Ford Performance NHRA Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
October 31 – November 3, 2024

Pro Stock Motorcycle

In Las Vegas, Herrera qualified No. 1 and then knocked off Kahea Woods, John Hall and Hector Arana Jr. to reach the final round, turning it up even more against Smith in the final round. He’ll head into Pomona with a 123-point lead over Matt Smith, putting Herrera in prime position to reel in a second straight world title.

“To run that 6.79 in the final, the bike’s just been on rails. It has been all season, and as long as I do my job, Andrew [Hines, crew chief]and the guys always do their job to a T,” Herrera said. “They’re always about being perfect as possible, which pushes me to do the same.

“If I’m able to win the second championship — and anything can still happen — this one would mean a lot more than the first. I had to earn it a lot more this season. We kind of ran away with it last year, but this year it was definitely a lot tighter racing, and there wasn’t much room for error. It’s going to mean a lot more for sure.”

A. Smith reached the finals for the second time this season and the ninth time in her career after defeating Ryan Oehler, Geno Scali and Chase Van Sant.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series closes out its 2024 season on Nov. 14-17 with the 59th annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, Calif.

ROUND ONE

W – John Hall, 6.946, 193.65
L – Marc Ingwersen, 6.969, 192.33

W – Angie Smith, Buell, 6.909, 195.42
L – Ryan Oehler, Foul – Red Light

W – Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.885, 194.41
L – Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.955, 191.89

W – Geno Scali, Suzuki, 6.998, 192.60
L – Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 7.207, 192.58

W – Hector Arana Jr, 6.916, 192.44
L – Malcolm Phillips Jr., Suzuki, 7.142, 185.56

W – Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.898, 194.10
L – Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.935, 189.66

W – Matt Smith, Buell, 6.912, 195.03
L – Clayton Howey, Suzuki, Foul – Red Light

W – Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.854, 195.99
L – Kahea Woods, Suzuki, Foul – Centerline

QUARTERFINALS

W – Angie Smith, 6.889, 195.87
L – Geno Scali, 7.208, 167.26

W – Arana Jr, 6.899, 192.25
L – Richard Gadson, 6.945, 193.71

W – Chase Van Sant, 6.888, 193.77
L – Matt Smith, 6.865, 196.44

W – Gaige Herrera, 6.868, 195.36
L – John Hall, 6.936, 193.49

SEMIFINALS

W – Angie Smith, 6.891, 194.07
L – Chase Van Sant, 6.920, 192.96

W – Gaige Herrera, 6.818, 196.30
L – Hector Arana Jr, 6.923, 192.11

FINAL

W – Gaige Herrera, 6.798, 197.16
L – Angie Smith, 6.925, 193.65

POINTS

1. Gaige Herrera, 2,658
2. Matt Smith, 2,535
3. Richard Gadson, 2,427
4. Hector Arana Jr, 2,424
5. Chase Van Sant, 2,375
6. Angie Smith, 2,361
7. John Hall, 2,291
8. Jianna Evaristo, 2,282
9. Steve Johnson, 2,214
10. Chris Bostick, 2,160

Qualifying – Saturday

Final qualifying order after 4 rounds of qualifying in Pro Stock Motorcycle at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, 24th annual Ford Performance NHRA Nationals

1 Gaige Herrera, Suzuki Hayabusa 6.813 198.20
2 Matt Smith, Buell 1190RX 6.822 198.70
3 Angie Smith,  Buell 1190RX 6.850 197.59
4 Hector Arana Jr, EBR 6.857 195.93
5 Richard Gadson, Suzuki Hayabusa 6.864 195.90
6 Jianna Evaristo, Buell 1190RX 6.870 197.48
7 Chase Van Sant, Suzuki TL 6.876 196.33
8 Marc Ingwersen, EBR 6.878 196.76
9 John Hall, Beull 1190RX 6.899 196.64
10 Chris Bostick, Suzuki Hayabusa 6.937 194.74
11 Geno Scali, Suzuki 6.941 194.24
12 Steve Johnson, Suzuki Hayabusa 6.949 191.10
13 Malcolm Phillips Jr., Suzuki G 6.980 188.44
14 Ryan Oehler, EBR 6.991 192.17
15 Clayton Howey, Suzuki 7.093 189.42
16 Kahea Woods, Suzuki 7.135 187.99

Qualifying – Friday

Need a big result to stay in the championship hunt, Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Matt Smith couldn’t have asked for a better Friday, making the best run in both sessions on his Denso Auto Parts/Matt Smith Racing Buell, including a run of 6.822 at 198.70 in the second session. It would be Smith’s sixth No. 1 qualifier this season, but more importantly, he gained four points on leader and defending world champ Gaige Herrera.

That puts him 58 points back of Herrera heading into Saturday and the six-time world champ will look to make another move before a likely must-win situation on Sunday in Las Vegas.

“Our mindset this weekend is to just have no bad luck because we’ve had a lot of it lately,” Smith said. “In Reading I had a bad fuel pump and then in St. Louis we lost a crank trigger and in Dallas the bike wouldn’t shift. Those are three races we should have won and that would have been 60 points. We should be leading right now so I’m not asking for good luck. I just don’t want any more bad luck.

“We never quit. I know that I’m No. 2 and we’ve got the second best bike but we’re still in this. I do see this race as must win unless Gaige has some bad luck, which hasn’t happened yet.”

Herrera, the defending event winner in Vegas, is currently second after going 6.846 at 196.99 and Angie Smith took third with a run of 6.850 at 197.59.

1. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.822, 198.70
2. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.846, 196.99
3. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.850, 197.59
4. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.864, 195.90
5. Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.870, 197.48
6. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.876, 196.33
7. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.878, 196.76
8. John Hall, Beull, 6.899, 196.64
9. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.949, 196.33
10. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.959, 191.21
11. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 6.960, 194.18
12. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.961, 192.58
13. Malcolm Phillips Jr., Suzuki, 6.980, 188.44
14. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.991, 192.17
15. Clayton Howey, Suzuki, 7.093, 189.42
16. Kahea Woods, Suzuki, 7.213, 187.76.

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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