It’s a good thing tomorrow isn’t Christmas because John Force might not give son-in-law and John Force Racing president Robert Hight a present.
After all, Hight got a bigger present Sunday, beating his boss and father-in-law in the Funny Car finals of the 45th Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals Sunday in Gainesville, Fla.
Hight beat Force, who had qualified last in the 16-car field, to the finish line with a performance of 4.074 seconds at 314.46 mph.
“If you’d have told me this morning that John and I would be in the final, I don’t know if I’d have taken that bet,” Hight said. “Our teams have worked really hard and work well together, but we were struggling.
“Fortunately for me, the Auto Club team did a good job. I wasn’t on my game in the first round or the semis. Luckily, I had a great race car.”
Force lost traction shortly after the starting line, shutting his motor down and coasting to a 6.435 seconds/118.29 mph finish.
The win evens the all-time elimination round record between Force and Hight at 15-15 overall and 2-2 in final rounds.
Hight has now won 30 times in 47 final round appearances. It was also his second win at Gainesville, having also done so in the 2012 event.
In Top Fuel, Doug Kalitta defeated Antron Brown.
Kalitta turned in a performance of 3.830 seconds at 323.74 mph, compared to Brown’s 5.106 seconds/147.50 mph showing.
“We’ve been trying to get a win all year, and we’ve been right on the cusp,” Kalitta said. “We have great support amongst all four of our teams. It’s great that they can all get in there and celebrate on the starting line.”
Kalitta and Brown are now 1-1 against each other in final round appearances, but Brown still holds an 18-13 overall elimination round record vs. Kalitta, who earned his 34th national event win and third Gatornationals triumph.
In Pro Stock, Allen Johnson stormed to his second straight Gatornationals win, besting Erica Enders-Stevens.
Johnson recorded a time of 6.566 seconds at 211.73 mph, to Enders-Stevens’ showing of 6.551 seconds at 211.96 mph.
Johnson and Jeg Coughlin were the first Pro Stock drivers to debut a new Hemi-powered 2014 Dodge Dart this weekend, replacing the Dodge Avenger, which both drove the last three seasons. It obviously passed its first test for Johnson.
“This shows what a great job the Mopar engineers and SRT did when they developed the new Dart,” Johnson said. “It’s also a testament to our crew. For the last two weeks they’ve worked non-stop, without a day off to make sure this transition was a success.”
With his 22nd national event win, Johnson is now 3-2 in final round battles and 12-7 in overall elimination round finishes against Enders-Stevens.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, veteran rider Steve Johnson, who finished runner-up in last year’s Gatornationals, rallied back in this year’s event to defeat Scotty Pollacheck.
Johnson turned in a performance of 6.912 seconds at 191.32 mph, to Pollacheck’s effort of 7.093 seconds at 190.81 mph. It was the first win by a Suzuki rider in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle since 2011.
“Last year, I got to the final here and lost to Hector Arana Jr., and I felt like I should have won it,” Johnson said. “We’ve been close a few times, but we finally broke through.”
The win evens the career record between the two riders at 3-3, but it was the first time they had ever met in a final round.
It was also the sixth national event win in Johnson’s career, and his second win at Gainesville (the other time was back in 2005).
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FINAL FINISHING ORDER
Final finish order (1-16) at the 45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville. The race is the third of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
TOP FUEL:
1. Doug Kalitta; 2. Antron Brown; 3. Morgan Lucas; 4. Steve Torrence; 5. David Grubnic; 6. Spencer Massey; 7. Tony Schumacher; 8. J.R. Todd; 9. Richie Crampton; 10. Brittany Force; 11. Khalid alBalooshi; 12. Leah Pritchett; 13. Shawn Langdon; 14. Bob Vandergriff; 15. Sidnei Frigo; 16. Clay Millican.
FUNNY CAR:
1. Robert Hight; 2. John Force; 3. Courtney Force; 4. Ron Capps; 5. Del Worsham; 6. Tim Wilkerson; 7. Jack Beckman; 8. Bob Tasca III; 9. Cruz Pedregon; 10. Alexis DeJoria; 11. Tommy Johnson Jr.; 12. Tony Pedregon; 13. Blake Alexander; 14. Matt Hagan; 15. Jeff Arend; 16. Chad Head.
PRO STOCK:
1. Allen Johnson; 2. Erica Enders-Stevens; 3. Vincent Nobile; 4. Dave Connolly; 5. Jason Line; 6. V. Gaines; 7. Jeg Coughlin; 8. Shane Gray; 9. Chris McGaha; 10. Jonathan Gray; 11. Rodger Brogdon; 12. Steve Kent; 13. Matt Hartford; 14. Robert Patrick; 15. Jimmy Alund; 16. Larry Morgan.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:
1. Steve Johnson; 2. Scotty Pollacheck; 3. John Hall; 4. Hector Arana Jr; 5. Matt Smith; 6. Michael Ray; 7. Eddie Krawiec; 8. Andrew Hines; 9. Shawn Gann; 10. Katie Sullivan; 11. Chaz Kennedy; 12. Adam Arana; 13. Jim Underdahl; 14. Jerry Savoie; 15. Fredrik Fredlund; 16. Hector Arana.
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FINAL ROUND RESULTS:
Top Fuel — Doug Kalitta, 3.830 seconds, 323.74 mph def. Antron Brown, 5.106 seconds, 147.50 mph.
Funny Car — Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.074, 314.46 def. John Force, Mustang, 6.435, 118.29.
Pro Stock — Allen Johnson, Dodge Dart, 6.566, 211.73 def. Erica Enders-Stevens, Chevy Camaro, 6.551, 211.96.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.912, 191.32 def. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 7.093, 190.81.
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SUNDAY’S ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS
TOP FUEL:
ROUND ONE — Tony Schumacher, 3.820, 320.36 def. Leah Pritchett, 3.855, 318.24; Doug Kalitta, 3.795, 324.67 def. Brittany Force, 3.825, 321.58; Morgan Lucas, 3.846, 321.50 def. Richie Crampton, foul; J.R. Todd, 3.801, 325.30 def. Shawn Langdon, 4.296, 306.67; Antron Brown, 3.830, 319.14 def. Sidnei Frigo, 8.088, 88.66; David Grubnic, 3.935, 273.50 def. Clay Millican, 9.530, 78.21; Spencer Massey, 3.876, 317.64 def. Bob Vandergriff, 4.561, 169.17; Steve Torrence, 3.790, 325.69 def. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.833, 320.66;
QUARTERFINALS — Lucas, 3.841, 316.82 def. Massey, 3.933, 314.31; Brown, 3.810, 321.42 def. Schumacher, 5.798, 124.20; Kalitta, 3.829, 321.12 def. Grubnic, 3.800, 316.30; Torrence, 3.856, 312.93 def. Todd, 9.377, 83.54;
SEMIFINALS — Kalitta, 3.856, 319.52 def. Torrence, 7.663, 88.07; Brown, 3.847, 315.71 def. Lucas, 5.410, 132.18; FINAL — Kalitta, 3.830, 323.74 def. Brown, 5.106, 147.50.
FUNNY CAR:
ROUND ONE — John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.075, 317.12 def. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 4.102, 305.63; Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.080, 307.51 def. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, foul; Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.140, 308.14 def. Blake Alexander, Charger, 4.251, 296.24; Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.135, 307.37 def. Chad Head, Camry, 4.893, 163.16; Courtney Force, Mustang, 4.102, 315.56 def. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.307, 226.92; Ron Capps, Charger, 4.132, 308.14 def. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.561, 194.07; Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.061, 314.02 def. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.199, 271.95; Del Worsham, Camry, 4.117, 308.92 def. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.157, 303.78.
QUARTERFINALS — C. Force, 4.140, 310.27 def. Wilkerson, 5.622, 137.67; Capps, 4.136, 307.16 def. Beckman, 5.844, 121.34; Hight, 4.140, 306.05 def. Tasca III, 6.262, 111.01; J. Force, 4.134, 303.84 def. Worsham, 4.599, 232.35.
SEMIFINALS — Hight, 4.168, 301.20 def. Capps, 7.663, 89.63; J. Force, 4.240, 266.42 def. C. Force, 6.090, 112.74.
FINAL — Hight, 4.074, 314.46 def. J. Force, 6.435, 118.29.
PRO STOCK:
ROUND ONE — Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.567, 211.30 def. Jimmy Alund, Camaro, foul; V. Gaines, Dodge Avenger, 6.571, 211.56 def. Larry Morgan, Ford Mustang, foul; Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.571, 210.08 def. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.566, 211.53; Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.582, 210.11 def. Steve Kent, Camaro, 6.609, 210.47; Allen Johnson, Dodge Dart, 6.559, 211.83 def. Jonathan Gray, Camaro, 6.593, 209.98; Dave Connolly, Camaro, 6.552, 211.03 def. Matt Hartford, Avenger, 6.649, 208.84; Erica Enders-Stevens, Camaro, 6.541, 211.93 def. Robert Patrick, Mustang, 6.667, 207.27; Jeg Coughlin, Dart, 6.550, 211.89 def. Rodger Brogdon, Camaro, 6.599, 210.93.
QUARTERFINALS — Johnson, 7.414, 149.88 def. S. Gray, 13.901, 60.96; Connolly, 6.584, 210.87 def. Line, 6.568, 211.39; Nobile, 6.580, 210.60 def. Coughlin, 6.591, 211.69; Enders-Stevens, 6.535, 212.59 def. Gaines, 6.571, 211.79;
SEMIFINALS — Johnson, 6.569, 211.79 def. Connolly, 6.583, 211.20; Enders-Stevens, 6.569, 212.29 def. Nobile, 6.582, 211.16.
FINAL — Johnson, 6.566, 211.73 def. Enders-Stevens, 6.551, 211.96.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:
ROUND ONE — Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.923, 191.02 def. Hector Arana, Buell, 9.750, 86.95; Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.931, 192.44 def. Katie Sullivan, Suzuki, foul; Michael Ray, Buell, 6.907, 191.54 def. Fredrik Fredlund, Suzuki, 7.274, 184.19; Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.905, 193.24 def. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.934, 192.47; John Hall, Buell, 6.878, 192.11 def. Adam Arana, Buell, 6.945, 186.38; Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.899, 193.96 def. Chaz Kennedy, Buell, 6.943, 190.65; Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.901, 195.31 def. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, foul; Matt Smith, Buell, 6.880, 195.08 def. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, foul;
QUARTERFINALS — Pollacheck, 6.911, 193.02 def. Ray, 6.916, 192.41; Arana Jr, 6.915, 194.60 def. Krawiec, 6.935, 192.44; Hall, 6.900, 193.02 def. Hines, 6.944, 192.52; Johnson, 6.937, 193.60 def. Smith, foul;
SEMIFINALS — Johnson, 6.874, 195.48 def. Arana Jr, 6.906, 195.70; Pollacheck, 6.865, 195.00 def. Hall, 6.847, 195.42;
FINAL — Johnson, 6.912, 191.32 def. Pollacheck, 7.093, 190.81.
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STANDINGS
Point standings (top 10) following the 45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, the third of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:
Top Fuel
1. Doug Kalitta, 309; 2. Antron Brown, 256; 3. Steve Torrence, 230; 4. Khalid alBalooshi, 197; 5. Spencer Massey, 180; 6. Shawn Langdon, 168; 7. Brittany Force, 158; 8. Tony Schumacher, 146; 9. David Grubnic, 138; 10. Richie Crampton, 123.
Funny Car
1. John Force, 316; 2. Robert Hight, 273; 3. (tie) Alexis DeJoria, 187; Del Worsham, 187; 5; Bob Tasca III, 184; 6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 168; 7. Ron Capps, 164; 8. Matt Hagan, 161; 9. Jack Beckman, 151; 10. Courtney Force, 146.
Pro Stock
1. Allen Johnson, 282; 2. V. Gaines, 244; 3. Vincent Nobile, 235; 4. Jason Line, 233; 5. Erica Enders-Stevens, 226; 6. Dave Connolly, 211; 7. Shane Gray, 181; 8. Jeg Coughlin, 148; 9. Larry Morgan, 114; 10. Chris McGaha, 107.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Steve Johnson, 114; 2. Scotty Pollacheck, 93; 3. Hector Arana Jr, 81; 4. John Hall, 75; 5. Michael Ray, 63; 6. Andrew Hines, 62; 7. Matt Smith, 60; 8. Eddie Krawiec, 56; 9. (tie) Hector Arana, 32; Adam Arana, 32; Shawn Gann, 32; Katie Sullivan, 32.