After two days of strong performances from Matt Smith Racing, Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader Gaige Herrera had his day on Sunday, picking up the No. 1 qualifier with a standout run of 6.809 at 197.71 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines. It was a strong weekend turnaround for the defending world champion, who picks up his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season with the impressive run. He’ll open eliminations against Wesley Wells, trying to pick up his first victory at the world’s biggest drag race. It’s one of the few events Herrera didn’t win a year ago and he’ll get a chance for redemption on Monday.
“It’s good to get the No. 1 spot for Vance & Hines. This is big for us,” Herrera said. “I was happy to run 6.80 and I’ve got to credit Mother Nature because the [cool weather] helped us. I just didn’t think it would be good enough to stick. I was surprised that it did. It should be even cooler tomorrow, so I think you’ll see some 6.70s for sure.
“We tested here a couple of weeks ago and it helped quite a bit. The air was close to what we had this morning, so we got good data. We’re in a good spot for Monday. That goes for me and Richard [Gadson], Kelly [Clontz], and Geno [Scali]. I think we’ll also do well tomorrow.”
Matt Smith took the second spot with a 6.816 at 196.90 and John Hall qualified third after going 6.830 at 198.76 and winning the Mission Challenge on Saturday.
This follows a topsy-turvy Saturday at the NHRA Big Go as Smith was crowned as the Mission Challenge #2Fast2Tasty Season champion, only to have the sanctioning body step in, take the title from Smith award it to Herrera. NHRA says it made a mistake and Herrera owned the tie breaker. We are working to find out what the tie breaker criteria was. Smith’s team says NHRA was not immediately willing to share its calculations.
Eliminations for the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals begin at 10 a.m. ET on Monday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
| Position | Driver | Car No. | ET | MPH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Gaige Herrera | 1 | 6.809 | 197.71 |
| 02 | Matt Smith | 4 | 6.816 | 196.9 |
| 03 | John Hall | 1628 | 6.830 | 198.76 |
| 04 | Richard Gadson | 23 | 6.834 | 196.64 |
| 05 | Jianna Evaristo | 5 | 6.856 | 199.29 |
| 06 | Angie Smith | 8 | 6.859 | 197.94 |
| 07 | Hector Arana Jr | 3 | 6.864 | 196.64 |
| 08 | Chase Van Sant | 9 | 6.887 | 195.73 |
| 09 | Chris Bostick | 17 | 6.929 | 193.52 |
| 10 | Kelly Clontz | 10 | 6.935 | 194.6 |
| 11 | Steve Johnson | 6 | 6.954 | 192.55 |
| 12 | Geno Scali | 351 | 6.998 | 193.54 |
| 13 | Ryan Oehler | 3284 | 7.008 | 191.59 |
| 14 | Marc Ingwersen | 7 | 7.012 | 191.73 |
| 15 | Ron Tornow | 1138 | 7.058 | 190.46 |
| 16 | Wesley Wells | 371 | 7.326 | 181.06 |
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.
