In baseball it would be a perfect game, hockey a hat trick, bowling a turkey.......
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Gaige Herrera has simply been dominant! Winning basically everything through the first three events of the season, Herrera has put the field on notice that he is here to win, win everything in the search of his first championship.
Herrera continued his dominance of the Pro Stock Motorcycle class in Chicago, and thus far, he's scooped up all of the hardware and hats up for grabs in 2023. After earning the low qualifier award and then reeling in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty title at Route 66 Raceway, he made it a full sweep by winning the main event.
Opponent Ron Tornow left before the tree was activated in round one, but in the second round, Marc Ingwersen was taking no chances and left the starting line with a cool .009 launch. Herrera was right there with a .019 and a very capable motorcycle, and he powered his Vance & Hines Mission Food Suzuki to a 6.725 to snuff out his challenger's 6.940.
That win light set up a semifinal meeting with Vance & Hines teammate Eddie Krawiec, and again, his opponent was not taking him lightly. Krawiec clocked a .008 reaction time to a .016, but Herrera's monster 6.708 was triumphant over a 6.776. Satisfyingly for the Vance & Hines team, the scoreboards each showed 200 mph passes.
The final round pitted Herrera against veteran racer Chip Ellis and the DENSO/Matt Smith Racing Buell. Ellis advanced over red-lighting Chris Chase Van Sant in the first two rounds, then got a ticket to his eight final with a 6.817 to 6.825 victory over Hector Arana Jr.
In the final, Herrera was second to launch, .041 to .029, but his motorcycle made up for it, carrying him to a 6.717 at 201.25 to defeat a 6.791, 200.26.
"All day, my bike has been a bracket bike," said Herrera, who now has a 169 point lead over Krawiec. "It was on point all weekend, and it means a lot to win here with friends and family out here with me. That's one you don't forget. But I have a really good team behind me, and this goes out to all of them.
"Getting to race Eddie third round was definitely a tough one, and then in the final with Chip – I grew up looking up to Chip Ellis. That was definitely a really special one to me. I've said all year, I'm living the dream. I really am."
The NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class will take the weekend off for the overall series next stop in Epping, New Hampshire. The next race for the class will be in Bristol June 9-11 for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.
See the full event recap from Kelly Wade at nhra.com:
Don't miss Sunday's photo gallery from NHRA National Dragster staff:
Secrets of balancing a Pro Stock Motorcycle for peak performance:
Content: Chris Bishop | NHRA (Kelly Wade)
Photo's: NHRA | Racing Pro Media (RPM)