Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1539721
Gadson Wins Four-Wide Final W hen he got to the final round of the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals, September 21, RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki's Richard Gadson looked around and found himself sur - rounded by three Buell V-twin entries from the rival Matt Smith team. Outnumbered but not out- gunned, Gadson rode to his third win of the season to claim the points lead in Pro Stock Motor- cycle Championship. Racing in the unique four-wide format, where the top two quali- fiers from each quad advance until the final, Gadson was able to maintain his composure and suc - cessfully navigated the often-con- fusing structure to score the vic- tory. Gadson ran a 6.803 elapsed time, while Matt Smith was the runner-up with a 6.821. Angie Smith and Jianna Evaristo were credited with semifinal finishes. "When you say points leader, I just can't believe you're talking about me," Gadson said. "Some - times, when I'm at home and I look at the points and even see my name in second place, I have to read it twice because I just can't believe it's really me in this posi - tion. I owe all the thanks to Vance & Hines and to our sponsors. "As for the final, you just want to avenge your team. You're racing against three bikes from a rival team, and you don't want to go up there and do anything stupid. If they're going to outrun you, then that's what it's going to be. You just don't want to beat yourself, and when you're the lone ranger up there racing for your team, you carry it with a little bit more pride. These bikes are easy to do something stupid on. "I didn't think about any funny business, but when I saw Angie pre-stage so early, I was kind of, 'Why is she already pre-staged?' I thought maybe it was a mistake. But I think that they came up there with a game plan. They had three bikes against me, and I felt like they would take anything they can get, and they controlled the start - ing line. Angie didn't do anything wrong, but I'm a little sharper than WIND IN THE P52 Richard Gadson topped the 4-Wide Carolina Nationals and is the new points leader.