Ricky Hord Wins Historic Gatornationals

 Ricky Hord raced to victory today at the NHRA Gatornationals (Gainesville, Fla.),
taking the points lead in NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series, photo credit Auto Imagery

By: Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown

GAINESVILLE, FL (March 9, 2026) – The 2026 NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series got off to a dramatic start with No. 2 qualifier Ricky Hord, from Orlando, Fla., winning for the third time in his career. Hord outran veteran driver and 2025 Bristol winner David Janac in a close Chevrolet COPO Camaro versus Ford Mustang Cobra Jet final round. The Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown category provided thrilling action throughout the day as Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks battled for the Gatornationals title. The win for Hord was extra special considering he closed out the 2025 season with a win in St. Louis.

“It hasn’t quite sunk in that we just won the Gatornationals,” said Hord. “After winning St. Louis at the end of the year, we took the motor out, sent it back the Stanfields [their engine program]. We put the car up on the jacks and turned the lights off. Last week, we took it off the jacks, put the motor in it and brought it back here. Our goal was to try and make the same kind of passes and go rounds. We are just going out there every run trying to be consistent, chip away at every pass and just do my best to drive off the starting line.”

In the final, Hord was first off the starting line with a reaction time advantage of .047 seconds to .052 seconds and he never trailed in the drag race. At the finish line stripe, Hord’s Camaro tripped the lights at 7.735 seconds, 178.28 mph in front of Janac’s 7.792 second run at 180.69 mph. Hord’s final pass was his quickest of eliminations and made the driver 3-0 in Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown final rounds.

In the opening round, Hord took the win with his clutch pedal jumping off the starting line first and defeating rookie second generation driver Kyle Pawuk, son of two-time world champion Mark Pawuk, with a slower elapsed time. Hord was able to react quicker off the starting line and take the win with a 7.752 second elapsed time. It was a close race as Pawuk was closing at the finish line and simply ran out of racetrack to catch Hord.

“We started building good momentum this weekend,” said Hord. “I felt really good in the car all weekend. I was happy to see Kyle come out and race. He deserved that win, but I was a little quicker on the tree. We’re so excited. We’re ready for the next race. We’re gonna just go back to the drawing board, make sure the car is all happy. Go back there and just make the small things better. We just want to make good A to B passes.”

Hord took out another second-generation driver in the quarterfinals trailering Matt Hartman, son of championship contender Lee with a quicker 7.741 second pass at 177.25 mph. Hartman was first off the line but Hord’s COPO Camaro had too much horsepower and chased him down for the win.

In the last round before the final round match up with Janac, Hord faced a brand-new opponent Richard Brierie in the semifinals. Hord was exceptional on the starting line with his best reaction time of the day, a nearly perfect .019 second jump and he never trailed in the race.

“I believe that parity is very important in this class, and seeing all three manufacturers helps potentially bring more cars out. We had 16 cars here, which is a good turnout, but we can always have more,” added Hord.

No. 1 qualifier Jonathan Allegrucci captured the Flexjet Factory Stock Bounty with his first round win over 2025 world champion Mark Pawuk. The $1,000 bounty will now shift to Gatornationals winner Hord for the next national event, the Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway outside of Charlotte, N.C., April 24-26.

Flexjet Bounty Program
Gatornationals (Gainesville, Fla.)
$1,000 bounty collected by Jonathan Allegrucci, defeated Mark Pawuk (2025 Flexjet world champion)

2026 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Results
Gainesville – Ricky Hord, winner; David Janac, runner-up

Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Point Standings
1.        Richard Hord                   117
2.        David Janac                    93
3.        Raymond Nash                74
4.        Richard Bierie                  71
5.        Jonathan Allegrucci         58
6.        Lee Hartman                   55
7.        David Davies II                54
8.        Matthew Hartman             52
9.        Alex Anderson                 36
10.      Doug Duell                      33

2026 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Schedule
 
April 24-26: 16th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, Charlotte
 
May 14-17: 26th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals, Chicago
 
June 12-14: 25th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol, Tenn.
 
June 25-28: 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, Norwalk, Ohio
 
Sept. 2-7: 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, Indianapolis
 
Sept. 18-20: Inaugural NHRA Great Lakes Nationals, Martin, Mich.
 
Oct. 2-4: 15th annual NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals, St. Louis
 
Oct. 14-18: 41st annual Texas NHRA Fall Nationals, Dallas