Las Vegas NHRA Final Bumped To Pomona
D
ue to excessively windy
conditions, the Pro Stock
Motorcycle final of the NHRA
event in Las Vegas was pushed
to the season final in Pomona
in two weeks as Vance & Hines
teammates Richard Gadson and
Gaige Herrera will continue their
battle for the Mission Foods
NHRA title.
Herrera and Gadson are the
two leading contenders for the
title, and their delayed final will
take place during the third quali-
fying session, which is slated for
1 p.m. PT on Saturday, Novem-
ber 14.
Prior to the delay, Herrera had
established himself as the favor-
ite for both the race win and the
championship. Herrera was the
number one qualifier and ran as
quick as 6.752 at 200.05 mph
during the Las Vegas event. Dur-
ing Sunday's final eliminations,
he defeated Chris Bostick, Clay-
ton Howey and Joey Gladstone.
"I wasn't too sure if it was
possible to run in the 6.70s, but
last night at dinner, I got a text
from Andrew [Hines, crew chief]
saying we're going 0.70s tomor-
row," Herrera said after Satur-
day's qualifying. "He's definitely
got the bike figured out right
now. It's in a window, and it's in
a happy window, so I just had to
go out there and do my job more
than anything."
"I feel like me and Richard both
are going to be on our game, and
we're going to go as many rounds
as we can until we meet each
other or any other competitors
and get put out early."
Gadson, the reigning World
Champion, qualified second and
knocked off John Hall, Angie
Smith and Ryan Oehler. He'll
head to Pomona with a 55-point
lead over Herrera, looking to
clinch his second straight World
Championship.
In the semifinal round, both
riders fought hard to maintain
control of their RevZilla Vance
& Hines Suzukis due to strong
crosswinds, forcing officials to
make the decision to move the
final round to Pomona.
The unique NHRA points
system will likely make for an
exciting event. In Las Vegas,
competitors earn 20 points for
each round win. That changes in
Pomona, where the final event
of the season uses a points-and-
a-half format: each round win
is worth 30 points, so Gadson's
current 55-point edge isn't as
solid as it may look.
Kevin McKenna
WIND
IN THE
P40
Strong crosswinds forced the Las Vegas
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle final to be
postponed to the final championship
round in Pomona, California, where
Gaige Herrera (pictured) and Richard
Gadson will go head-to-head.
