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NHRA Saturday Notebook: Anderson Barely Makes ItMARC GEWERTZ
The NHRA opens its 75th anniversary 2026 season with the 57th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Florida.
Anderson Squeaks Into Gatornationals
Six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson needed the fourth and final qualifying round Saturday afternoon to secure a position in the season opening Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
After two qualifying rounds, Anderson was 17th out of 21 cars with an E.T. of 6.595 seconds. He didn’t improve in the third round, meaning he had one qualifying session left. In his final run, Anderson’s 6.556-second E.T. was good enough for 13th and a matchup on Sunday against fourth fastest Deric Kramer.
Anderson’s son Cody, posted an E.T. identical to his father’s, but he recorded a higher speed, 209.88 to 208.84 mph.
Those who failed to make the Pro Stock field were Shane Tucker, Mason McGaha, Brandon Miller, Rodger Brogdon, and Derrick Reese.
Hull Burns Hand in Qualifying Accident
NHRA Funny Car driver Buddy Hull suffered burns on his right hand when his car caught fire during his final qualifying run for the Gatornationals.
Before Hull could get his burning car stopped, he collided with Terry Haddock’s car after they crossed the finish line. Hull failed to qualify for the event. Haddock qualified 13th. He faces fourth qualifier Chad Green in Sunday’s opening round of eliminations.
Brown Snares $80,000 for Top Fuel Callout Victory
Four-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Antron Brown narrowly defeated Clay Millican in the season’s first Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout to walk off with $80,000 the day before eliminations begin in the season opening Gatornationals.
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Antron Brown.MARC GEWERTZ
Brown defeated Millican with an E.T. of 4.290 seconds, 258 mph for his second Callout victory.
“The track got a little bit away from us and we snuck around Clay,” said Brown, who defeated Josh Hart and Shawn Langdon en route to the meeting with Millican.
“It shook. It didn’t have a fast spin. It shook. When it shook, I was like, oh, Lord, I need to grab a brake. Then I saw Clay jump out in front of us and I saw him have trouble. I was like, oh Lord, roll into it. I just had enough to get past Clay.”
Stewart Competing Against His Own Team
Tony Stewart finds himself in a situation that Dale Earnhardt experienced at the height of his NASCAR Cup career. It’s one that Denny Hamlin is going through now. This year, Stewart is driving for a team he doesn’t own, but competing against the one he does possess.
Earnhardt did it when he competed for Richard Childress Racing and owned Dale Earnhardt Inc. Currently, Denny Hamlin co-owns 23XI Racing in NASCAR’s Cup Series but drives for Joe Gibbs Racing.
This year, in a deal with Elite Motorsports, Stewart is driving that organization’s NHRA Top Fuel dragster. Leah Pruett, Stewart’s wife, is stepping back into Tony Stewart Racing’s Top Fuel dragster that Stewart raced while Pruett took time off to have their son.
Stewart, who’s in his third season in Top Fuel, said a media member changed the way he thought about the situation.
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Tony Stewart.MARC GEWERTZ
“I thought I was in a lose, lose situation,” Stewart said. “(But that person told me) if you win, you go to the next round. If you lose, your car goes to the next round.”
Stewart, who won the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel regular season title, said he liked that viewpoint better.
“You can definitely look at it either way,” the 54-year-old Stewart said.
Stewart’s opportunity to continue competing in Top Fuel materialized after Richard Freeman, who owns Elite Motorsports, purchased Josh Hart’s Top Fuel operation last year. Stewart said when he tested with Freeman’s team the first four days weren’t smooth.
“Things weren’t gelling and clicking yet,” Stewart said. “Been… like a whole different race team this week.”
For the season opening Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, Stewart qualified fifth with a 3.703-second E.T., 339.96 mph.
“It’s not easy to start one of these nitro teams,” Stewart said. “Anytime it’s a new program, it takes time. It’s not just been buying the team and organizing the people. It’s redoing and rethinking how people do hospitality. It’s doing a new T-shirt trailer for all of us. I do feel like this team, in the two sets of tests that we’ve had, I do feel like this team has a lot of potential to have good results this year.”
Spouses Racing Each Other in NHRA Nothing New
Tony Stewart is constantly asked about possibly racing wife Leah Pruett this year in Top Fuel, but spouses racing each other in the NHRA isn’t anything new.
Matt and Angie Smith do it on a regular basis in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Rhonda Hartman Smith and John Smith have done it in the NHRA and IHRA.
Stewart doesn’t envision a problem when he and Pruett square off against each other because both of them are racers.
“I’m a race car driver. I drive race cars,” Stewart said emphatically. “I was a trophy wife for the first two years we met and I leaned in the doorway and didn’t do a very good job of being pretty enough to be a trophy wife, so I figured I needed to do what I do best and put a helmet on. I drive race cars. I don’t stand and watch people race. I just want to race.”
When Stewart competed in NASCAR, he said he would wreck his mother to when a championship. Nothing has changed in drag racing.
“I literally don’t care who’s in the other lane. I don’t care if it’s her or anybody else. I want to put my foot on their throat ‘til their face turns blue and beat them to the other end,” Stewart said. “That’s what our job is. That’s what she wants to do if we have to race against each other.
“At the end of the year, no matter who wins or loses, we will still be married. That’s set in stone, so nothing’s going to change there.”
Four-time NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan, who drives for Tony Stewart Racing, is a little more cavalier about the situation.
“I’m excited to see what these two do back-and-forth this year,” Hagan said. “I’m gonna get my popcorn and watch these two, and we’re gonna have fun doing it.”
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