For the second race in as many weeks, Richard Gadson rode his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki Gen 3 Hayabusa to a runner-up finish in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class at the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC, on Sunday.
Gadson defeated Ron Tornow (7.182 seconds/193.40 mph) in round one with a 6.846-second/197.94 mph run. In a repeat match-up from last week, Gadson beat Chase Van Sant (6.942 seconds/194.91 mph) with a 6.887-second/197.39 mph pass in round two, which set up a clash between Gadson and his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki teammate Gaige Herrera in the semi-finals. Gadson ran 6.890 seconds at 196.36 mph to avenge two previous head-to-head losses to Herrera (8.746 seconds/100.40 mph), whose motorcycle slowed at halftrack. The win sent Gadson to the finals for the second race in a row and third time this season.
Gadson faced off against Matt Smith in the final round, hoping to notch his first career NHRA national event win for the second race in a row. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed when Gadson committed a redlight foul on the starting line, handing the automatic win to Smith (6.846 seconds/199.35 mph). With four races remaining in the Countdown, Gadson remains third in the points standings, two points shy of Herrera who fell to second, and 27 points behind new leader Smith.
“There’s no way to sugar coat it. I let the team down on that one. I went after the tree thinking I needed to cut a great light to win, but I was way too aggressive. I’m used to having to go get it, because in my career up to now, I haven’t been in a position before where I had a motorcycle that was as good as or better than my competition. I’ve always had to make something out of nothing. But on days like today, I realize I need to make adjustments to that mentality,” Gadson admitted. “I’ll shake this off and take it as a lesson. Once I fill up my logbook of lessons, I believe it’ll be tough to beat.”
Herrera advanced out of the first round against Marcus Hylton (7.189 seconds/184.25 mph), with a 6.852-second/197.83 mph run, and then ran 6.874 seconds at 196.73 mph in round two to defeat John Hall (foul). In his semi-final matchup against Gadson, Herrera’s motorcycle suffered a mechanical issue that caused it to slow to 8.746 seconds at 100.40 mph. With the third-round exit, Herrera dropped one spot in the playoff standings and now finds himself in the unusual position of looking up at the top of the leaderboard from second place as he seeks to defend his championship title.
“I had a parts malfunction in the round against Richard. I know the team is as disappointed about it as I am, but there are still four races to go and I have all the confidence that we’ll bounce back,” Herrera said. “Doing the chasing rather than being the one chased makes me even more hungry. It makes me want to just put my head down and do the best job I can as a rider. These back-to-back races are helping me stay in the groove and mentally focused on racing, and the whole team is just as focused on winning this championship as I am.”
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki crew chief Andrew Hines said the hot, humid conditions in Charlotte put heavy stress on the team’s engines, which will require a quick turnaround ahead of next week’s race in St. Louis.
“We had a fuel injector wire come loose on Gaige’s motorcycle, and it doesn’t run too well on three cylinders. Fortunately, we didn’t hurt the engine, but it’s a tough way to go out. We were taxing our engines all weekend long in this heat, so the team has some work to do over the next few days back at the shop to get ready for next weekend and make up some lost ground,” Hines said. “We’ve got Richard in the fight now with a very strong motorcycle, so our goal is to keeping putting both of our Hayabusas at least into the semi-final rounds. We’re looking forward to running in cooler weather next week, which will hopefully help level the playing field between our high-revving four-cylinder engines and the V-twins in the class so we can get back to the top of the standings.”
With four races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship, Herrera and Gadson sit second and third in the points standings, with 2,283 and 2,281 points, respectively.
The RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki team is back in action September 27-29 at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Worldwide Technology Raceway in Madison, IL.
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