Gaige Herrera gave himself a big birthday present by racing his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki Gen 3 Hayabusa to a sixth victory of the season that put his quest for a third Pro Stock Motorcycle world championship back on track at the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, IL, on Sunday.
In the third of three back-to-back races marking the mid-point of the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs, Gaige Herrera qualified number one for the seventh time this season and 31st time in his career with a 6.741-second/200.41 mph run in the Friday evening qualifying session.
On his 32nd birthday, Herrera opened Sunday eliminations with a 6.766-second/199.58 mph solo bye run in round one, then defeated Jianna Evaristo (6.923 seconds/196.02 mph) with a 6.782-second/199.40 mph pass to advance to the semi-final round. In the semis, Herrera beat Angie Smith (foul) with a 6.798-second/200.17 mph run to advance to his 31st career final round appearance.
In the final round, Herrera notched his sixth victory of the year when rookie standout Brayden Davis, riding a Vance & Hines-prepped Suzuki Gen 3 Hayabusa, red lighted on the starting line, throwing away a run that would have been quick enough to beat Herrera’s 6.791-second/199.61 mph pass.
With his 27th career victory, Herrera jumped up two spots to second in the Countdown standings and drew within 29 points of championship leader Richard Gadson. Herrera’s climb up the order was aided by first-round losses for rivals Matt Smith and John Hall.
“I would say luck was on my side this weekend for sure. We had a little setback in Charlotte last week, but we came here and bounced right back. Brayden outran me there in the final, but fortunately he went red, and I was on the better side of it. There’s no better birthday gift than getting a Wally,” Herrera said. “It’s a different feeling in this Countdown being the hunter, rather than the hunted, and honestly it feels like there is less weight on my shoulders. I’m in a good position right now but drag racing is like gambling sometimes. You don’t know how it’s going to end up, and that’s the exciting part about it. We’ll see what the racing gods have in store for us over the next three races.”
A week after moving to the top of the Countdown standings with victory at the Charlotte 4-Wide Nationals, Richard Gadson qualified second with a 6.759-second/200.02 mph pass in Saturday’s qualifying sessions.
Gadson defeated Lance Bonham (7.121 seconds/187.96 mph) in round one with a 6.789-second/200.05 mph run, then ran 6.855 seconds at 196.99 mph in round two to advance against Steve Johnson (6.853 seconds/195.48 mph) on a hole shot. Gadson took another starting line advantage in his semi-final matchup against Davis (6.809 seconds/199.14 mph), but his 6.830-second/197.65 mph run wasn’t quick enough to overcome the speed of the rider on the team’s third Hayabusa.
Although it’s not as large a margin as he had hoped for, Gadson extended his lead in the Countdown standings to 29 points over Herrera as rivals Matt Smith and Hall fell further behind in third and fourth.
“This is championship drag racing and by no stretch of the imagination did I believe I was just going to cakewalk my way to a No. 1 plate. I’ve got Gaige breathing down my neck and I figured at some point he would start an assault,” Gadson said. “We struggled a little bit with my bike’s performance in the later rounds this weekend. That’s part of racing. But I gathered up a little bit of a cushion in the points so we could afford it. Now we need to find the groove again and get back on the gas in Dallas.”
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki crew chief Andrew Hines acknowledged that the decision to bring another rider onto the team during the final six races of the season has pros and cons.
“We had a team meeting before the Countdown and agreed it could be both good and bad for us to have Brayden on our third Hayabusa. He will hopefully take out some rival riders along the way, but he might also take out one of our riders too,” Hines said. “It was tough having Richard lose to another Vance & Hines bike today, but the big thing for us as a team was to capitalize on other riders faltering. Gaige was able to make up, and then some, the points he lost at Charlotte, which was a big momentum swing. We’re looking forward to going to Dallas in two weeks and have some fun at the Stampede of Speed.”
With three races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship, Gadson and Herrera sit first and second in the standings, with 2,379 and 2,350 points, respectively.
The RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki team returns to action Oct. 8-12 at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, TX.
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