![]() It was the final-round appearance of Roush’s drag racing career, but Booth would win four more times in his AMC, including an all-Hornet Pro Stock final-round victory over Dave Kanners at the 1976 World Finals.ġ975: Legendary Top Fuel pilot Chris Karamesines set off an inadvertent treasure hunt when he crashed his dragster and scattered parts after losing control during a qualifying pass. 1 qualifier spot but lost early to Bob Glidden. Teammate Wayne Gapp wheeled their trusty old Pinto to the No. Maas spent two months in the burn center near Gainesville before being released to recover at home, then resumed his career.ġ974: Wally Booth scored the first Pro Stock victory for car manufacturer AMC after his Hornet stung the field, including final-round opponent Jack Roush (yes, that Jack Roush) and the new Gapp & Roush Mustang. ![]() ![]() All three Pro winners, including Top Fuel champ Dave Chenevert and Funny Car winner Leonard Hughes won their final rounds on holeshots.ġ972: Florida legend “Big Daddy” Don Garlits finally scored the first of four Gatornationals Top Fuel titles in typical “Big” fashion: He ran 6.15, the quickest time in class history, earlier in the day, then ran 6.17, 243.90 (the fastest speed ever) in the final to beat the 6.24, 238.09 of national record holder Clayton Harris in what was then the quickest and fastest side-by-side race in history.ġ973: Butch Maas rode out a nasty fire in Mickey Thompson’s sleek Grand Am Funny Car, and the smoldering wreck came to a dramatic stop right next to the track’s “The End” sign. In what was later revealed to be an orchestrated moment, Hughes defeated Reyes on a holeshot, 7.29 to a shutoff 7.12 that likely would have been the class’ first six-second pass.ġ970: Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins bagged the first Gatornationals Pro Stock title with his ’68 Camaro on a 9.90 to 9.86 holeshot tally against Ronnie Sox. Leonard Hughes, near lane, was driving the team’s new Barracuda while Larry Reyes, fresh off his Winternationals win in Roland Leong’s Hawaiian, saddled up in the C&H team’s ’69 car, which was being tuned by Leong. You can find a complete pictorial history of all of these moments in the new issue of National Dragster.ġ970: The famed Candies & Hughes operation had both cars in what was the first-all-team Funny Car final in NHRA history. Added to the national event schedule in 1970 as part of NHRA’s expansive “Super Season” as the East Coast brother of the season-opening Winternationals in California, the Gatornationals quickly established itself as a premiere event with record-breaking performances, packed grandstands, and ever-growing lore.īelow is a look back at 50 Memorable Moments from the event’s colorful history. The Gatornationals, the third oldest event on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule, has a deep and rich heritage that ensures its place in the history books and in the hearts and minds of racers and fans alike. ![]()
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