Winds were high on Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the best drag racers in the country competed at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals, the penultimate event of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Chris Bostick, the driver of The Surf Signature RV Resort Suzuki made an early first-round exit against his White Alligator Racing teammate Chase Van Sant, but he’s already setting his sights on maximizing his performance at the NHRA Finals.
Consistency was the name of the game during qualifying as Bostick started strong with a respectable pass of 6.961 seconds at 192.58 mph. He backed it up on Friday afternoon with another great run of 6.968 at 194.49. On Saturday, Bostick sped to a lap of 6.965 at 192.21. But it was his final qualifying effort under the late afternoon Las Vegas sun that landed him in the No. 10 qualifying position. Bostick powered to a killer run of 6.937 at 194.74.
The headwind on Sunday was especially ferocious for the Pro Stock Motorcycle category as they battled down the track on two wheels. Bostick’s spot on the ladder lined up against Van Sant who qualified No. 7 thanks to his qualifying effort of 6.876 at 196.33. As Bostick’s sleek white Surf Suzuki lined up against Van Sant’s black and yellow Trick-Tools motorcycle, all eyes in the jam-packed grandstands were on the duo. Bostick and Van Sant left within three-thousandths of each other with Bostick’s .028-second reaction time slimly outpacing Van Sant’s .031. But Van Sant got around Bostick for the win.
“We are just out here having fun and it’s always a blast to compete in Las Vegas,” said Bostick. “The wind was straight in our faces so it affected all of the Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors equally. We didn’t have enough to get around Chase. But it was still a great weekend. The entire team came out in costume during qualifying on Saturday for our Halloween tradition. We had a fun “Surf” theme in all of our costumes. And Clay Millican had Evel Knieval’s son, Kelly Knievel, out here this weekend so I got to break out my Knievel leathers for a photo opp.”
Due to extended track cleanup and inclement weather conditions, the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals were completed on Monday. Bostick will finish his 2024 season in two weeks when the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series rolls into Pomona, Calif. for the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, November 14-17.
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