever seen. The caliber of the drivers who are out there right now are over the top. It’s just so competitive from all the camps right now. You make one mistake, you’re not qualifying.”
Anderson reached the finals for the 192nd time in his profession due to spherical wins towards Deric Kramer, his son, Cody, who was making his Pro Stock debut, and longtime rival Erica Enders.
Reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Richard Gadson had a convincing begin to his championship protection season, getting his first Gatornationals victory after taking down John Hall within the championship spherical with a 6.753 at 200.05 on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki.
That the win got here on his birthday made it that a lot sweeter, as Gadson claimed his fifth profession victory, displaying the sort of consistency that led to his breakout season a 12 months in the past. He was offered along with his championship jacket and ring throughout pre-race introductions and it appeared to spur him alongside, taking down Geno Scali, Chase Van Sant, and Clayton Howey.
In the finals, Gadson led wire-to-wire due to an .018 response time, getting his first diamond Wally of the season.
“I’d say this is a pretty resounding statement to open the season,” Gadson mentioned. “You know, I like to say it was a long winter. I kind of still felt like I had something to prove.
“Matt Hines [team member] told me before we left the shop. He said, ‘Don’t race like you’re the world champion. Race the same way that got you the championship. Don’t let up.’ So, that was what I did and it worked out for me this weekend.”
Hall reached the finals for the eighth time in his profession due to Brayden Davis, Gaige Herrera and Steve Johnson.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to motion March 20-22 with the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals offered by NGK Spark Plugs at Firebird Motorsports Park in Phoenix.
