{"id":96478,"date":"2024-06-21T07:13:15","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T14:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=96478"},"modified":"2024-06-21T13:30:17","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T20:30:17","slug":"herrera-riding-towards-nhra-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/herrera-riding-towards-nhra-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Herrera Riding Towards NHRA History"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
No matter the opposition, Gaige Herrera keeps his cool – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s easy to bash Gaige Herrera and the Vance and Hines Motorsports\u2019 RevZilla team. Since coming to the NHRA\u2019s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Motorcycle class late in the 2022 campaign with little fanfare and no speakable results, Andrew Hines\u2019 decision to hire the (now) 30-year old from La Mirada, California seemed puzzling.<\/span><\/p>\n

After all, Herrera made his debut at the 2022 U.S. Nationals on a Gary Stoffer\/Underdahl team Suzuki but didn\u2019t qualify. Hines, who had decided to retire at the close of that season, saw poise and capabilities from this rider, who had been racing a no-bar bike prior to getting his initial opportunity to race in NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class. A third-generation racer, Herrera didn\u2019t look like the stat killer he\u2019s become. He fooled a lot of people – starting at the 2023 season opener in Gainesville, Fla.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Six-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Andrew Hines knew he found a great rider in Herrera – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP), Gaige Herrera could be capable of setting new all-time records.; not just in his class, but throughout the scope of NHRA drag racing. He\u2019s currently tied with Bob Glidden, the legendary Pro Stock driver for the most consecutive wins and round wins in NHRA\u2019s history. At Bristol\u2019s Thunder Valley Nationals two weeks ago, Herrera earned his ninth consecutive Wally winner\u2019s trophy – and his 35th straight round win. <\/span><\/p>\n

In a sport that\u2019s nearly three quarters of a century old, Gaige Herrera has already broken Pro Stock Motorcycle\u2019s Dave Schultz\u2019 record of eight consecutive wins, which beats seven-time Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher\u2019s seven straight wins and the equal number of victories for another legend, Don \u201cThe Snake\u201d Prudhomme, who scored seven straight in his Funny Car career. To give this some perspective, Dave Schultz has 34 straight round wins, Tony Schumacher has 31 and Don Prudhomme claimed 30 straight during his time in a Funny Car. <\/span><\/p>\n

A win this weekend gives Herrera 10 consecutive victories – an achievement no one has been able to claim in the sport\u2019s 73 years. On his V&H RevZilla Suzuki Hayabusa3, Herrera has not lost a single run down the quarter mile this year. There have been four races in his class thus far in 2024; he\u2019s won them all and, in fact, hasn\u2019t been defeated since last September, winning the final five races in NHRA\u2019s Countdown to the Championship as he raced to his first title. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lining up against the best of the best in NHRA\u2019s two-wheeled professional category, Gaige Herrera is staring down six-time champ Matt Smith and a host of riders who could have challenged the North Carolina over-achiever, but weren\u2019t able to do that with Herrera in this class. The balance of the field is challenged to challenge Herrera. It\u2019s no easy task.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Herrera battles Matt Smith – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is Gaige Herrera\u2019s first time on the Virginia Motorsports Park drag strip in NHRA competition. He wasn\u2019t on the tour when it came here in 2022. Matt Smith won this race that year as he barreled towards his sixth title; Smith was the No. 1 qualifier in Bristol two weeks ago but lost to Herrera in the semifinal round of that contest. The duo will have their re-match on Saturday during Mission\u2019s #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on the hot drag strip. Jianna Evaristo and Herrera\u2019s new teammate, Richard Gadson are the other two competitors for this race within-a-race for bonus points and, of course, money.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making solid runs is what Herrera is doing every time he comes to the starting line. \u201cThat\u2019s the approach I have to go with,\u201d he said. \u201cYou never know what\u2019s going to happen and it\u2019s hard to say you\u2019re just going to go out and break the record. There\u2019s so many different aspects that play into it as far as the bike, myself and all the other competitors. But,\u201d Herrera continued, \u201cleaving Bristol, I feel like I conquered something. Last year, it beat me in the ground a little,\u201d when he lost to Steve Johnson on a red-light foul. \u201cTo get the win there, I was ecstatic. It almost felt like I won the championship all over again!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Herrera smiles before he hits the water box – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dating back to the start of the 2023 season when he made his first runs on the Vance and Hines Motorsports Suzuki Hayabusa3, Herrera now has 15 victories in class. While he\u2019s raced at VMP in other series, this is his first time here and the format is so different it could upset anyone’s rhythm. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are three qualifying sessions on a single Saturday, that also includes the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Herrera thinks the single day of qualifying, \u201cbrings a lot more excitement for the riders and the fans. I like it a lot. As a competitive person, it keeps you in the groove and keeps you ready. I\u2019m really looking forward to it. I think it will be great.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRichmond has a nice, smooth surface and it\u2019s fast,\u201d he reminded. \u201cEven with the heat, it\u2019s going to be a nice surface and it should be really good. It\u2019s a great facility and I\u2019m glad the NHRA is going back there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will Gaige Herrera shatter records and expectations this weekend in Virginia?<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":96481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029],"tags":[9524,9740,10128,7,10426,10427,5773],"class_list":["post-96478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-gaige-herrera","tag-mission-2fast2tasty-challenge","tag-mission-foods-nhra-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra","tag-playnhra-virginia-nationals","tag-vance-and-hines-motorsports","tag-virginia-motorsports-park"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Gaige-v-Matt-min.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-p66","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96478"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96508,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96478\/revisions\/96508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}