GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Austin Prock (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all qualified No. 1 at Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals on Saturday.
Top Fuel
Langdon earned his first No. 1 spot since 2020, closing out qualifying with a 3.682 at 334.15 under the lights in his 11,000-horsepower Kalitta Air Careers Toyota dragster.
After naming Brian Husen crew chief heading into the season, Langdon is already off to a great start, making a pair of runs in the 3.60s this weekend. He’ll now look to pick up his first win since the 2020 NHRA U.S. Nationals as well.
Langdon Doesn’t Want To Be The ‘Weak Link’ At Kalitta Motorsports
“That just shows the changes we’ve made, with Brian coming in, the changes have shown great rewards so far,” Langdon said. “Brian has a really good control of the car right now. It’s really cool to see and I’m really proud of him. I’m excited that he has this opportunity and I’m really lucky to be his driver. We know what this team is capable, so we’re looking forward to a great year.”
Langdon took the second spot with a 3.690 at 333.08 and defending event winner Mike Salinas qualified third after going 3.705. Tony Stewart qualified ninth in his Top Fuel debut with a 3.725 at 310.34 mph.
Funny Car
In Funny Car, Prock maintained the No. 1 spot on the strength of Friday’s track-record run of 3.820 seconds at 334.65 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools/AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS.
It was a sterling qualifying performance in his first NHRA Funny Car race, as Prock made three strong passes heading into eliminations, where he’ll face off with John Smith in the opening round.
“I’m very excited for tomorrow. We really couldn’t have done much better,” Prock said. “I’m happy with this No. 1 qualifier and we’re really going to have to see what it looks like in the morning. If the track is like what it was today or Friday, you’re going to be throwing Hail Mary’s. I’m really looking forward to getting out there in my first NHRA Funny Car start and get this car in the winner’s circle.
Bob Tasca III stayed second with his 3.829 seconds at 337.75 mph, also setting a new track speed record on Saturday after going 338.09 mph. Ron Capps took the third position with a 3.871-second run at 333.00 mph.
Brown Wins Top Fuel All-Star Callout At Gainesville
Pro Stock
Erica Enders stayed No. 1 in Pro Stock, picking up her 35th career top qualifier, after going 6.549 seconds at 208.10 mph in her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/SCAG Power Equipment car.
She’ll open up eliminations against Kelley Murphy and has a great opportunity to win the Gatornationals for the first time.
“We’ve got a really great race car this weekend, so it seems to be translating very well,” Enders said. “But there’s a lot of really great cars out there and great drivers, so we just have to put our heads down and go to work, and hope for no parts failures or weird things happening. But I feel good and I feel confident in the cockpit.”
Enders’ Elite Motorsports teammate Cristian Cuadra stayed second after a run of 6.552 seconds at 209.10 mph on Friday and Dallas Glenn’s 6.556-second pass at 208.59 mph gave him the third slot.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Gaige Herrera improved on Friday’s two runs, taking his 10th straight No. 1 qualifier on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki with a run of 6.746 seconds at 200.50 mph. It continues a remarkable run for the defending event winner, who won his first race in the class a year ago in Gainesville.
He’ll look to repeat that on Sunday, opening eliminations against Joey Gladstone.
“I’m very pleased and we were happy to improve a little bit,” Herrera said. “I’m feeling comfortable and confident going into tomorrow. It’s very cool to come back here and start off where we left off to end last year. I’ve got to give all the credit to my team. They haven’t missed a beat, so it feels good to come back here and basically start like we did last year.”
Matt Smith improved to a 6.768 at 202.45 to stay second, while LE Tonglet qualified third with a 6.771 at 197.88.