her shot at a win came to an end
in round two when she lost on a
holeshot to Steve Johnson.
Smith's husband, Matt, also
went out a bit earlier than
expected when his Denso Buell
slowed against Clayton Howey,
who is in just his second year in
the class but has already made
tremendous forward progress.
Two-time World Champion
Gaige Herrera figured to have a
clear shot at the final, but he lost
a close encounter against Hall.
Both racers were nearly perfect
off the starting line, and Hall won
with a 6.748 to Herrera's 6.758
elapsed time.
Gadson, who celebrated his
40th birthday on Sunday, also
narrowly avoided a catastrophe
when he nearly hit one of the
timing blocks in the center of the
track, a move that would result in
an instant disqualification. The
foam timing block moved, but
video replay determined that it
was wind-aided and that Gadson
did not make contact with it. All
of this occurred after opponent
Clayton Howey had red-lighted at
the start.
"I knew that Clayton red-
lighted, but I did not know that I
would have been disqualified if I
had hit the block and he'd be [re
-
instated]," Gadson said. "I guess
I
should know the rules better.
I didn't want to hit the block
because even though it's foam,
it's going to hurt at 170-180 mph,
and the first thing to hit it would
have been my foot.
"At this track, there is a lot of
crown in the center, and the right
lane pulls you towards the wall,
and I was over there a couple of
times this weekend. After you
pass the bleachers, the wind
also behaves differently, so you
don't have much room for error."
Gadson had plenty of competi
-
tion for last year's title, but he's
also
convinced that this year will
be even more difficult, and there
will be more winners. Last year,
Gadson, Herrera, Hall and Matt
Smith were the only four to win
at least one event.
"Nobody is going to dominate
this year; it's just too close," Gad
-
son said. "The whole field is too
tight,
but you are going to need
to make flawless runs in order
to be successful, so that's my
focus for the rest of the season."
The Pro Stock Motorcycle
class will return to action on
April 24-26 at the Four Wide
Nationals from zMax Dragway in
Concord, North Carolina.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. John Hall (0.047) 6.799-198.38
2. Richard Gadson (0.018) 6.753-
200.05
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 10 MARCH 10, 2026 P39
Gadson (pictured) took the win over
John Hall by a narrow margin.
