The 260-mph barrier fell at the 1984 Gatornationals not once, but twice. Joe Amato in Top Fuel and Kenny Bernstein in Funny Car both eclipsed the barrier in eliminations in one of the most memorable and historic events in NHRA history.

Amato gave an indication of things to come early in qualifying when he unloaded his Hurst/Keystone entry with a 259.36 run on Thursday. His next three runs were all over 257 mph, further fueling speculation that the mark could be reached that weekend.

Kenny Bernstein cracked the 260-mph barrier at the 1984 Gatornationals. Bernstein, in his aerodynamic Budweiser King Tempo, ran 260.11 in the Funny Car final to beat John Collins.

In the semi's opposite Gary Ormsby, Amato sped to a 5.58, 260.11 to become the first past 260 (more than eight years after "Big Daddy" Don Garlits first broke the 250-mph barrier in Ontario, Calif). For good measure, Amato beat reigning Winston champ Gary Beck with a 5.54 and a new speed record of 262.39 mph in the final.

With the crowd still buzzing over Amato's record-setting performance, Bernstein staged against John Collins in the Funny Car final and drove his swoopy Budweiser King Tempo to a 5.80 at 260.11 to join a very exclusive fraternity.

In both cases, it was easy to see why Amato and Bernstein were able to outmuscle the rest of the field. Amato debuted a new dragster in Gainesville loaded with technological innovations, the most noticeable being an uncommonly tall rear wing. The wing was also swept back farther than the conventional wings of the day.

Amato explained the idea was to get the wing up and "into the clean air" behind the car, but added, "There are about 10 things that are different about this car; the wing is just the thing that people notice."

Bernstein and crew chief Dale Armstrong had spent a considerable amount of time in the wind tunnel with their Ford Tempo body. The effort became evident when Bernstein exceeded the previous best Funny Car speed by more than three miles per hour.

Though Warren Johnson won Pro Stock over Frank Iaconio, the big story involved a first-round race that was one of the weirdest races ever. Reid Whisnant jumped out to a two-car-length lead against Ken Dondero despite a reaction time that was two-tenths slower. More confusing yet, Whisnant was credited with a 7.61 elapsed time to Dondero's 7.81 even though both cars were side by side at the finish line. Whisnant had been involved in a similar incident at the 1983 Winston Finals, but on both occasions, his cars passed a thorough post-race NHRA inspection. Neither occurrence has ever been fully explained, but the most logical possibility is that he let the clutch out just as the Tree was coming on and activated the clocks with the rear tires.

Controversy brewed in Pro Stock when Reid Whisnant, far lane, received an unbelievably quick 7.61 time slip in his first-round win over Ken Dondero. Whisnant never came close to duplicating that performance during the event.

There was no controversy in the Pro Stock Bike category, where Terry Vance continued his domination of NHRA's two-wheel eliminator. Aboard the Vance & Hines Suzuki, Vance downed Charles Gressman in the final.

A year before he made his Top Fuel debut, homestate favorite Darrell Gwynn won the Gatornationals Alcohol Dragster title. Gwynn, the 1983 Winston Alcohol Dragster champion, defeated Don Irvin in the final for the seventh of his 28 career NHRA victories.

The Gatornationals marked the first East Coast appearance by California Alcohol Funny Car ace Brad Anderson, and he wasted no time dominating the field. Anderson, who went on to win the first of his three national titles that year, set low e.t. with a 6.35 and ran the sport's best speed, 222.77 mph, in his Firebird. In the final, he claimed a one-sided victory over Bogie Kell's Southern Thunder Dodge.

Other Sportsman winners were Larry Tores, who wheeled his unique flip-top Oldsmobile-bodied altered to the Comp title; Duke Smith, who drove Harry Huntzberry's SS/JA Camaro to the Super Stock win; Tom Ward, who won Stock; and Richard Godley, who triumphed in Super Gas.

The event featured several dramatic moments, including a pair of spectacular incidents during Funny Car qualifying. Dale Barlett rode out a scary fire in his low-buck Iron Eagle Citation, and veteran driver Ron Correnti lost a blower on Larry Coogle's Sting Corvette and launched the body more than 75 feet into the air. Neither driver was hurt, but both failed to make Sunday's eliminations.