Herrera's magical run contin-
ues as he's got a record of 17-2
in elimination rounds this sea-
son, including his four Richmond
wins against Ron Tornow, Steve
Johnson, number-one quali-
fier Brayden Davis and Smith.
The only thing missing from
Herrera's game has been his
qualifying dominance, as new
teammate Davis has claimed the
top spot at the last two races.
Regardless, Herrera was able to
stretch his lead over Matt Smith
to 100 points.
"I'm having a lot of fun. Racing
is all about competition, and
that's what I love, it's what drives
me and pushes me to do bet
-
ter than I can," Herrera said. "I
want to say I'm nervous racing
Brayden, and he always says
he's nervous racing me, just
because of all this good success
I've had."
Smith may not have won the
race, but her result might just
be a turning point in her season.
Coming off early losses in Char
-
lotte, Chicago and Bristol, Smith
advanced to the final for the first
time in 2025 and the 10th time
in her career after defeating
Dystany Spurlock, husband Matt
Smith, and Richard Gadson, the
most recent tour winner.
"I hate coming that close and
not being able to get the job
done, but on the plus side, we
made some good progress this
weekend," Smith said. "It was the
hottest race of the year, by far,
and my bike was fast. Our whole
Denso team has put in a lot of
work so far this year, and it's
paying off."
The event also marked
another successful outing for
first-year NHRA pro Brayden
Davis, who made his second
start aboard the Vance & Hines
lease bike. Davis, who quali
-
fied number one in his debut in
Bristol, was also the top qualifier
in Richmond and won Saturday's
Mission Foods 2Fast2Tasty spe-
cialty race. Davis also made it to
the semifinal round on Sunday
before losing to Herrera.
The NHRA Mission Foods
Drag Racing Series returns to
action next weekend, June 26-
29, with the 19th annual Summit
Racing Equipment NHRA Nation
-
als at Summit Motorsports Park
in Norwalk, Ohio.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Gaige Herrera (Suz) 0.65, 6.826 at
198.79 mph
2. Angie Smith (Bue) 0.042, 6.853 at
196.76 mph
WIND
IN THE
P52
Herrera (pictured)
defeated Angie Smith
in the Pro Stock
Motorcycle final.
