Richard Gadson raced his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki Gen 3 Hayabusa to the final round of eliminations for the eighth time this season, finishing as runner-up and extending his points lead in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, TX, on Sunday.
Near-perfect fall weather and ideal track conditions in Dallas set the stage for Texas Motorplex’s Stampede of Speed, a week-long racing festival capped by the NHRA national event. The event frequently produces record-breaking runs and late-season upsets that shake up the standings deep into the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Richard Gadson qualified fifth with a 6.692-second/202.07 mph run on Saturday.
Gadson opened Sunday’s elimination rounds by defeating Marc Ingwersen (6.835 seconds/197.10 mph) with a 6.694-second/201.88 mph run in the first round, then knocked out Angie Smith (8.940 seconds/95.65 mph) in round two with a 6.719-second/201.13 mph pass.
In the semifinal round, Gadson defeated Steve Johnson (6.780 seconds/198.59 mph) with a 6.703-second/201.30 mph pass to advance to his eighth final-round appearance of the season and 17th of his career.
But despite posting a career-best 6.654-second/203.79 mph run in the final round, Gadson lost on a hole shot to Matt Smith, whose .027-second starting line advantage combined with a 6.660-second/203.08 mph pass was just quick enough to edge out the defending world champion.
With the runner-up finish, Gadson extended his lead in the Countdown to the Championship standings to 58 points over teammate Gaige Herrera with two races remaining in the six-race playoffs. Smith made up some ground in third place, closing to within 85 points of Gadson.
“A .030 on the tree is a very respectable light but it isn’t going to cut it right now. The class is that tight. Gaige and I both had similar lights in the rounds we lost today despite running in the 6.60s. That’s tough racing,” Gadson said. “I’ve been to the last three final rounds, and my goal is to get to the finals in the next two races. I’ve just got to keep fighting to withstand the assault that’s coming from behind me.”
Looking ahead to the next race in Las Vegas and the season finale in Pomona, Gadson hopes to improve his qualifying performances in order to earn more points and put himself in the best position on the ladder heading into the elimination rounds.
“We haven’t had the best qualifying efforts the last couple of races, so I haven’t been getting many bonus points,” he said. “We’re definitely hoping to pick that up in the next two races because I have a feeling those points are going to matter here at the end of the year.”
Gaige Herrera ran 6.651 seconds at 203.05 mph on Saturday, earning his fourth number one qualifying spot of the season and the 35th of his career.
In round one, Herrera ran 6.669 seconds at 202.46 mph, the low elapsed time of the round, against Hector Arana Jr. (foul). But despite making a nearly identical 6.669-second/202.68 mph pass in round two, Herrera wasn’t quick enough on the starting line to advance against veteran Suzuki rider Steve Johnson, who posted the quickest run of his 40-year career, a 6.673-second/201.23 mph pass that beat Herrera on a hole shot. Suzuki congratulates Johnson on his personal-record-setting run.
Thanks to qualifying bonus points, Herrera had whittled Gadson’s lead down to 18 points prior to the start of eliminations, but the early exit was a setback in the two-time champion’s quest for a third title. Herrera now sits 58 points behind Gadson and will be looking for a reversal of fortunes in Las Vegas in two weeks.
“My Hayabusa was like a bracket bike this weekend, running consistently in the 6.60s, but I just got edged out there in the second round. Steve Johnson was a little better on the tree, and his win light came on. That’s good racing and I can’t really be mad about it,” Herrera said. “Losing that round didn’t set me too far back, but I’m not one to focus on counting points. I’m focused on winning a third championship. I’m still in the fight and it’s going to be a fight to the end.”
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki crew chief Andrew Hines said the track preparation and cool weather in Dallas produced the type of conditions tuners dream of when trying to produce the high horsepower numbers that result in quick elapsed times and fast top speeds.
“It was a killer racing surface and the best weather conditions we’ve seen in years. The only thing we were missing was a tailwind. As a tuner, you dream of weekends like this. We had fast motorcycles and proved we’re here to battle for the championship, but we came up short and didn’t come home with the Wally,” Hines said. “We’re going to keep doing what we do in Las Vegas, try to gobble up all the qualifying points and narrow the championship down to just Richard and Gaige heading into the finale in Pomona.”
With two races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship, Gadson and Herrera sit first and second in the standings, with 2,475 and 2,417 points, respectively.
The RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines team returns to action Oct. 29-Nov. 1 for round five of the Countdown to the Championship at the MOPAR NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in Las Vegas, NV.
