{"id":100144,"date":"2025-03-11T06:57:40","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=100144"},"modified":"2025-03-11T06:57:40","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:57:40","slug":"brown-green-glenn-herrera-conquer-nhra-gatornationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/brown-green-glenn-herrera-conquer-nhra-gatornationals\/","title":{"rendered":"Brown, Green, Glenn, Herrera Conquer NHRA Gatornationals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gaige Herrera, Dallas Glenn, Antron Brown, Chad Green hoist the first trophies of the 2025 NHRA season – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wet weather severely impacted this year\u2019s NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series opener, the Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in north central Florida. Fortunately, it didn\u2019t mean postponement for the points-paying portion of the weekend; only the Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout is being continued to this year\u2019s Winternationals in late March.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The balance of the weekend\u2019s activities for the four pro classes: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, were able to go ahead, albeit with stops, both lengthy and quick, for the vaunted Safety Safari to prep the track after rain showers scotched continuing competition. While the first Top Fuel races went off starting at 9:30AM EDT, there was a massive pause to that competition before restarting after noon.<\/p>\n

By the time four rounds of eliminations were completed, reigning – and four-time – Top Fuel champion Antron Brown hoisted his Wally winner\u2019s trophy, joined by second-time winner Chad Green in his Ford Mustang, last year\u2019s runner-up Dallas Glenn in Pro Stock and reigning two-time-consecutive champ Gaige Herrera made it three straight wins in Gainesville. Unfortunately, Factory Stock Showdown was unable to complete their event and will have to include Gatornationals laps elsewhere That location hasn\u2019t been announced as of yet.<\/p>\n

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Antron Brown took his 81st career win on Sunday – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Earning his eighth consecutive round win late Sunday afternoon, Brown used exemplary reaction times of .032 and .036 in the semifinals and final round to parlay his No. 1 qualifying slot into a second straight victory, as he\u2019d won the season finale last November in Pomona. In earning this 81st national event victory, Brown denied Shawn Langdon a second straight visit to Gainesville\u2019s Winner\u2019s Circle, as\u00a0 <\/span>Langdon was part of Kalitta Motorsports\u2019 first-ever double-up in 2024 with teammate J.R. Todd winning the Funny Car battle in his Toyota GR Supra. Brown\u2019s 3.673-sec run at 333.99 mph slipped past Langdon\u2019s 3.684\/332.67.<\/p>\n

That pairing showed that the weather played into crew chief battles to be first to the timing lines at 1,000 feet. The track was fast, but in the first round of play, few drivers were able to use it to their advantage. That changed as more rubber went down, of course, and by the close of competition, the pairings raced as expected – for the most part. Brown realized the track would be tricky to overcome and he had luck on his side in the first two rounds. \u201cI\u2019m proud of this incredible team,\u201d he said with trophy in hand. Racing a Pro Modified car this winter and racing at the PRO Superstar Shootout in February kept him in race mode. \u201cWe came right back in race mode and, for me, doing all the racing off-season, I think really, really helped me. It kept me focused and kept me sharp,\u201d he acknowledged.<\/p>\n

Brown and Herrera were the only two current champions to earn a win in the season starting race. It was a tough weekend for John Force Racing\u2019s Austin Prock, who faced mechanical issues and couldn\u2019t use the track to his advantage. That opened the door for Chad Green, whose sole NHRA national event win came at the series final in 2023, when he was being tuned by current driver Daniel Wilkerson. With Joe Sarena and Dean Marinas turning the knobs, in the semi- and final rounds Green turned complementary laps of 3.922 and 3.921 (at 329.18 in the final) to gain his second victory. He defeated Paul Lee, Buddy Hull and four-time champ Matt Hagan to reach the finals, showing consistency on a day when that quality was a necessity.<\/p>\n

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Chad Green earned his second career Funny Car win – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis race is so special,\u201d Green stated. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s the Gators! There are so many historical things that have happened at this race for so many years, and I was saying in my [top end] interview, that my very first race down this racetrack in an official race car was here at this track. So yeah, it means a lot to me,\u201d to win the first race of the 20-event campaign in Gainesville. \u201cI\u2019ve always said it\u2019s so important to start off the year and do well at the first race, or else you\u2019re behind the eight ball. This just takes the cake right here, to start off No. 1 in points, that\u2019s really awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his successful final round, Green fended off three-time champ Ron Capps and his Toyota GR Supra, who is still seeking his first victory since the 2023 season. Capps advanced to his 148th career final round with wins against John Smith, Bobby Bode and Alexis DeJoria. Racing from the third-quickest qualifying run on Friday and having to wait until mid-afternoon on Sunday to start the Funny Car eliminations, Capps recognized he\u2019d blown lane choice in the semis and had to run from the left. He praised Toyota\u2019s Slugger Labbe for the wind tunnel work on the Supra this winter. \u201cTo debut this car and take it to the final, you couldn\u2019t really ask for anything better – except to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was all deja vu for Pro Stock\u2019s Dallas Glenn who, once again had to race his KB Titan Racing teammate Greg Anderson in the final round on Sunday. Big difference? Glenn was on the winning side this time around, leaving six-time and reigning champ Anderson coasting to a stop before the finish line after blowing his tires off at the hit. Glenn\u2019s .022 reaction time helped him to a 6.549 run down the quarter-mile at 211.13 mph. This win marked the 14th trophy for Dallas Glenn and Chevrolet\u2019s 402nd in Pro Stock since 1970!<\/p>\n

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Dallas Glenn turned the tables on KB Titan teammate Greg Anderson with Sunday\u2019s win – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis definitely feels good,\u201d Glenn said after taking the win. Greg has always been one of them that\u2019s always just had my number. He keeps getting me and keeps getting me, even if he\u2019s an old uy, he\u2019s still got it,\u201d Glenn joked. Glenn defeated Brandon Miller, Elite Motorsport\u2019s Troy Coughlin Jr. and teammate Cory Reed to make that final round, for his first win in five final-round Anderson match-ups. \u201cI\u2019m thankful, because there were a few rounds where I felt like I didn\u2019t have the beset car. But we picked away at it,\u201d Glenn stated. \u201cIn the final I was looking to throw one down, but it shook a little in low gear. I think we had more in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to get one back from Greg but I\u2019m more impressed by our KB Titan tam. We had the top four spots in qualifying and al ostensibly put four cars in the semis. Cory Reed was a handful today, and he\u2019s going to be tough all year,\u201d Glenn acknowledged. \u201cIt won\u2019t be long before he\u2019s sitting up here dong a winner\u2019s interview. I\u2019ve now made a lot of runs in the car and I know I can beat Greg, but you have to do your ob to perfection. It\u2019s hard to do, but I know I can beat him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herrera\u2019s 22nd NHRA Mission Foods victory came at the site of his first 2023 win with Vance & Hines Motorsports (V&H) and its Suzuki Hayabusa3. To reach these finals, he knocked off 2003 Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Geno Scali and Kelly Clontz, both riding V&H-prepped Suzuki Hayabusa3 motorcycles, along with 2024 first-time winner and 2023 Rookie of the Year Chase Van Sant from WAR\/TK Racing, who rides a different spec Suzuki motorcycle. Those wins landed Herrera in yet another battle against six-time champion Matt Smith and his self-tuned Buell. In beating Smith, Herrera matched former teammate turned crew chief (to Richard Gadson) Eddie Krawiec as the sole riders to win three straight Pro Stock Motorcycle contests at Gainesville Raceway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sunday marked Gaige Herrera\u2019s third straight Gatornationals victory – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis was a good day for me and a great day for Vance & Hines,\u201d Herrera acknowledged. \u201cWe got here early this morning and had to sit through hours. I was like, \u2018Let\u2019s get on with it,\u2019\u201d after having to sit through the delays for weather-related stoppages. \u201cOtherwise, my bike was deadly consistent. We made three straight runs that were 6.76 and I\u2019m amazed that Andrew [Hines] can do that. In the final, we knew we needed more so we threw everything eat it,\u201d a necessity when racing any rider from Matt Smith Racing. \u201cI thought we\u2019d run better, but i didn\u2019t expect a 6.7. I\u2019m a neutral person and Matt [Smith] and I are cordial, but he does have a bit of rivalry with Vance & Hines. I think it\u2019s good for the class.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Smith went 6.723 at 203.19 in the final round, executing three of four rounds over the 200-mph mark. He only faltered, minutely, in the first round as he went past Lance Bonham, teammates John Hall and wife Angie Smith. While Herrera raced three Suzukis to make the finals, Smith raced three Buells to make the finals for the 82nd time in his career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that the Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals have been completed – almost on time and, thankfully not a day later than expected – the Mission Foods competitors have a week to gather themselves together before alighting to Phoenix for the 40th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motosports Park outside Phoenix, AZ. That race marks the start of three contests on the western side of the United States, at Phoenix, Pomona and Las Vegas, the latter being the first of three four-wide national events.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wet weather severely impacted this year\u2019s NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series opener, the Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in north central Florida. Fortunately, it didn\u2019t mean postponement for the points-paying portion of the weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":100149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029],"tags":[7457,9503,9849,38,9502,9474,9966,7,4801,74,73,10016],"class_list":["post-100144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-ab-motorsports","tag-amalie-motor-oil-gatornationals","tag-chad-green","tag-funny-car","tag-gainesville-raceway","tag-kb-titan-racing","tag-mission-foods-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra","tag-pro-stock","tag-pro-stock-motorcycle","tag-top-fuel","tag-vance-hines-motorsports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Herrera-Glenn-Brown-Green-celebrate-min.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-q3e","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100144"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100152,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100144\/revisions\/100152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}