2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
April 28-30, 2023
Gaige Herrera Wins Back-to-back Events
Herrera continued to be incredible to open the 2023 season in Pro Stock Motorcycle, staying perfect with another dominant performance, breaking the track E.T. record with a stellar run of 6.710 at 202.00 in the final round on his Vance & Hines/Mission Foods Suzuki. After qualifying No. 1 for the second straight race, Herrera made the quickest run in two of the three rounds on Sunday, delivering an epic performance in the final quad against teammate Eddie Krawiec, defending world champ Matt Smith and defending event winner Steve Johnson.
Herrera finished first in both quads heading into the final and then ran away from his competition in the final round, posting a .013 reaction time and making the quickest PSM run at zMAX Dragway.
“I’m on cloud nine. To be out here and go No. 1 back-to-back, win the race back-to-back, it’s a lot to take in. I’m enjoying the ride,” Herrera said. “There are plenty of good riders out there, so to be able to be in the final with those three and come out on top, that’s awesome. It’s going to be a tough season. We’re out here basically dominating, but it’s the beginning of the season, and it’s going to be a long ride. (Four-wide) is a different kind of pressure. To be up there with three other rides, you have to focus. I didn’t want to wait or get timed out, so pretty much every round I put it on the 2-step and made sure I was ready for anything that happened.”
Matt Smith finished as the runner-up, going 6.780 at 199.61, with Krawiec, who was seeking his 50th career win, taking third and Johnson following in fourth.
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action May 19-21 with the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago.
Eliminations Round 1
GROUP 1
W – Jerry Savoie / 0.089 / 6.894 / 195.34
Savoie is last off the line, but has the power to move into round two.
W – Matt Smith / 0.030 / 6.862 / 197.88
Matt Smith had the best RT, speed , and ET to ensure a place in round two.
Chase Van Sant / 0.036 / 6.982 / 193.63
Van Sant is off his prior best on a clean pass.
Marc Ingwersen / -0.006(R) / 6.875 / 193.96
Ingwersen goes red by -0.006.
GROUP 2
W – Joey Gladstone / 0.115 / 6.840 / 197.31
Gladstone makes a strong pass into round two.
W – Steve Johnson / 1.083 / 6.840 / 197.39
Johnson is way late at the green and still goes to round two.
L -Jianna Evaristo / NT-No Show
Evaristo looks to have had issue and doesn’t get off the line.
L – John Hall / DQ-Timed Out
Hall times out.
GROUP 3
W – Eddie Krawiec / 0.111 / 6.822 / 200.02
Krawiec is late at the green and has the power to take the second spot into the next round.
W – Hector Arana Jr / 0.055 / 6.914 / 199.55
Arana runs strong and will go to round two.
L – Ron Tornow / 0.012 / 6.964 / 194.97
Tornow is away first and makes his best pass of the weekend to finish third.
L – Angie Smith / NT-Broke After Staging
Smith has issues at the green and is backed up and pushed way.
GROUP 4
W – Gaige Herrera / 0.026 / 6.754 / 201.13
Herrera continues to show the power and take the overall win with ease.
W – Kelly Clontz / 0.083 / 6.874 / 196.04
Clontz is just a tad off her prior best and will advance too.
L – Marcus Hylton / 0.034 / 8.973 / 101.82
Hylton is second off the line and slows right after that. He has a big problem getting the bike stopped on the top end and just misses Herrera and Clontz going into the sand.
L – Ryan Oehler / -0.008(R) / 6.832 / 198.15
Oehler misses the green by just -0.008.
Eliminations Semi-Final
GROUP 1
W – Eddie Krawiec / 0.033 / 6.784 / 199.73
Krawiec Is third off the line, but has the power to make his way to the final roun.
W – Steve Johnson / 0.045 / 6.806 / 198.00
Johnson makes another strong pass close to his best to move to the finals.
L – Joey Gladstone / 0.002 / 6.861 / 194.18
L – Hector Arana Jr / 0.008 / 6.872 / 197.97
GROUP 2
W – Gaige Herrera / 0.021 / 6.857 / 170.02
Herrera runs strong early and slows down track to still get to the finals.
W – Matt Smith / 0.004 / 6.916 / 194.60
Smith has a better four light and takes the hole shot win to go to the final round.
L – Kelly Clontz / 0.079 / 6.858 / 195.39
L – Jerry Savoie / 0.005 / 6.956 / 191.78
Eliminations Final
W – Gaige Herrera / 0.013 / 6.710 / 202.00
Herrera has had a stellar day and leaves first and finishes first for the decisive win. Herrera scoroes first final quad in his first four-wide event. He is 1 – 0 in overall finals.
RU – Matt Smith / 0.023 / 6.780 / 199.61
Smith is second off the line and has the send best numbers to finish in the number two spot on a clean pass
L – Eddie Krawiec / 0.034 / 6.784 / 199.37
L – Steve Johnson / 0.034 / 6.810 / 197.54
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Points Standings
01 Gaige Herrera 128
02 Angie Smith 94
03 Chase Van Sant 82
04 Jianna Evaristo 74
05 Matt Smith 57
06 Eddie Krawiec 52
07 Ryan Oehler 52
08 Joey Gladstone 51
09 Steve Johnson 42
10 Chip Ellis 34
11 Hector Arana Jr 33
12 John Hall 32
13 Marc Ingwersen 32
14 Ron Tornow 31
15 Richard Gadson 31
16 Kelly Clontz 31
17 Lance Bonham 10
18 Malcolm Phillips Jr 10
19 Chris Bostick 10
Qualifying Saturday
Herrera’s dominant start to the 2023 season in Pro Stock Motorcycle took yet another impressive step, making two more great runs on Saturday, including a 6.735 at 201.52 on his Vance & Hines/Mission Foods Suzuki to secure his second straight No. 1 qualifier to open the year. His opening round quad includes Marcus Hylton, Ryan Oehler and Kelly Clontz, as Herrera looks to make it two straight wins to start 2023. The young standout has praised the performance of his team and a bike that has delivered incredible results thus far this season.
“Just being part of this, I can’t ask for anything better,” Herrera said. “You’re always trying to improve, always trying to out-do yourself each round, and for us to make that big improvement – Andrew (Hines), our crew chief, has both bikes on rails, and it’s showing. It makes me feel good, but it puts more pressure on my shoulders. It’s exciting to know I have a top tier bike, and it’s a lot of pressure on me. There is more pressure on me than there is on the bike. The whole team, they have a lot of confidence in their machine. At the end of the day, it’s all on me.”
Herrera’s Vance & Hines teammate, Eddie Krawiec, qualified second with a 6.765 at 197.77 and Steve Johnson, who has won the Charlotte four-wide race in back-to-back years, is third with his 6.804 at 196.27.
1. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.735, 201.52
2. Eddie Krawiec, Suzuki, 6.765, 200.77
3. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.804, 196.27
4. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 6.806, 199.26
5. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.806, 199.29
6. Joey Gladstone, Suzuki, 6.821, 197.94
7. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.825, 200.80
8. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.858, 197.05
9. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.870, 195.68
10. Angie Smith, EBR, 6.874, 198.00
11. Jianna Evaristo, Suzuki, 6.877, 196.79
12. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.901, 195.03
13. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.923, 191.38
14. John Hall, Buell, 6.949, 195.22
15. Ron Tornow, Victory, 7.026, 191.13
16. Marcus Hylton, 7.109, 187.63
Did Not Qualify:
17. Chris Bostick, 7.458, 180.77
Qualifying Friday
It’s been nearly two months since Pro Stock Motorcycle opened its season in Gainesville, but Herrera kept rolling with a run of 6.758 at 201.10 on his Vance & Hines/Mission Foods Suzuki. Herrera qualified No. 1 and won in Gainesville to open the year, earning his first career victory in the category, and continued to impress on Friday in Charlotte. It has the young phenom on track for his second straight No. 1 qualifier as Herrera made a huge run under the lights at zMAX Dragway.
“This feels good. We had a little problem in Q1, but sometimes you’ll have that. I have all the confidence in the world in my Vance & Hines/Mission Foods team,” Herrera said. “We’ve got two more rounds tomorrow and anything can happen, but we’ll see if we can keep It going.”
“There is a lot more to pay attention to (in four-wide racing). I just wanted to make sure I didn’t get timed out, which seems like the biggest thing. I went up and watched Pro Mod before we ran to see how it all went so hopefully, I got a little rhythm going.”
His teammate, Eddie Krawiec, is currently second after going 6.765 at 197.77 and Hector Arana Jr. is third with a 6.825 at 200.80.
Qualifying continues at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
1. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.758, 201.10
2. Eddie Krawiec, Suzuki, 6.765, 197.77
3. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.825, 200.80
4. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.836, 199.29
5. Joey Gladstone, Suzuki, 6.854, 197.94
6. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.860, 195.08
7. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.900, 195.59
8. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 6.901, 191.35
9. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.902, 193.85
10. John Hall, Buell, 6.951, 194.41
11. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.961, 190.11
12. Marcus Hylton, 7.109, 187.63
13. Ron Tornow, Victory, 7.314, 180.55
14. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 7.458, 179.04
15. Jianna Evaristo, Suzuki, 8.685, 104.01
16. Angie Smith, EBR, 13.025, 63.27
ABOUT NHRA
Headquartered in Glendora, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 22 national events featuring the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service, SAM Tech.edu Factory Stock Showdown and Mickey Thompson Tires Top Fuel Harley Series. Twice a year, NHRA hosts a ‘race-within-a-race,’ during the JEGS Allstars and Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle specialty competitions. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and the NHRA Drags: Street Legal Style. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League for youth ages 5 to 17. With over 120 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing-related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates four racing facilities: Atlanta Dragway in Georgia; Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis; and Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. For more information, log on to NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
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