Kicking off the Countdown to the Championship playoffs at the first of six remaining races that will decide the 2024 Pro Stock Motorcycle champion, Richard Gadson posted a 6.806-second/198.35 mph run on Saturday to claim the number three starting spot in Reading.
Gadson defeated Geno Scali (6.901 seconds/196.93 mph) in round one with a 6.817-second/198.58 mph run. In round two, Gadson beat Chase Van Sant (6.905 seconds/194.04 mph) with a 6.893-second/196.82 mph pass to advance to the semi-final round. In the semis, Gadson defeated Matt Smith with a 6.872-second/196.85 mph run to advance to the final round for the second time in his rookie season.
In the finals, Gadson faced off against Hector Arana, Jr., hoping to notch his first career NHRA national event victory. Despite posting a quicker starting-line reaction time, Gadson’s 6.874-second/198.12 mph run wasn’t quick enough to defeat Arana (6.839 seconds/198.38 mph). However, Gadson’s performance closed the gap to second place to two points and he now sits just 19 points shy of teammate Gaige Herrera in first place.
“I wanted that first win. I could almost taste it. The whole Vance & Hines team wanted it too. But we didn’t get the job done in all four rounds today and that’s what it takes to win. The engine bogged on the line when I let the clutch go in the final. We’re not sure why. Nothing we did should have caused that. It was a strange deal, but it just wasn’t my day. Hector got to the finish line first. That’s racing,” Gadson said. “The best thing you can have in racing is a short memory. Forget about it and move on to the next one. I can’t wait to try again next weekend.”
Starting the Countdown as points leader following the end of the regular season two weeks ago in Indianapolis, Gaige Herrera posted a 6.743-second/200.20 mph qualifying run on Saturday to take the top starting spot for the sixth time this season and the 20th time in his career.
Herrera advanced out of the first round against Kelly Clontz (no time), shutting off early to run 6.858-seconds at 175.37 mph, and then ran 6.834 seconds at 199.23 mph in a second-round bye run. In the semi-final round, Herrera lost to Hector Arana, Jr. (6.884 seconds/195.62 mph) by leaving the starting line too soon, a rare occurrence for the reigning champion. Despite the loss, Herrera leaves Reading still in the points lead thanks to Gadson’s semi-final victory over Matt Smith.
“I basically had bye runs in the first two rounds so the third round against Hector felt like round one again. I was just getting into race mode and cut it too close. I’ve been reacting very well on the tree lately, but this time it was too close, and that red light bit me when it counted. You live by the sword and die by the sword as they say,” Herrera said. “Big thanks for Richard for getting past Matt Smith in the other semi-final, because we’re leaving here in the same order in the points we started with. I’m happy to have the points lead with Charlotte and St. Louis coming up in the next two weeks and looking forward to getting back into the groove.”
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki crew chief Andrew Hines said the team worked hard over the past two weeks to refresh its Suzuki engines in preparation for a crucial string of three races in a row to kick off the Countdown.
“We qualified well with both Hayabusas and got one into the final, so it was an okay weekend overall, but we’re still missing some things in our tuning. We were playing with fire all weekend on the reaction times with Gaige’s motorcycle. I need to work on the clutch setup to help give him a little more cushion on the tree. We’re hitting the clutch hard at the start to compensate for the extra weight that NHRA has recently added to our bikes, and that causes the motorcycle to move very quickly in the first few inches off the line. It’s something we need to assess and improve on for the next race in Charlotte. Our Suzukis are a threat to win races. That was our goal coming into the Countdown and we’re in good shape.”
With five races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship, Herrera and Gadson sit first and third in the points standings, with 2,198 and 2,179 points, respectively.
The RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki team is back in action September 20-22 at the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC.
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