| May 3, 2023
Just in case anyone missed Gaige Herrera’s smashing debut with the Vance & Hines Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle team at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, last month, there was an encore performance during the Circle K Four Wide Nationals in Charlotte, April 28-30.
Gaige Herrera made it two wins in a row on the Vance & Hines Suzuki after topping the Circle K Four Wide Nationals.
By Kevin McKenna, Photography by Matt Polito
The unique nature of the four-wide event, which features four lanes of competition with the top two finishers from each round advancing, wasn’t enough to stop Herrera, who once again dominated the field with a string of quick runs on his Mission Foods Hayabusa.
In the final quad, Herrera made the quickest run of the weekend with a 6.710 at over 202 mph to defeat a trio of riders who have combined for 96 career NHRA wins; five-time and reigning world champion Matt Smith, as well as Vance & Hines teammate, Eddie Krawiec, and class veteran Steve Johnson. Herrera is now a perfect 7-0 in round wins to start the season and has a solid lead in the standings. He also shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
“This is an unbelievable start to the season going back-to-back in Gainesville and here in Charlotte,” said Herrera. “This is special, especially since I have my grandparents and my dad here. The whole Mission Foods Vance & Hines team is working their butts off and it shows. I’m just the lucky guy who gets to ride this motorcycle; it’s like a dream-come-true for me.”
Herrera hasn’t lost yet this season.
Herrera qualified in the number-one spot for the second straight event and easily won the first quad. His only hiccup came in the semifinal round when the kill switch in his Suzuki Hayabusa malfunctioned. Herrera slowed from his earlier pace to a 6.857 at just 170 mph but was able to carry enough momentum to win the quad, although it was much closer than he expected it to be.
“I had the kill switch come out when I put the bike in high gear and I thought I was done for,” Herrera said. “My head hit the windscreen and I pulled in the clutch and just hoped for the best. Fortunately, I had a good reaction time and that was enough to get it done. At that point, I was just hoping for the best.”
Runner-up Smith, who generally does well at four-wide races, and events at zMax Dragway, struggled in qualifying at the start of the event, but made a nice rebound at his home event. Smith advanced through the first quad by wheeling his Denso Suzuki past Jerry Savoie, rookie Chase Van Sant and Marc Ingwersen in the opening round. Smith then finished second to Herrera in the semifinal round although he advanced by beating Savoie and Clontz.
Herrera has made just 15 runs in NHRA competition since joining the Vance & Hines team last winter, and all of them have been quick, but he acknowledges that he’s not exactly mistake-free and still has a lot to learn in his first full season in the class.
“On the first run we made this weekend on Friday, I was lined up straight, but when I threw the [clutch] lever, the bike didn’t go straight. I wrung out low gear too long and that caused a transmission issue. That was totally on me. Coming from no [wheelie] bar background, there was going to be a few adjustments that I had to make. Andrew [Hines, crew chief] has been good about coaching me and fixing a few bad habits.”
The Pro Stock Motorcycle class enjoyed a five-week break between the first two rounds of the season, but they’ll be busy from this point forward including the next event at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, May 19-21. It will mark the first event in Joliet since the 2019 season.
