Gaige Herrera rode his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki Gen 3 Hayabusa to victory over teammate Richard Gadson to claim his fourth Pro Stock Motorcycle win of the season and 25th of his career on Sunday at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA.
Gaige Herrera ran 6.721-second/201.07 mph on Saturday to qualify second in the reduced field of eight riders that entered the first of two mid-season west coast races on the NHRA schedule. With the smaller field, Sunday’s eliminations were contested over the course of three rounds instead of the usual four.
In round one, Herrera defeated Chase Van Sant (6.803 seconds/198.23 mph) with a 6.767-second/201.04 mph pass, avenging a final-round loss to Van Sant a year ago in Seattle that ended his streak of 11 straight victories, an NHRA record which still stands.
A dramatic matchup against top contender Matt Smith in the semi-final round saw Herrera display the unflappable demeanor and lightning-quick reaction times that have earned the double world champion a reputation as a master on starting line. Posting a near-perfect 0.004-second reaction time, Herrera defeated Smith (6.721 seconds/202.39 mph) on a hole shot, beating his archrival to the finish line by just 0.001 second with a 6.761-second/201.37 mph run and setting up an all-Vance & Hines final against his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki teammate Richard Gadson.
Herrera’s sharpness on the starting line continued in the final round against Gadson in their second head-to-head matchup of the season. Herrera cut a 0.010-second light and then powered past Gadson (6.743 seconds/200.32 mph) with 6.690-second/201.555 mph run that set a new Pacific Raceways elapsed time track record. The victory was Herrera’s fourth of the season and the 25th of his career.
After becoming the quickest NHRA racer to earn 20 career wins last season, Herrera is now also the quickest to reach the 25-victory mark, which came in his 43rd career start in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class.
Herrera’s new record eclipses a long-standing mark previously held by legendary Pro Stock car driver Bob Glidden, but he said his standout memory of the weekend will be the round win over Smith.
“I probably shouldn’t have gotten the 25th win today, but I capitalized on my .004 light and Matt being a little tardy on the tree in the semis and that made all the difference. It was a big deal for us in the points, both me and Richard. We don’t run in air this good very often, and it took some time to figure out what setup our Hayabusas really needed. All weekend we were trying different tires, clutch setups and engine tune-ups, so it was an all-out team effort,” Herrera said. “Drag racing is not a one-person show. It’s incredible what I’ve been able to accomplish in getting to 25 wins, but none of it would be possible without the team behind me. I get the glory as the rider, but I need to give all the credit to everyone on the crew and back at the shop. I enjoy showcasing the great job they do and how hard they work at it.”
Richard Gadson qualified fourth with a 6.735-second/199.73 mph run on Saturday, after overcoming back pain and muscle spasms on early Friday morning that forced him to make a trip to a local hospital.
In round one, Gadson defeated Angie Smith (6.745 seconds/199.14 mph) on a hole shot with a 6.748-second/199.17 mph run, then defeated Chris Bostick (no time) in the semi-finals with a 6.770-second/198.99 mph pass to advance to his fourth final round appearance of the season and second against Herrera.
Gadson’s 6.743-second/200.32 mph run in the final round wasn’t quick enough to overcome Herrara, but a runner-up finish for the second race in a row moved him ahead of Matt Smith into second place in the championship points standings and a strong position heading into the second half of the season.
“It was a great weekend for the team. One of my main goals coming into this race was to catch Matt and move into second in the points. We felt like we were missing a little something with my bike, and Gaige’s too, all weekend. In the finals, the team managed to find what his was missing. I didn’t have much for him there, but it was a valiant effort, and an all-Vance & Hines final is a good weekend however you slice it,” Gadson said. “After the excruciating pain I experienced on Friday, I didn’t even know if I would be able to ride today. Thanks to a 4 a.m. trip to the ER and the help of the NHRA doctors here at the track, I was able to race today, so to come out here with a runner-up finish is just icing on the cake.”
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki crew chief Andrew Hines said the three-round elimination format on Sunday upped the stakes for the team and riders by condensing the eight fastest motorcycles in the class into fewer rounds on race day.
“Luckily the guys saved some rounds today with the hole shot wins and put us in the finals. We owe this one to them, because we were struggling a little with the tuning earlier in the day. And then Gaige put down that 6.69 in the final round that made us look like we should have won this race. That’s how we felt we should have been running all weekend,” Hines said. “Now we just need to keep it going and find a little more speed for Sonoma next weekend.”
After the seventh of 15 rounds in the 2025 Pro Stock Motorcycle season, Herrera and Gadson sit first and second in the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings with 734 and 596 points, respectively.
The RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines team returns to action July 25-27 in Sonoma, CA.
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