Defending Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown kicked off the 2025 NHRA season with a victory on Sunday at Gainesville Raceway, defeating defending event winner Shawn Langdon in the final round of the 56th Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
Chad Green (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the first of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Brown went 3.673s at 333.99mph in his Matco Tools dragster to slip past Langdon’s 3.684s at 332.67mph, as the four-time world champion won for the 81st time in his career. Brown, who qualified No. 1, defeated Krista Baldwin, Clay Millican and Steve Torrence to reach the final round before picking up his second career win at Gainesville Raceway.
That gives Brown, who posted reaction times of 0.032s and 0.036s in the semifinals and finals, respectively, eight straight round wins dating back to last season as the year started in perfect fashion for the longtime star.
“It’s tough to go against Shawn Langdon and [crew chief] Brian Husen,” Brown said. “They always have the performance. Actually, there are a lot of cars out here that did their homework, put the work in, and can run mid-to-low 3.6s. Brian [Corradi, crew chief] and my guys were just adamant that we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot.
“We dug deep to make a run like that and set low E.T. says a lot about our team. We just stayed cool until the track came around. You’ve got to put it up there when you’re racing these guys. These drivers in Top Fuel are just incredible this year. We kept on digging deep after winning a championship and that’s a tribute to these guys.”
Landgon, who won in Gainesville a year ago, drove past Justin Ashley, Tony Stewart and Jasmine Salinas to reach the final round for the 46th time in his career.
Chad Green opened his 2025 Funny Car season in standout fashion, going 3.921s at 329.18mph in his Bond-Coat Ford Mustang to roll past Ron Capps and earn his first career Gatornationals win. This will be one Green surely remembers, as Green went 3.922s and 3.921mph in back-to-back rounds to claim his second career victory.
He defeated Paul Lee, Buddy Hull and Matt Hagan to reach the final round, posting a series of consistent runs to get past a loaded Funny Car class. Green will now leave Gainesville Raceway with the points lead for the first time in his career and also plenty of momentum after a magical performance on Sunday.
“This race is so special, I mean it’s the Gators,” Green said. “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 the racetrack in an official race car was here at this track, so yeah, it means a lot to me.
“I’ve always said it’s so important to start off the year off and do well at the first race or else you’re behind the eight ball. This just takes the cake right here. To start off No. 1 in points, that really awesome. I’m just so excited.”
Capps, who is seeking his first win since the 2023 season, advanced to his 148th career final round with victories against John Smith, Bobby Bode and Alexis DeJoria.
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In Pro Stock, Dallas Glenn extracted some bit of revenge on his KB Titan Racing teammate Greg Anderson, defeating the reigning world champion to open the 2025 season with a run of 6.549s at 211.13mph in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro. It is Glenn’s 14th career win and second at Gainesville (2022) and helped make up for Anderson picking up the win at a winner-take-all final round with the championship on the line last November at the NHRA Finals in Pomona.
Glenn defeated Brandon Miller, Troy Coughlin Jr. and Cory Reed to advance to the finals and rolled to the win against Anderson, who ran into trouble right off the starting line. It was Glenn’s first win in five final-round matchups with Anderson, a strong sign the young phenom could be in for a big season.
“I’m thankful because there were a few rounds where I felt like I didn’t have the best car but we picked away at it,” Glenn said. “In the final I was looking to throw one down but it shook a little in low gear. I think we had more in it. It’s nice to get one back from Greg but I’m more impressed by our KB Titan team. We had the top four spots in qualifying and almost put four cars in the semis. Cory Reed was a handful today and he’s going to be tough all year. It won’t be long before he’s sitting up here doing a winner’s interview.
“I’ve now made a lot of runs in the car and I know I can beat Greg, but you have to do your job to perfection. It’s hard to do, but I know I can beat him. When we race, I just try to be me, and stick with my normal routine.”
Anderson, who qualified No. 1 with a world-record run of 6.443s, picked up his 183rd final-round appearance with victories against Chris McGaha, Derrick Reese and Jeg Coughlin Jr.
There appears to be no stopping Gaige Herrera at Gainesville Raceway, as the back-to-back defending world champion remained unbeaten at the historic facility, picking up his third straight Gatornationals victory with a run of 6.722s at 200.23mph on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki to defeat rival Matt Smith.
It’s Herrera’s 22nd win since the start of the 2023 campaign, an incredible run that started with his first career win in Gainesville. He knocked off Geno Scali, Kelly Clontz and Chase Van Sant to reach the final round, leaving first against Smith and picking up the victory. He also matches Eddie Krawiec as the only riders to win three straight Pro Stock Motorcycle races at Gainesville Raceway.
“This was a good day for me and a great day for Vance & Hines,” Herrera said. “We got here early this morning and had to sit through hours and I was like, ‘Let’s get on with it.’ Otherwise, my bike was deadly consistent. We made three straight runs that were 6.76s and I’m amazed that Andrew [Hines] can do that. In the final, we knew we needed more so we threw everything at it. I thought we’d run better but I didn’t expect a 6.72s. I’m a neutral person and Matt [Smith] and I are cordial, but he does have a bit rivalry with Vance & Hines and I think it’s good for the class.”
Smith went 6.723s at 203.19mph in the final round, advancing to the championship round for the 82nd time in his career. Earlier in the day, the six-time world champion knocked off Lance Bonham, John Hall and his wife, Angie.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action March 21-23 with the 40th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park in Phoenix.
