{"id":56520,"date":"2026-03-08T19:30:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T00:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=56520"},"modified":"2026-03-08T20:12:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T01:12:56","slug":"derek-menholt-gets-nhra-pro-mod-series-win-in-gainesville-to-open-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/08\/derek-menholt-gets-nhra-pro-mod-series-win-in-gainesville-to-open-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Derek Menholt gets NHRA Pro Mod Series win in Gainesville to open 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of the NHRA<\/em><\/p>\n

GAINESVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Derek Menholt knocked off Lyle Barnett in the final round on Sunday at Gainesville Raceway in the opening race of JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Derek Menholt, Pro Mod winner. (NHRA photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

The event was the first of 11 races in the series and was powered by\u00a0FuelTech\u00a0as part of this weekend\u2019s Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, kicking off NHRA Pro Mod\u2019s 25th season.<\/p>\n

Menholt, who qualified ninth, went 5.690-seconds at 251.02 mph in his \u201969 Camaro as runner-up Lyle Barnett went red in the championship round. It\u2019s the second career victory for Menholt and his first at Gainesville Raceway, as the Pro Mod veteran opened the season in style.<\/p>\n

Menholt, who has now won two of the last three races, beat Mike Thielen, Chip King and reigning world champion J.R. Gray to reach the final round. Barnett left early by .003, handing Menholt the victory and the first NHRA 75th anniversary diamond Wally of 2026 for the class.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Derek Menholt, Pro Mod winner. (NHRA photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing deal,\u201d Menholt said. \u201cI was worried the whole time about Lyle. He\u2019s a great driver and it\u2019s a good feeling to get this one. This is one we\u2019ve been wanting. It\u2019s a good race car.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get to the final round, Barnett knocked off Mason Wright, Kevin Rivenbark and former world champion Mike Castellana.<\/p>\n

The JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports returns to action March 20-22 with the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark Plugs at Firebird Motorsports Park in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Final finish order (1-16) at the 57th annual AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA<\/p>\n

Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.\u00a0The race is the first of 11 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag<\/p>\n

Racing Series.<\/p>\n

PRO MODIFIED:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Derek Menholt; 2.\u00a0Lyle Barnett; 3.\u00a0JR Gray; 4.\u00a0Mike Castellana; 5.\u00a0Sidnei Frigo; 6.\u00a0Kevin<\/p>\n

Rivenbark; 7.\u00a0Chip King; 8.\u00a0Alex Laughlin; 9.\u00a0Jason Scruggs; 10.\u00a0Stan Shelton; 11.\u00a0Nick Januik;<\/p>\n

12.\u00a0Mason Wright; 13.\u00a0Mike Thielen; 14.\u00a0Steve Jackson; 15.\u00a0Mike Stavrinos; 16.\u00a0Travis Harvey.<\/p>\n

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sunday’s final results from the 57th annual AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals<\/p>\n

at Gainesville Raceway. The race is the first of 11 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.<\/p>\n

Pro Modified — Derek Menholt, Chevy Camaro, 5.690, 251.02\u00a0def. Lyle Barnett, Camaro, Foul – Red<\/p>\n

Light.<\/p>\n

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Final round-by-round results from the 57th annual AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA<\/p>\n

Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the first of 11 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.<\/p>\n

PRO MODIFIED:<\/p>\n

ROUND ONE — Derek Menholt, Chevy Camaro, 6.665, 145.30 def. Mike Thielen, Camaro, Foul – Red Light;<\/p>\n

Sidnei Frigo, Camaro, 5.716, 250.23 def. Stan Shelton, Ford Mustang, 5.752, 248.48; Lyle Barnett,<\/p>\n

Camaro, 5.698, 251.06 def. Mason Wright, Camaro, 5.767, 250.32; Mike Castellana, Camaro, 5.793,<\/p>\n

247.16 def. Travis Harvey, Camaro, Broke; Kevin Rivenbark, Mustang, 5.759, 246.39 def. Steve Jackson,<\/p>\n

Camaro, 5.814, 249.16; Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 5.701, 249.86 def. Jason Scruggs, Camaro, 5.745,<\/p>\n

250.09; JR Gray, Camaro, 5.750, 250.32 def. Nick Januik, Chevy Corvette, 5.761, 246.17; Chip King,<\/p>\n

Dodge Charger, 5.788, 239.36 def. Mike Stavrinos, Camaro, 6.216, 205.26;<\/p>\n

QUARTERFINALS — Menholt, 5.718, 250.13 def. King, 5.786, 250.23; Gray, 5.738, 251.11 def. Laughlin,<\/p>\n

5.940, 247.75; Barnett, 5.703, 252.24 def. Rivenbark, 5.780, 247.57; Castellana, 5.755, 247.84 def.<\/p>\n

Frigo, 5.755, 249.53;<\/p>\n

SEMIFINALS — Menholt, 5.741, 248.25 def. Gray, 5.737, 251.77; Barnett, 5.709, 251.95 def.<\/p>\n

Castellana, 5.776, 250.13;<\/p>\n

FINAL — Menholt, 5.690, 251.02 def. Barnett, Foul – Red Light.<\/p>\n

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Point standings (top 10) following the 57th annual AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA<\/p>\n

Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the first of 11 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.<\/p>\n

Pro Modified<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Derek Menholt, 114; 2.\u00a0Billy Banaka, 95; 3.\u00a0JR Gray, 74; 4.\u00a0Mike Castellana, 71; 5.\u00a0Alex<\/p>\n

Laughlin, 55; 6.\u00a0Sidnei Frigo, 53; 7.\u00a0(tie) Chip King, 51; Kevin Rivenbark, 51; 9.\u00a0Mike Stavrinos,<\/p>\n

38; 10. Steve Jackson, 36.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of the NHRA GAINESVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Derek Menholt knocked off Lyle Barnett in the final round on Sunday at Gainesville Raceway in the opening race of JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports. The event was the first of 11 races in the series and was powered by\u00a0FuelTech\u00a0as part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":56501,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[107,1156,717,6],"class_list":["post-56520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhra","tag-amalie-motor-oil-gatornationals","tag-derek-menholt","tag-gainesville-raceway","tag-nhra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Menholt_Action_MGA-768x512-1.webp?fit=768%2C512&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-eHC","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56520"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56522,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56520\/revisions\/56522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}