Richie Crampton took home the Top Fuel victory Sunday afternoon at the 49th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Tanner Gray (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also winners in their respective categories at the third of 24 events on the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

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 Crampton got the uncontested win when he piloted his Kalitta Air/DHL dragster to the winning run of 3.854 seconds at 314.90 mph after Shawn Reed had to shut off his dragster on the starting line. This is Crampton’s first Wally since Dallas 2015, first event victory at Gainesville Raceway, and eighth overall.

“This is probably one of my most rewarding wins, ever,” Crampton said. “All I ever wanted to do was stand in the winner’s circle with (team owner) Connie Kalitta. Not a lot of people have had that luxury and I’m not taking this one lightly.”

Reed, who raced to his first career final round, started from the No. 12 position and defeated Pat Dakin, Tony Schumacher, and No. 1 qualifier Clay Millican before the final.

Beckman claimed his first Funny Car victory at Gainesville with a hole-shot win of 4.035 at 323.58 in his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T against teammate Matt Hagan. After earning the No. 1 qualifier on Saturday, Beckman secured his first victory since St. Louis 2017.

“Winning this race was such a bucket-list thing,” Beckman said, “The Gatornationals came on the schedule in 1970, that year was a big year for our sport and it has been at this track ever since and I’ve never gotten close.”

Beckman raced against Jim Campbell, Del Worsham, and Shawn Langdon before entering his first final round of the season.

Hagan and Robert Hight experienced side-by-side explosions during the quarterfinals destroying the Funny Car bodies of both competitors. Hagan brought out a back-up car to defeat teammate Ron Capps in the semi-finals to advance to his second final round of the season.

In Pro Stock, Gray powered his Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro to victory with a run of 6.588 at 210.18 to defeat defending category world champion Bo Butner in the final round. This is his first career win at Gainesville and is a third-generation event winner.

“We’ve been struggling since the beginning of the season,” Gray said. “Today was our first-round win of the season. It has definitely been a struggle, but I think it is starting to come around.”

Gray was the first driver since 2015 to win from the No. 11 qualifier position and defeated Deric Kramer, Chris McGaha, and Vincent Nobile. Butner qualified in the fifth position and bested Jeg Coughlin Jr., Alan Prusiensky, and Drew Skillman before facing Gray.

Defending event and world champion Eddie Krawiec rode his bike to winner’s circle with a pass of 6.824 at 198.44 on his Screamin’ Eagles Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson. This is his sixth event victory and third consecutive win at Gainesville.

“Right now, I’m riding with the confidence that no one can beat me,” Krawiec stated. “I have a great motorcycle underneath me and a great team behind me. Anytime a rider or a driver has confidence it just makes them that much better.”

Krawiec was the No. 2 qualifier and was victorious against LE Tonglet, Steve Johnson, Hector Arana, the No. 1 qualifier, and teammate Andrew Hines in the final round.

Jack Beckman secured the No. 1 qualifying spot for the Funny Car class Saturday at the 49th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the third of 24 events on the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Beckman raced his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T to a pass of 3.911 seconds at 332.18 mph during the second round of qualifying for the No. 1 position. This is his first No. 1 qualifier of the season, second at this event, and 24th of his career.

“We didn’t have the best car on Saturday,” Beckman said. “Today’s conditions are going to be a lot more like the conditions we race in tomorrow. We just didn’t give credit to the sunshine out there since this is a warmer track than what we’ve run so far this year.”

Beckman will line up against Jim Campbell in round one of eliminations on Sunday. Courtney Force locked-in the No. 2 spot after a 3.914 at 327.66 in her Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro. Her teammate and reigning Funny Car world champion Robert Hight is seeded third and will face Dave Richards.

Millican’s second qualifying pass of 3.708 at 324.98 in his Parts Plus/Great Clips dragster stood strong on Saturday for the No. 1 Top Fuel spot. This is his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and 12th of his career. He seeks to secure his first career victory at Gainesville Raceway.

“Tomorrow, we must do better than what we did today,” Millican stated. “We came into the weekend wanting to slow the car down. We’re still not on the consistency train. We don’t want to be that one-hit-wonder. Being hot tomorrow will be interesting for us.”

He will face-off against Terry Totten Sunday morning in the first round. Steve Torrence sits in the No. 2 position with a pass of 3.739 at 323.19 in his Capco Contractors/Torrence Racing dragster and three-time world champion Antron Brown is third.

Anderson, a four-time Pro Stock world champion, remained atop of the field Saturday with his pass of 6.522 at 213.00 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro from the second qualifying session on Friday. He seeks to secure his fifth victory at Gainesville and 91st of his career.

“A little bit tougher today,” Anderson said. “This is still a great tune-up for tomorrow though. We think the weather is going to be exactly like this tomorrow. We made four really nice runs and that’s probably the best its been all year.”

Anderson will race Wally Stroupe in the first round of eliminations. Alex Laughlin powered his Gas Monkey Energy Chevrolet Camaro to the No. 2 spot with his pass of 6.525 at 212.26 and Chris McGaha qualified third overall.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hines raced to the top of the two-wheeled category during the fourth qualifying round with his pass of 6.773 at 198.64 on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson. His last victory at Gainesville was in 2004 and was the runner-up in 2017.

“Last year we figured out how to get our Street Rods off the starting line a lot more consistently,” Hines stated. “Coming here it was just a progression of taking our notes from last year and just making sure we are making the proper calls at the right time.”

Hector Arana Jr. made history Friday evening breaking the 200-mph barrier on his Pro Stock Motorcycle becoming the first rider to enter the DENSO Spark Plugs 200 MPH Club and received a $10,000 prize. The national speed record was set at the 49th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

 His pass during the second qualifying session eclipsed his record of 199.88 set at Charlotte 1 in 2015.

“I would’ve never thought that was a run to go 200 (mph),” Arana Jr. stated. “At the beginning of today, we didn’t have our front fairings, front exhaust pipes and we weren’t ready at all. I don’t even know what the tune-up is on the bike. It’s honestly really incredible we did that.”

In other racing events, Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are provisional qualifying leaders at the third of 24 events on the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Millican’s pass of 3.708 at 324.98 in his Parts Plus / Great Clips dragster during the second round of qualifying put him at the top of the Top Fuel category. He is striving for his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and 11th of his career.

”I was getting giddy because I saw David Grubnic (crew chief) twisting knobs and he was just changing all kinds of things,” Millican stated. “He later came over to tell me that he actually slowed it down. To be up here as the No. 1 qualifier is surprising. I had the mindset we were going to slow the car down.”

Coming off his win at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, Steve Torrence piloted his Capco Contractors dragster to the No. 2 spot and defending Top Fuel champion Brittany Force currently sits 10th.

Beckman powered his way to the top of the Funny Car field during the first qualifying session, but his pass of 3.911 at 332.18 in his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T during the second qualifying session secured his spot. He seeks his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and 24th of his career.

“We were just tiptoeing to make sure we didn’t over power the race track,” Beckman said. “I’m frankly just surprised that Funny Cars didn’t run quicker today.”

Phoenix event winner, Courtney Force, is currently in the No. 2 spot with her pass of 3.914 at 327.66 in her Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS.

 Pro Stock veteran Anderson currently holds the top spot after driving to a 6.552 at 212.29 run in his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro during his second qualifying pass of the day. He is seeking his fifth career No. 1 qualifier at Gainesville and 94th overall.

“There’s a lot of fast cars out there this year,” Anderson said. “We’ve gone home early the last two Sunday’s and I need to make amends for that. I need to make up some lost ground and I can’t think of a better place to do it than here.”

Reigning Pro Stock world champion Bo Butner is currently seeded fourth overall, as he looks to extend his No. 1 points position over the class.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, defending world champion Krawiec currently sits in the No. 1 qualifier position with a 6.785 pass at 199.67 on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.

“It’s good to be back out racing,” Krawiec stated. “We pretty much started right where we left off and that’s our motive heading into these next couple races. We really didn’t change anything from Pomona on our motorcycles so we could come here to be fresh and ready.”

Pro Modified — 1. Mike Castellana, Chevy Camaro, 5.753, 251.11; 2. Steve Jackson, Camaro, 5.754, 250.60; 3. Shane Molinari, Pontiac Firebird, 5.771, 256.16; 4. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.776, 250.64; 5. Steven Whiteley, Cadillac CTS-V, 5.787, 253.47; 6. Todd Tutterow, Camaro, 5.795, 249.07; 7. Chad Green, Chevy Corvette, 5.797, 247.29; 8. Khalid alBalooshi, Camaro, 5.800, 250.92; 9. Dan Stevenson, Camaro, 5.801, 255.34; 10. Jim Whiteley, Camaro, 5.801, 248.11; 11. Doug Winters, Chevy Chevelle, 5.829, 246.75; 12. Jose Gonzalez, Camaro, 5.830, 256.21; 13. Carl Stevens, Camaro, 5.832, 254.47; 14. Mike Janis, Camaro, 5.837, 246.48; 15. Jeffery Baker, Pontiac GXP, 5.859, 254.42; 16. Pete Farber, Dodge Daytona, 5.875, 244.96. Not Qualified: 17. Danny Rowe, 5.882, 247.61; 18. Michael Biehle, 5.905, 248.52; 19. Melanie Salemi, 5.905, 243.24; 20. Eric Latino, 5.918, 230.72; 21. Kenny Lang, 5.936, 243.63; 22. Rick Hord, 5.940, 248.80; 23. Richie Stevens, 6.051, 231.36; 24. Chip King, 6.106, 214.96; 25. Bill Glidden, 6.127, 230.84; 26. Rick Distefano, 6.149, 240.89; 27. Clint Satterfield, 6.564, 156.83; 28. Sidnei Frigo, 6.661, 156.64; 29. Harry Hruska, 6.704, 157.10; 30. Brandon Pesz, 7.515, 131.20; 31. Steve Matusek, 8.388, 124.95; 32. Jeremy Ray, 9.838, 95.62; 33. Bob Rahaim, 9.917, 103.99; 34. Chuck Little, 10.018, 86.62; 35. Ruben Tetsoshvili, 11.255, 66.07.