Herrera Wins NHRA Four-Wide
T
he rest of the field has closed
the gap a bit, but at the end
of the day, RevZilla Suzuki's
Gaige Herrera is still the class of
the field in the NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle class. Herrera, who
made history last year by win-
ning 11 of 15 events in his first
season with the Vance & Hines
team, is now a perfect two-for-
two this season after winning
the Four-Wide Nationals at zMax
Dragway in Charlotte, April 26-
28.
The Four-Wide Nationals is
a once-a-year phenomenon in
NHRA races featuring four bikes
on track at the same time. In
each heat, the winner and the
second-place rider advance to
the final "quad" in which the win-
ner is determined.
The format can be a bit con-
fusing, even to veteran racers,
but Herrera had no problems as
he cruised to his 13th win since
the start of the 2023 season.
Herrera was first off the start-
ing line in the final and won with
a 6.68 elapsed time while MSR
Racing Buell's John Hall finished
second at 6.75. Richard Gadson
was third and LE Tonglet was
fourth after a red-light start.
"After Q1 and Q2, I was a bit
worried. One, the first run we had
a malfunction in our wiring, and
then after the second run, Matt
[Smith] held on to the top spot
and that's because of the rule
change," said Herrera, referring
to a recent NHRA rules revision
that mandated the same fuel
type for both V-twin and inline
four-cylinder bikes. "It has cre
-
ated parity and made for better
racing. We still had three Vance
& Hines bikes in the final four.
"In the end, me and [crew
chief] Andrew Hines and the
bike bond so well," Herrera said.
"We're a hard combo to beat. It's
going to take a motor blowing
up or something crazy to stop
WIND
IN THE
P36
Gaige Herrera won his
first Four-Wide National.
PHOTO: MATT POLITO
