Mike Edwards wins rain-delayed Pro Stock event, tops Gatornationals qualifying

Edwards wins, tops qualifying at Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mike Edwards raced to a Pro Stock victory and the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday at historic Gainesville Raceway.

The defending NHRA champion powered his Pontiac GXP to a win in the completion of the rain-delayed Arizona Nationals and took earned his third No. 1 qualifying position of the season and 25th overall in the Gatornationals.

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also topped qualifying in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

Edwards raced to his second win of the season and 22nd of his career by outrunning rookie driver Bob Yonke in the final. It was Yonke’s first final round appearance in his first NHRA start. Edwards had a run of 6.552 seconds at 211.16 mph, while Yonke trailed with a 6.601 at 209.36 in his GXP. Edwards took the top qualifying spot for the Gatornationals with a 6.537-second run at 211.56 mph.

“A win’s a win,” said Edwards, who beat Greg Anderson and Allen Johnson in the rescheduled quarterfinals and semis. “I am real thankful. We’ve come here to Gainesville and ran good. We had some changes to the rules and my guys made the changes and we’ve done well. I am real proud of them.”

In Top Fuel, Brown powered his dragster to a track-record time of 3.803 at 321.04 to earn his first No. 1 of the season and 22nd of his career (11th in Top Fuel).

Hagan claimed his third Funny Car top qualifying effort with a 4.060 at a track-record speed of 313.58 in a Dodge Charger.

Stoffer earned her second career No. 1 position in Pro Stock Motorcycle, speeding to a track-record time of 6.855 at 194.77 on a Suzuki.