NHRA: Texas Fall Nationals – Pro Stock Motorcycle
39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals
Texas Motorplex
October 11-13, 2024
Saturday Qualifying
Herrera was the only provisional No. 1 qualifier to improve on Saturday, delivering a run of 6.749 at 202.52 in Pro Stock Motorcycle on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki. It hands the points leader his eighth No. 1 qualifier in 2024 and the 22nd in his career, and Herrera will look to win in Dallas for a second straight year. Herrera was impressed with his team’s ability to improve on Friday’s run as he looks to extend his points lead on Sunday.
“The only thing that made it possible was tail wind,” Herrera said. “You just had to catch it at the right time. It was a cross tail so I didn’t think being in the right lane would affect us as much as it did, but it did. That was a good pass. Tomorrow we’re going to be racing in this kind of weather. I think it’s going to be a direct, straight tail wind instead of across. Probably see a pretty good mile an hour tomorrow and it’ll be a good day of racing.
“The biggest thing I focus on is the here and now. You can’t predict what’s going to happen. You can’t try to make stuff happen. You just have to go out there and do what you have to do and it’s going to turn out how it’s going to be.”
Matt Smith jumped up to second in the final session after going 6.756 at 201.77 and Jianna Evaristo took third thanks to Friday’s 6.777 at 201.81.
1 Gaige Herrera / 6.749 / 202.52
2 Matt Smith / 6.756 / 201.77
3 Hector Arana Jr / 6.773 / 200.40
4 Jianna Evaristo / 6.778 / 201.81
5 Steve Johnson / 6.780 / 196.99
6 Angie Smith / 6.808 / 201.41
7 John Hall / 6.824 / 199.89
8 Chase Van Sant / 6.832 / 198.92
9 Richard Gadson / 6.840 / 198.75
10 Marc Ingwersen / 6.856 / 197.89
11 Chris Bostick / 6.870 / 197.26
12 Geno Scali / 6.903 / 195.89
13 Ron Tornow / 6.932 / 197.85
14 Ryan Oehler / 6.956 / 192.88
15 Malcolm Phillips Jr. / 7.020 / 190.44
Friday Qualifying
Herrera shattered records a year ago in Pro Stock Motorcycle at Texas Motorplex and enjoyed another impressive Friday to open the weekend this season, making the quickest run of each session, including a 6.757 at 201.21 under the lights on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki. The run nets Herrera $5,000 and also puts the defending world champion and current points leader in line for his eighth No. 1 spot this season and 22nd in his career.
Herrera moved back into the lead thanks to his win at the most recent race in St. Louis and he looks to strengthen in a major way with a second straight victory in Dallas.
“You come here, you get a different vibe,” Herrera said. “It’s a very welcoming, ‘have fun’ vibe, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re having fun and getting to race at the same time. It’s awesome to get that bonus money on Friday night. I can’t thank the Meyer family enough for all they do for us racers at Texas Motorplex. My bike ran good coming off the trailer, so we were happy to get that and get a little extra change.
“There are a lot of fast motorcycles right now between the whole class. We just have a consistently fast motorcycle at the moment. We’re trying to get every little point that we can. It’s all about consistency right now.”
Jianna Evaristo is second after going 6.777 at 201.81 and Angie Smith is third thanks to a run of 6.808 at 201.41.
01 Gaige Herrera / 6.757 / 201.21
02 Jianna Evaristo / 6.778 / 201.81
03 Angie Smith / 6.808 / 201.41
04 John Hall / 6.826 / 199.13
05 Chase Van Sant / 6.833 / 199.59
06 Hector Arana Jr / 6.835 / 199.72
07 Richard Gadson / 6.844 / 198.67
08 Marc Ingwersen / 6.856 / 197.89
09 Matt Smith / 6.859 / 198.12
10 Chris Bostick / 6.877 / 197.76
11 Geno Scali / 6.903 / 195.89
12 Steve Johnson / 6.935 / 193.81
13 Ryan Oehler / 6.956 / 192.88
14 Malcolm Phillips Jr / 7.020 / 190.44
15 Ron Tornow / 7.358 / 164.86
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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