shop—and Matt Hines, included,"
Herrera said. "They're the ones
that make that possible. To be
able to get that many number-
one qualifiers in one season is
incredible. There have been a lot
of remarkable, crazy things I've
accomplished so far this year,
but to add something like this to
it is pretty cool.
"We tried to do different things
on the bike. The track is kind of
a little tricky for us, so I feel like
we made good passes, consider
-
ing. We'll go back and go over all
our data and be ready for tomor-
row. All in all, I felt pretty good
on the bike."
Herrera also defeated Trick
Tools Suzuki's Chase Van Sant
to reach the final. So far this sea
-
son, Herrera has a 38-4 record
during elimination rounds for the
best winning percentage among
any NHRA pro, regardless of
class.
Krawiec, still in search of his
historic 50th win, stopped Ryan
Oehler, Jianna Evaristo and Matt
Smith on his way to the final.
Herrera's performance,
and the event in general, was
overshadowed by a qualifying
accident involving Denso Buell's
Angie Smith. The wife of cham
-
pionship contender Matt Smith,
Angie came off her Buell at over
190-mph and suffered a variety
of injuries, including two broken
feet. Smith and his teammates
Gladstone and Jianna Evaristo
sat out Saturday's second quali
-
fying session but returned for
Sunday's final eliminations.
Angie Smith came into the St.
Louis event as the number-five
ranked rider in the class follow-
ing a pair of runner-up finishes in
Gainesville and Denver. She has
three career wins in seven final
rounds.
After three straight week
-
ends, the Pro Stock Motorcycle
class will take a two-week break
before returning at the Texas
NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis,
Texas, October 12-15.
Kevin McKenna
Final
1. Gaige Herrera (Suz)
2. Eddie Krawiec (Suz)
VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P43
Herrera defeated Eddie Krawiec in the final.
