Ocala’s Josh Hart won in his debut with John Force Racing on Sunday at Gainesville Raceway, taking down reigning Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta in the final round of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
Chad Green (Funny Car), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) and Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won in front of a capacity crowd at the first of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. It also marks the start of NHRA’s 75th anniversary season.
Hart, who set the track speed record on Friday, went 3.733-seconds at 337.83 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Burnyzz/Speedmaster dragster to knock off Kalitta, who slowed to a 3.877 at 319.60. It marks the third career win for Hart and first in nearly five years.
Since then, it had been a grind for Hart, who won in his Top Fuel debut in 2021 at Gainesville Raceway. Now with John Force Racing, Hart is off and running. He qualified No. 1 for the first time in his career on Saturday and then dispatched of Dan Mercier, Tripp Tatum and four-time champ Antron Brown to reach the final round. Hart quickly tracked down Kalitta and made a strong impression that he will be a championship threat in the loaded category in 2026.
“I’m so grateful for everybody,” Hart said. “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 performance at Gainesville Raceway, making it back-to-back victories at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals thanks to a run of 3.959 at 329.91 in his 12,000-horsepower Bond-Coat, Inc. Ford Mustang against Alexis DeJoria in the final round. Green has three career victories and remarkably two of them have come at Gainesville Raceway, as he’s now posted eight straight round wins at one of the biggest races on the NHRA tour.
On Sunday, that included round wins against Terry Haddock, four-time world champ Matt Hagan and John Force Racing’s Jordan Vandergriff, who was making his first career start in the Funny Car ranks. That set up a matchup with another JFR driver, as DeJoria advanced to the final in her debut with her new team.
But she ran into trouble early and Green put together another solid performance to claim the victory and take the points lead at the first race in NHRA’s 75th 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 said. “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 advanced to the final round for the first time in two years and 17th time in her career thanks to round wins against Cruz Pedregon, 2025 NHRA Rookie of the Year Spencer Hyde and J.R. Todd.
Pro Stock’s Matt Hartford had his own winless streak snapped on Sunday as well, picking up his first victory since 2023 by going 6.530 at 210.41 in his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro to hold off six-time world champion Greg Anderson.
It’s the first win for Hartford in 40 races and after coming close multiple times in 2025, Hartford was more than ready to break through in Gainesville to open the 75th anniversary season. The victory is his first at the Gatornationals and the ninth in his career, getting past Kenny Delco, Aaron Stanfield and reigning world champion Dallas Glenn earlier in the day.
Hartford took down an impressive lineup just to reach the final round and then finished the job against Anderson, showcasing what he hopes will be a banner 2026 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 said. “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 career thanks to round wins against 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 resounding start to his championship defense season, getting his first Gatornationals victory after taking down John Hall in the championship round with a 6.753 at 200.05 on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki.
That the win came on his birthday made it that much sweeter, as Gadson claimed his fifth career victory, displaying the kind of consistency that led to his breakout season a year ago. He was presented with his championship jacket and ring during pre-race introductions and it seemed to spur him along, taking down Geno Scali, Chase Van Sant and Clayton Howey.
In the finals, Gadson led wire-to-wire thanks to an .018 reaction time, getting his first diamond Wally of the season.
“I’d say this is a pretty resounding statement to open the season,” Gadson said. “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 career thanks to Brayden Davis, Gaige Herrera and Steve Johnson.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action March 20-22 with the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark Plugs at Firebird Motorsports Park in Phoenix.
This story was originally published on March 8, 2026.
The post Hart, Green, Hartford, and Gadson Open 75th Anniversary Season with Wins at Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
