Gaige Herrera notched his ninth Pro Stock Motorcycle victory of the season aboard his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki Gen 3 Hayabusa and rewrote NHRA history by becoming the fastest racer to win 20 career national events. He achieved this feat at the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex on Sunday.
Race Highlights:
Gaige Herrera qualified number 1 and won his ninth race of the season, becoming the fastest racer in NHRA history to win 20 career national events.
Richard Gadson qualified ninth and advanced to the first round of eliminations.
Herrera grows his commanding lead in the Championship points race with two races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Gaige Herrera topped the qualifying sheet on Saturday with a 6.749-second/202.52 mph, securing the number 1 qualifying spot for the eighth time this season and 22nd time in his career.
In a first-round bye run, Herrera ran 6.758 seconds at 201.78 mph, posting the low elapsed time of the round. He advanced past Chase Van Sant, who fouled on the starting line (Herrera ran 6.818/199.53mph). In the semifinals, Herrera defeated Jianna Evaristo (7.010 seconds/194.96 mph) with a 6.835-second pass at 199.65 mph to advance to his 10th final round appearance of the season and 22nd of his career.
Herrera defeated Matt Smith (7.703 seconds/125.55 mph) in the final round with a 6.816-second pass at 200.56 mph to earn his ninth win of the season and 20th of his career. The victory made Herrera the fastest racer in NHRA history to earn 20 career national event wins, achieving this feat in 34 races starting back in the 2022 season. The record was previously held by legendary Pro Stock Car driver Bob Glidden, who took 50 starts to win his first 20 races. The victory also extended Herrera’s lead over Smith to 62 points with two races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
“Luck was on my side today. We threw down a good number in round one, but we were at a disadvantage with the hot weather here. In the second round I was late on the tree, but Chase went red, and in the finals, I think Matt had my number, but he missed a gear or broke the transmission. So, I definitely got lucky. This was not a race I expected to win,” Herrera said. “I’ve got a good cushion in the points going into Las Vegas, but it’s nothing to sleep on. We can’t be relaxed at all. We’re going to have to push our bikes hard at the next race to get everything we can out of them and try to keep the points lead. It’s going to be a tight battle to the end.”
With so much focus on Dallas and the championship situation, Herrera was unaware he was on the cusp of setting a new 20-race win record until an NHRA TV announcer mentioned it on Saturday.
“I didn’t know anything about the record until Amanda Busick told me about it yesterday. I wasn’t expecting that one bit,” Herrera admitted. “Since I was a little kid, I dreamed of racing in the NHRA and now I’m here living it. For me to have accomplished everything I have in such a short time, I give all the credit to Andrew Hines, Byron Hines, Terry Vance and the whole Vance & Hines team and our sponsors. This means a lot, especially coming at this point in the Countdown.”
Richard Gadson ran 6.840 seconds at 198.75 mph on Saturday to qualify in ninth place, the first time this season he hasn’t qualified in the top half of the field.
In round one, Gadson ran 6.830 seconds at 199.32 mph but lost to Chase Van Sant (6.808 seconds/199.96 mph). Despite battling with inconsistent performance from his motorcycle throughout the weekend, Gadson remains in third place in the Countdown standings heading into the final two races.
“Right now, we’re having some issues with my motorcycle not running at the level we know it’s capable of. Having weekends like this is part of racing. You’ve got to be able to deal with them and move on. Our whole team is working diligently trying to figure out the situation,” Gadson said. “Hopefully we can get back into a position where my motorcycle can turn on more win lights and is a threat again in the countdown, whether that be for me to win rounds or by knocking out our competitors for Gaige to win rounds.”
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki crew chief Andrew Hines said weather conditions in Dallas this week were not as favorable as a year ago when the team set the current 6.627-second national record elapsed time.
“This was not the racetrack we had in 2023. We ran well throughout qualifying, but it got hotter today. I didn’t have a good handle on getting the best 60-foot times out of Gaige’s Hayabusa or making all the horsepower we possibly could from our Suzuki engines, but we kept the tune-up in a range where he was able to win rounds. Gaige got a gift there in the second round, and probably in the final too, but we’ll take it. It’s one of those wins we can chalk up to being able to take advantage of any situation we’re faced with by always trying our best to be on top of our game. We’re riding the high of winning two races in a row, which in the countdown gives you a good shot at winning a championship. The rest of the season will come down to being consistently fast and maximizing points in every round, include qualifying bonus points.”
With two races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship, Herrera and Gadson sit first and third in the points standings, with 2,532 and 2,371 points, respectively.
The RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki team returns to action Oct. 31-Nov. 3 at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV.
There are more videos on the Cycledrag Youtube channel (please subscribe here) and like the Cycledrag Facebook page (Please like here) and more will be coming soon. Also subscribe to our NEW Youtube channel “Racing Jack” and Check back daily.
