The Kalitta “Mosh Pit” can be a little hard on the guy at the bottom, but the win is worth the pain.  (Adam Cranmer photo)

“We’ve been trying to get a win all year, and we’ve been right on the cusp,” Doug, a 49-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “We have great support among all four of our teams, and that is invaluable. Jim (Oberhofer, crew chief), Troy (Fasching, assistant crew chief) and the entire Mac Tools team have been tremendous. They give me a great racecar to drive. It’s a great feeling.”

“Winning the Gatornationals is one of the big ones on the list that every driver wants to win. I’ve been lucky enough to win it three times now. It’s amazing for me and my team.”

Kalitta, the No. 4 qualifier (3.819 sec., 321.04 mph), defeated Brittany Force, teammate David Grubnic (Optima Batteries/Advance Auto Parts Top Fuel dragster) and Steve Torrence en route to the final round, the 70th final of his 17-year career.

Kalitta continues to lead the Mello Yello Top Fuel championship points (309), 53 points ahead of Brown in second place.

With his win in Gainesville, Kalitta also assures him and the Mac Tools team a spot in the Traxxas Top Fuel Nitro Shootout, a $100,000 race within a race to be conducted at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Saturday, Aug. 30.

Antron Brown  (Adam Cranmer photo)

Antron Brown and the Matco Tools team advanced to its second championship round of Top Fuel eliminations in the first three events of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season, and despite coming up a little short Sunday, he moved up to second in the standings.

Brown was a little disappointed that his dragster lost traction in its final round loss to points leader Doug Kalitta that prevented his team led by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald from defending the event title and winning their second straight trophy this season.

"It was a good day. We felt like we were right there," said Brown, who won two weeks ago near Phoenix. "It just bit us a little bit. We were going for it and stepping it up because we knew we had to. We just hazed (the tires) there and it bit us a little bit."