When it comes to winning his third NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship, RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Gaige Herrera was not about to go down without a fight. Facing a sizable points deficit against teammate Richard Gadson, Herrera needed a strong showing as the series headed to its penultimate event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 31-November 2.
Story by Kevin McKenna
Herrera got just what he needed with his seventh win of the season and the 28th of his career in just 50 starts. Racing against Denso Buell’s Angie Smith in the final round, Herrera rode to a 6.809 to win by a nose over Smith’s competitive 6.819 run.
“This couldn’t have gone any better,” Herrera said. “Me and my teammate [Gadson], facing off in the semis, with him in the points lead, so I needed him to go out to get a little closer. What a race between me and him, my 0.005 light to his perfect 0.000 light. It just doesn’t get any better than that. It also just goes to show how hungry we both are to get this championship right now, and it’s kind of crazy that it’s under the same tent. We’re good friends, but we aren’t at the moment.
“Going up for the final, I was kind of like, ‘All right, let’s just go make another lap,’ but Angie put up a good fight there,” Herrera said. “We both ran really well. I could hear her bike, and I took a little peek over and saw she was close.”
With the win, Herrera was able to shave Gadson’s lead in the standings down to just 21 points with just one event remaining, the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, California. With such a slim margin, the championship will likely come down to whichever rider advances the furthest in Sunday’s final eliminations.
“I feel like I do better under pressure. In the last two seasons, I kind of had to win the first round to clinch the championship. This year it’s going to be different. I’d love to race him in the final in Pomona for the championship, but we’ve still got a long way to go before we get there. I mean, one of us could lose early, and that would end it. I’m not taking anything for granted.”
From the start of qualifying, Herrera seemed to be a man on a mission in Las Vegas. He qualified number one for the eighth time in 14 events with a 6.800 elapsed time and ran nothing but 6.8s on race day in his wins against Karen Stoffer, Clayton Howey and Gadson.
Herrera’s race against Gadson was one for the ages. Gadson left the starting line with a perfect reaction time, but Herrera was just five-thousandths of a second behind. Herrera’s performance advantage was the difference, as he won with a 6.825 to Gadson’s 6.857.
So far, Herrera’s career has been one for the record books. Competing in his 50th event, he’s now got 28 wins. No other NHRA racer in any class has ever won so many events in such a short time.
Smith went to the final in Las Vegas for the second year in a row aboard the Denso Buell that is tuned by her husband, Matt. In what was easily her best performance of the season, Smith came from the number-two qualifying position to earn wins against Fred Camarena and her husband, Matt, who red-lighted. Angie Smith then defeated rookie Brayden Davis in the semi-final round to move into the 11th final round of her career.
Despite the loss, Smith found a silver lining, rising from number six to number four in the championship standings, passing teammate John Hall and Davis.
The 15th and final event of the season will take place November 14-16 at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, California.CN
2025 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Round 14 Results
FINAL
- Gaige Herrera (0.024) 6.809-198.17 mph
- Angie Smith (0.029) 6.813-199.37 mph
Click here for all the latest Drag Racing news.
