rolled it in. It knocked me off
my game a little, but he shook
the tire, and I ended up going a
6.755. It felt like a very smooth,
good pass, but I didn't expect it
to go faster than what I quali
-
fied with. We're happy with that,
and after this weekend, once
I go to Pomona and break the
beams, it's a done deal—that's
very exciting."
The done deal that Herrera
referred to is the champion
-
ship, which won't become
official until the In-N-Out Burger
NHRA Finals in Pomona in two
weeks. Herrera will enter the
final events of the season with
a 181-point advantage over
Krawiec, which means he will
officially lock up the title as
soon as he makes his first quali
-
fying attempt of the weekend.
"It doesn't feel real," Herrera
said. "I haven't even woken up
yet from the beginning of the
season."
As for Krawiec, he continues
to not-so-patiently wait to win
his 50th NHRA national event,
a mark that has only been
achieved by class leader Andrew
Hines, who has 56 titles.
Krawiec advanced to the final
for the fourth time this season
and the 95th time overall by
defeating Steve Johnson and
Jianna Evaristo. He has had the
second-best bike in the class for
the last several races but can't
seem to overcome Herrera's
sizable performance advantage.
Krawiec was first off the start
-
ing line in the final round, but his
otherwise competitive 6.847-run
paled in comparison to Herrera's
6.755.
While the Vance & Hines team
continued their winning ways
in Las Vegas, the event also
featured a few other memo
-
rable moments. Angie Smith,
who was injured in an on-track
accident in St. Louis last month,
returned to ride her Denso Buell
if only to accumulate qualifying
points. Smith suffered several
broken bones and enough road
rash to require skin grafts but
was cleared to ride. Looking to
preserve her spot in the top 10,
Smith qualified in the number
16 spot but did not appear for
her round-one match against
Herrera. The strategy paid off,
as Smith is number eight in the
standings heading into the final
event in Pomona. She is 46
points ahead of number 10 Kelly
Clontz.
The final event of the season
will take place on November
9-12 at In-N-Out Pomona Race
-
way in Pomona, California.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Gaige Herrera (Suz)
2. Eddie Krawiec (Suz)
VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P43
Herrera is poised
to wrap up the
NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle
Championship at
the next and final
round at Pomona.
