24th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals
presented by PEAK Performance
Route 66 Raceway
May 17-19, 2024

Pro Stock Motorcycle

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gaige Herrera found another level on Sunday in Chicago, winning his eighth straight race to tie Dave Schultz for the most consecutive wins in class history. In the final round at Route 66 Raceway, Herrera went 6.713 at 200.68 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki, holding off Chase Vant Sant to stay perfect in 2024. It’s his third victory this season and eighth straight dating back to the second race in the Countdown to the Championship a year ago, also giving the defending world champion his 14th career victory in just his 24th career start.

Herrera saw his streak of 11 straight No. 1 qualifiers snapped on Saturday to Matt Smith, but he was dominant on Sunday, going 6.694 at 200.47 in the opening round. He added victories against John Hall and LE Tonglet to reach the championship round, leaving first on Van Sant and cruising to another memorable victory.

“First, congrats to Chase Van Sant. He did a great job today and he’s on his way,” Herrera said. “As far as tying Dave Schultz, I’m honored. I wish I’d had a chance to meet him, but I’ve heard a lot of great stories and I know what he did for this Pro Stock Motorcycle class. It’s still hard to believe I’m mentioned in the same sentence as him.

“We qualified No. 2 behind Matt, but today was a different day. The weather was consistent and that let us really work on our tune-up. I honestly thought I would be me and Matt in the final round. I was consistent and my bike was on rails. We had a very consistent motorcycle this weekend.”

Van Sant, the reigning NHRA Rookie of the Year winner, advanced to his first career final round thanks to victories against Steve Johnson, M. Smith and Angie Smith.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action May 31-June 2 with the 14th annual NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.

Eliminations Round 1

W – Chase Van Sant / 0.017 / 6.797 / 196.93
L – Steve Johnson / 0.015 / 6.988 / 191.89
Chase Van Sant is 9 – 6 in Rd. 1 in his career. Steve Johnson is 17 – 26 in Rd.1 when starting #9. Van Sant and Johnson have each won 1 times against the other in prior events. Johnson with a couple ticks on the tree, but Van Sant has the lead has they go by the Christmas tree and holds on for the win. Van Sant with his quickest pass of the weekend for the win.

Angie Smith is 4 – 1 against Ryan Oehler and they have all been in Rd.1. Ryan Oehler is 22 – 63 in Rd. 1 in his career. Smith is 4 – 1 against Oehler in prior events. Smith with the starting line advantage and the win.

John Hall is 2 – 0 in Rd. 1 this year. It’s the 1st time since 2013 he has started the year 2 – 0. Marc Ingwersen is making his 44th start. He is 1 – 0 against Hall. Ingwersen with anear perfect light, but Hall has the lead by half track and never trailed for the win.

Richard Gadson is 2 – 0 in Rd. 1 this year. Chris Bostick is making his 54th start. Bostick with the starting line advantage, but Gadson has the lead by 150 feet and never trails from there on for the win. Gadson with his quickest pass of the weekend for the win.

FINAL

Saturday Qualifying

Matt Smith broke Gaige Herrera’s record streak of 11 straight No. 1 qualifiers in Pro Stock Motorcycle, as his 6.708 at 201.40 was more than enough on his Denso Auto Parts/Matt Smith Racing Buell was more than enough to stay at the top. Herrera’s No. 1 string had dated back to last July, but Smith impressed immediately on Friday, claiming his 53rd career top spot. He’ll begin eliminations against Lance Bonham, looking for his first win of the season.

“I’m really excited. I have a good bike. We’ve been testing a lot and getting better and better,” Smith said. “Honestly, I don’t know if lane choice means anything. Both sides are really good. This place has always been good to me. I normally come up here and run really well. This track will take everything you can throw at it. I think we’re back to where we think we should be. A win would be huge. We had the best bike for three runs this weekend and I think we’ll have the best bike tomorrow.”

Herrera can win his eighth straight race on Sunday and qualified second with a run of 6.745 at 200.17. LE Tonglet took third thanks to a run of 6.772 at 200.44.

1. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.708, 201.40
2. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.733, 201.16
3. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.772, 200.44
4. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.778, 200.26
5. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.782, 200.95
6. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.795, 200.00
7. John Hall, Beull, 6.811, 198.50
10. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.853, 195.45
8. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.822, 198.12
9. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.838, 130.78
11. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.867, 196.22
12. Ron Tornow, Victory, 6.894, 196.96
13. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.948, 193.32
14. Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.956, 195.28
15. Wesley Wells, Suzuki, 7.237, 185.51
16. Lance Bonham, Buell, 7.246, 184.50

Did Not Qualify:
17. Geno Scali, 7.355, 183.24
18. Eiji Kawakami, 7.408, 184.60

Mission Foods #2FAST2TASTY NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Challenge

Defending Pro Stock Motorcycle Gaige Herrera stayed perfect in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in 2024, winning for the third straight time with a run of 6.733 at 201.16 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki. The victory came against teammate Richard Gadson, making it a win-win for the team, but Herrera has been nearly impossible to beat since last year. He’ll look for yet another double-up weekend on Sunday, pleased with how the bike ran in the heat on Saturday at Route 66 Raceway.

ROUND ONE
W- Richard Gadson / 6.829 / 200.41
L- LE Tonglet / 6.819 / 199.52

W- Gaige Herrera / 6.744 / 200.62
L- John Hall / 6.811 / 198.50

FINAL
W- Gaige Herrera / 6.733 / 201.16
RU- Richard Gadson / 6.795 / 200.00

“I knew that it was going to be a tough race with Richard because he’s my teammate. He’s new but he’s competitive and he’s learning quickly,” Herrera said. “He left on me, but we had enough to get around him. The good thing about these [Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge] races is that you get in a routine on Saturday and that helps make you a better racer on Sunday. Right now, the parity in this class is close, and that’s what this class needs.”

Friday Qualifying

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Matt Smith impressed during both sessions to kick off the weekend, making the quickest run each time, including a Friday-best 6.708 at 201.40 on his Denso Auto Parts/Matt Smith Racing Buell. It was a solid step forward for the six-time world champ, who is looking to snap Gaige Herrera’s class-record streak of 11 No. 1 qualifiers. Smith is off to a strong start with that, getting close to the 6.60s with his second run on Friday. It would also be Smith’s 53rd top qualifier if it holds up.

“I think we’re running well and we’ve made this bike very competitive,” Smith said. “Our goal is to just keep getting better and hats off to this whole team for the progress we’ve made. We’re learning and we’ll keep trying to improve.

“We’ve been working hard and testing to get out sixty-foot times better. I had a 1.05 in Charlotte and the bike wouldn’t shift and I had a 1.05 here on Q1. We put some power in it and it stuck. Really, our goal is just to make our program better.”

Herrera, who has won seven consecutive races, is currently second with a run of 6.734 at 200.17, and LE Tonglet is third thanks to a run of 6.772 at 200.44.

1. Matt Smith / 6.708 / 201.4
2. Gaige Herrera / 6.734 / 200.17
3. LE Tonglet / 6.772 / 200.44
4. Angie Smith / 6.778 / 200.26
5. Hector Arana Jr / 6.782 / 200.95
6. John Hall / 6.823 / 199.05
7. Chase Van Sant / 6.827 / 197.54
8. Steve Johnson / 6.838 / 130.78
9. Marc Ingwersen / 6.862 / 196.1
10. Richard Gadson / 6.875 / 197.86
11. Chris Bostick / 6.89 / 194.13
12. Ron Tornow / 6.894 / 196.96
13. Ryan Oehler / 6.948 / 193.32
14. Jianna Evaristo / 7.065 / 195.9
15. Wesley Wells / 7.237 / 185.51
16. Eiji Kawakami / 7.408 / 184.6
17. Lance Bonham / 7.409 / 21.57

ABOUT NHRA

The National Hot Rod Association, the largest auto racing organization in the world, has come a long way since Wally Parks founded it in 1951.

Though it has grown into a global sports-entertainment business, NHRA has not lost sight of Parks’ original goal: to provide competitors a place to race. But now those places are deluxe supertracks in major U.S. markets, and the racing runs the gamut from 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragsters to 5-horsepower Jr. Dragsters. Drag racing’s journey through the decades has been sometimes swift, sometimes rocky, but always exciting and always worth the trip.

In the 1950s, top performance marks were 140 mph in 9 seconds. Today, they’re more than 330 mph in less than 3.7 seconds. Back then, winners earned little more than a trophy and bragging rights. Today’s racers compete for trophies and bragging rights as well as a share of more than $3 million in prize money.

In 2024, NHRA joined forces with Mission Foods to present the world’s fastest motorsports attraction as the flagship sponsor of the national touring series, the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

Under the leadership of President Glen Cromwell, NHRA raced forward in 2020 with a number of key initiatives, including a multiyear partnership with FOX Sports to televise NHRA events from the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, and the Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. FOX Sports networks aired more than 500 hours of programming throughout the year, highlighted by 22 race-day shows, including eight on FOX’s national network, in addition to primetime Friday night qualifying shows, and fans are in for more of the same this year.

NHRA has extremely loyal fans that are committed to the sport they love, and it’s easy to see why. They continue to have the best access to the behind-the-scenes action of racing. NHRA’s open-pits policy allows fans to get an up-close-and personal view of how teams rebuild engines. Drivers are often found in their pit areas, signing autographs and chatting with fans, who have the rare opportunity to get behind the wheel themselves in a variety of racing simulators in the Nitro Alley Fan Zone. Those are just a few reasons NHRA fans continue to be some of the most loyal in any sport.

For more information, log on to NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

About Mission Foods

Great food is a great motivator. It brings everyone to the table and inspires us to explore all kinds of delicious destinations. At Mission®, it drives us to seek the freshest ingredients, simple recipes, diverse flavors and wholesome products that help us discover all the places our tortillas can go. There are better-for-you destinations like with our high protein, low carb, or gluten-free tortillas. Of course, tacos and nachos are favorite stops. We are always up for those. www.missionfoods.com

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