| June 13, 2023
All good things must come to an end and that includes the three-race win streak Gaige Herrera to start the 2023 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season. Herrera, who joined the Vance & Hines/Mission Foods Suzuki team this season to replace three-time World Champion Angelle Sampey, won the first three NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle events in Gainesville, Charlotte and Chicago.
Steve Johnson took the Bristol win after Gaige Herrera red-lighted.
By Kevin McKenna | Photos By Matt Polito
Herrera seemed well on his way to another victory at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee, but a red-light start in the final round ended his winning streak at 14 rounds. The beneficiary of Herrera’s foul was Steve Johnson, who earned his 12th career win aboard his MacRak Suzuki.
Johnson was quick enough to win the race on merit, but the class veteran, who was making his 481st start, will happily take a bit of good fortune.
“We got it, it’s the 25th anniversary of Suzuki next year and we’re really into trying to promote it,” Johnson said. “The Suzuki Hayabusa Gen 3 body is the newest, coolest thing in Pro Stock Motorcycle racing. It’s totally different. It looks the same, but the feel, and how the motorcycle rides down the track, it’s totally different.”
Johnson, who entered the race as the number-eight-ranked rider in the class, had one of the quickest bikes in the field and showed it with early wins against Reed Motorsports’ Joey Gladstone, Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Eddie Krawiec, and GETTRX Buell’s Hector Arana Jr. Johnson was also consistent with runs of 6.88, 6.89 and 6.89 to reach the final round for the 31st time in his long career.
Johnson celebrates his 12th career win.
“The first round was exciting, and second round was really exciting to beat Eddie, especially on a holeshot,” Johnson said. “In the third round, we got lucky—but in the finals racing Gaige, he’s got a really, really fast Suzuki and I was like, ‘Okay, what do you want to do?’ We talked about timing, jetting, all these things, but it was like, we just have to throw the kitchen sink at it but we didn’t have one. So, we said we’ll just do what we can. We did some stuff that probably wasn’t right, but I looked up and saw our win light, and I let off [the throttle] to save the parts. I was pretty happy with it, but it’s pretty shocking.”
The win was huge for Johnson when it comes to his pursuit of the Camping World NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle championship as he’s now third in the standings, just eight points behind Krawiec.
Johnson captured his first victory of the season debuting his new Gen3 Hayabusa.
As for Herrera, the loss was just a flesh wound in what remains an amazing season. The runaway championship leader, Herrera added to his total with victories against Ron Tornow, rookie Chase Van Sant, and Denso Buell’s Angie Smith. Herrera easily had the best bike in the field as he established the low elapsed time of the event with a 6.805 in his win over Van Sant. Herrera was also the top qualifier for the fourth-straight race.
It was also hard to overlook the performance of Arana Jr., who is riding one of the few remaining V-twin motorcycles in the class. After winning two events last season, Arana went to the semifinal round for the second time in 2023 and perhaps more importantly, he set the top speed of the event at more than 199 mph. Arana also jumped to number four in the championship standings, ahead of reigning and six-time champion Matt Smith.
After a short break, the Pro Stock Motorcycle class will return to action on June 22-25 during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
VIDEO | Steve Johnson steals win in Bristol
NHRA PSM
Final
- Steve Johnson (Suz) 6.921-170.82 mph
- Gaige Herrera (Suz) 7.174-158.63 mph
