Reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Richard Gadson advanced to his third-straight final-round appearance of the season and extended his championship lead with a runner-up finish aboard his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki Gen 3 Hayabusa at the NHRA Southern Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Adel, GA, on Sunday.
Expectations were high for the new venue on the NHRA circuit, which hosted its first ever NHRA national event this weekend, after record-setting top speeds were posted in several classes on Friday.
Following a long delay brought on by Saturday morning rain showers, Richard Gadson qualified third with a 6.730-second/201.37 mph run when qualification rounds resumed later in the afternoon. But Saturday’s rain ushered in significant changes to track conditions that made Sunday’s elimination rounds challenging for tuners and racers in all classes.
In round one, Gadson defeated Geno Scali (6.940 seconds/194.77 mph) with a 6.759-second/201.40 mph run, then advanced to the semi-finals with a 6.770-second/201.40 mph second-round victory over Clayton Howey (foul).
The semi-final round set up the first head-to-head matchup of this season between Gadson and his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki teammate, Gaige Herrera, who came out on top of a four-way battle in the final round of the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals last week.
Looking to avenge his loss in Charlotte, Gadson ran 6.756 seconds at 201.46 mph, turning the tables on Herrera (6.783 seconds/199.14 mph) and advancing to his 12th career final round appearance.
In the final round, Gadson got a starting line advantage over Matt Smith but had to roll off the throttle after his motorcycle drifted near the centerline and slowed to 6.834 seconds at 193.24 mph, coming up short against his opponent’s 6.724-second/202.06 mph run.
With his third-straight final round appearance this season and second runner-up finish in as many weeks, Gadson extended his championship advantage to 51 points.
“Matt’s in the groove right now. He’s got a good package and he’s doing a good job with it. I wish I could have given him a better race in the finals, but lane choice really dictated a lot this weekend. I didn’t have it in the finals and, as soon as I popped the clutch, I knew we had a problem. My motorcycle spun the rear tire a little and when the front wheel set back down it started to wash out the front end and I couldn’t correct it. I need flawless runs to put up the numbers the top guys are running right now, and that wasn’t a flawless run,” Gadson said.
“Overall, I’m happy with the weekend. While some others are having momentum swings up and down, smooth and steady is doing it for me. Three events this year, three final rounds and one win,” he said. “It’s a long season. At the beginning of the year, I said I was going to have to withstand the assaults that would come from Gaige and Matt, who are both really motivated to take the championship back from me. We’re a fighting team and we’ll figure it out, keep trying to find ways to get better, be better and we’ll see them again in two weeks.
On Saturday, Gaige Herrera posted his best qualifying effort of the season so far, locking down the second spot in the starting order with 6.705-second/202.30 mph run that was just three-thousands of a second off the pace of polesitter Matt Smith.
Herrera won his first-round matchup against Charles Poskey (6.935 seconds/195.33 mph) with a 6.707-second/199.52 mph pass that was low-ET of the round. In round two, Herrera posted a 6.775-second/199.40 mph run to advance past Jianna Evaristo (6.847 seconds/200.44 mph) into the semi-finals, where he came up short against Gadson.
“I’ve raced here quite a bit in other classes and like it a lot. It’s a beautiful facility and the surface is usually nice and smooth. This weekend the track started out good but got a little greasy after the rain on Saturday and the heat today. It was tricky and felt a one-lane racetrack. We couldn’t leave the starting line with the 60-foot times we needed to run the big numbers,” Herrera said. “But we did the best we could with what was given, and with Richard being runner-up and me making the semi-final, we probably couldn’t ask for much more under the circumstances.”
Despite the facility having a reputation for a glass-smooth surface that makes it a popular venue for off-season testing, RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki crew chief Andrew Hines said the changes in weather and track preparation made racing difficult on Sunday.
“It’s one of the biggest swings in track conditions we’ve seen in a long time, especially from yesterday to today. When the sun did come out, it got greasy and having lane choice became a huge advantage, which we didn’t have in the final,” Hines said.
“We’re also carrying a 30-pound weight disadvantage to the Buells per the NHRA regulations, which makes it harder to accelerate our motorcycles off the starting line. We really need to crush the 60-foot times to run the numbers they can put up, and when the traction goes away, we just can’t get there,” he said.
“We snuck through the first two races and came home with Wallys when we felt like we could have easily been beaten at those races, but our team and riders outperformed,” Hines said. “The class is getting tougher. There are strong Suzukis and V-Twins all around us. The NHRA is looking for a change of outcome, not necessarily parity before they will make any competition adjustments. We’ll have to see where cards fall over the next few races.”
After the third of 14 rounds in the 2026 Pro Stock Motorcycle season, Gadson and Herrera sit first and second in the championship standings with 316 and 265 points, respectively.
The RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines team returns to action May 14-17 at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL.
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