(Photo: NHRA)
Every racer dreams of a weekend that includes low ET, top speed, qualifying number one, and winning the race. If you haven’t had one of those weekends then you don’t know what it’s like to be Matt Gill right now. (Although Andy Bohl did have top speed with his 267.32 mph in Q3)
Matt Gill, his father Paul, and the rest of the Moduline team were flawless in their quest to own every round of qualifying and eliminations at the NHRA Regional race in Gainesville Florida. The race is appropriately named the “Baby Gators” or “The Hatchlings” because it is contested one week before the NHRA “Gator Nationals”.
Throughout the race, Paul Gill and the Moduline team may have been holding back some performance in pursuit of consistency. Strong consistent reaction times by Matt and repeatable tuning from Paul made for an unbeatable combination for the Massechutes team.
The car was smooth early and appeared to be happy late in the run. The TAFC field was not pressing the Moduline team to increase their performance so there wasn’t any reason to push the boundaries of what the track could take. The car was consistent, didn’t appear to be hurting engine parts, and Matt was in a comfortable place driving the car. It seems reasonable then that they stayed with what was working, and it steered them right into the winner’s circle.
How It Happened:
Qualifying:
Many good teams were struggling with the “early season” gremlins that seemed to keep them from making that break-out run. Every session a range of issues seemed to plague most of the field, keeping them from mounting a serious challenge to Gill at the top of the sheet. Andy Bohl was matching the MPH of the Gill team but could not get the ET to line up with the power he was making. While the Brian Gawlik team had consistent runs, they were certainly looking for a little more performance to go with those steady runs.
| POSITION | DRIVER | CAR NO. | ET | MPH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Mathew Gill | 5 | 5.526 | 266 |
| 02 | Andy Bohl | 32 | 5.579 | 267.32 |
| 03 | Bob McCosh | 6 | 5.614 | 260.46 |
| 04 | Brian Gawlik | 15 | 5.657 | 260.76 |
| 05 | Chip Beverett | 333 | 5.666 | 258.37 |
| 06 | Dj Cox | 4 | 5.704 | 257.09 |
| 07 | Ryan Stack | 3712 | 7.976 | 109.56 |
Eliminations:
Round 1:
Matt Gill was unopposed due to the odd number of cars and his number-one qualifying position.
(W) Matt Gill – [.055 RT – 5.531 – 264.08 mph]
Chip Beverett made his best pass to get by Brian Gawlik
(W) Chip Beverett – [.040 RT – 5.583 – 260.26]
Brian Gawlik – [.027 RT – 5.664 – 256.89]
Andy Bohl made a nice 5.59-second run but lost on a holeshot to Ryan Stack. Stack in the Larry Dobbs owned machine made a substantially better run than their qualifying efforts.
(W) Ryan Stack – [.015 RT – 5.655 – 254.14 mph]
Andy Bohl – [.093 RT – 5.591 – 265.85 mph]
Bob McCosh got the win in round one and was on the fortunate end of DJ Cox being pulled through the beams while stagging the car. Bob ran a respectable 5.59, but you still have to consider him fortunate as you usually need an ET in the 5.4s to beat the Cox team on that track.
(W) Bob McCosh – [.067 RT – 5.593 – 253.71]
DJ Cox – [Rolled Beam – Disqualified]
Semi-Final Round:
Matt Gill would once again make a fast & Straight run to come out on top against Chip Beverett driving the Aryan Rochon owned car. Beverett would cut a great light but was up in smoke almost instantly and would not challenge Gill for the win.
(W) Matt Gill – [.045 RT – 5.511 – 265.85 mph]
Chip Beverett – [.002 RT – 14.897 – 53.37 mph]
The McCosh and Stack matchup had both teams in a troubled situation when the Stack team could not get the car to fire. McCosh waited patently after completing his normal burnout and starting line routine. When the Stack car did start, he moved the car quickly to the line. Sensing a hot engine, McCosh got increasingly impatient and it may have thrown off his staging process as he had the car at high RPM in the beams for a substantial amount of time. Bob McCosh would get the win when Stack smoked the tires instantly at the green light. McCosh ran a sluggish 5.81, possibly driving through the clutch with the combination of a hot engine and extended RPM on the clutch at stagging.
(W) Bob McCosh – [.181 RT – 5.815 – 258.27 mph]
Ryan Stack – [.050 RT – 13.378 – 95.92 mph]
Final Round:
In the final Gill would face Bob Mccosh and his new car which had not performed up to its potential. An experienced Gill Team would ignore that and once again bring their car to the line ready to perform like it had all weekend. But, this time they would face their most serious test. When the light went green Gill would get away first and run 5.501 for the win, which was low ET for the event. McCosh however made a race of it, clocking 5.51 seconds, his best of the weekend, and his best with the new car.
(W) Matt Gill – [.063 RT – 5.501 – 265.06 mph]
Bob McCosh – [.093 RT – 5.511 – 261.37]
Next Up: All the teams that were competing at the NHRA Regional Race this past weekend will be in action this weekend at the NHRA Gator Nationals – March 9 – 12.
Race Notes:
Matt Gill: will be going for 4 consecutive Gainesville wins this coming weekend. Matt and the team won the Gainesville Regional and National Events last year, and now the Regional race this year. (although the Gainesville Nationals final in 2022 was delayed due to weather and concluded in charlotte)
Andy Bohl: is making really good power. Over the past 20 years, he has been a Big MPH car and always near the top of the performance sheet. When you can match and even exceed the speed of a Paul Gill Tuned race car you are doing something right. If Bohl can match his clutch and gearing to the power he is making, look for him to be a factor this weekend at the Gators.
Bob McCosh: is coming off a nice run in the final at the “Baby Gators”. Ignition and sensor gremlins seem to have been keeping his new car from running consistently strong in the back half of the track. Look for the McCosh team to be back on the score board with consistent strong runs at the Gator Nationals.
DJ Cox: will be looking to right the ship after a weekend he wants to forget. Gainesville is a track where he usually runs very well. Look for DJ and the team to get right back to the top of the order at the Gators. He is a threat to win any race and his tune-up is tailor-made for the Gainesville track with Gainesville atmospheric conditions. It would not be a surprise to find DJ in the final round come next Sunday.
Sean Bellemeur: Did not attend the baby Gators and was racing with his dad at the March Meet in the family car. Sean and the “Killer B’s” team can win any race they attend. This coming weekend at the Gator Nationals will be no different. If Steve Boggs can find the tune-up early, they can be extremely tough to beat, especially on this track where they set the NHRA National Record of 5.352 in 2019.
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