Gaige Herrera ran his win streak to eight races at the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 Nationals on Sunday. (Photo: Maddie Skidan | The Podium Finish)
JOLIET, Ill. – It seems it will take an act of God to remove Gaige Herrera from his pedestal atop the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings. Herrera picked up his third win in three races during Sunday’s Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 Nationals, and he shows no signs of slowing down.
Despite showing his first chink in the armor of 2024, when he qualified second to Matt Smith entering Sunday’s racing, Herrera erased any doubt that he had started to slip with a dominant performance on Sunday. He set the top speed of the day (200.68 miles per hour) and low elapsed time of the day (6.694 seconds) while driving past Wesley Wells, John Hall, LE Tonglet and Chase Van Sant to the win.
“Today the weather was just like in qualifying round one,” he said. “I honestly thought it was going to be me and Matt (Smith) in the final. But I ran really consistent all day, and I was consistent on the tree.”
Instead it was Van Sant, who parlayed his number eight qualifying time into a final round appearance. Herrera said he was impressed and proud of Van Sant’s performance on the day. While Van Sant’s performance may have been a surprise to onlookers, Herrera’s was anything but.
Herrera ran his round win streak to 31 and his event win streak to eight, and he kicked the day off with a bang with a blistering 6.694 second pass to defeat Wesley Wells, before dispatching of Hall, Tonglet and Van Sant.
“I was very surprised. I didn’t expect (the 6.694 pass) with the weather, and we had a little bit of a headwind,” he said. “But at that time the wind died for a couple seconds. It was a perfect run. I had to make very little correction, so I scrubbed no speed.”
Broken top qualifier streak excites, rather than dissuades Herrera
Despite breaking Herrera’s 11-race number one qualifying streak, Smith wasn’t able to get a shot at him on the track, as he fell to Van Sant in the second round.
“My hats off to Andrew (Hines) and all the guys back at Vance and Hines,” Herrera said. “They put in all the hard work, and then we come to the racetrack and Andrew digs down and figures out what’s going on and what we’ve got to do.”
So far, Hines and Herrera have come up with nearly every correct answer, but Herrera said that rather than being disappointed when Smith broke his top qualifier streak, he was actually excited to see the competition getting closer.
“Seeing Matt Smith go out and go number one qualifier, actually made me excited,” he said. “There’s nothing better than good, tough, tight, racing. Look at pro stock cars. They’re all within usually five to six hudredths – the whole field – and I really wish that Pro Stock Motorcycle was like that. It brings so much excitement to the class, for the riders, for the fans. To have a tight field like that.”
Herrera is competitive by nature, and feeling the competition close in sparks that competitive nature. He said he always tries to be his best, and when riders like Smith and Van Sant step up their game he is forced to stay on top of his own.
“You can’t cut yourself no slack,” he said. “On the starting line, on the track. Every increment was going to add up. When I saw Matt go out second round against Chase, I was shocked. I was really looking forward to meeting him in the finals. It would’ve been an awesome race. It’s going to be an interesting season, and it’s going to be fun.”
Gaige Herrera defeated Chase Van Sant in the final round of Sunday’s Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 Nationals. (Photo: Maddie Skidan | The Podium Finish)
Herrera ties Schultz with eighth straight event victory
Not every win is equal, and Herrera said that tying Dave Schultz with his eighth straight Pro Stock Motorcycle win, is one that he is particularly proud of.
“I would say this one is at an all time high for me,” He said. “Just to have my name in the same conversation or sentence as Dave Shultz is amazing. I never would’ve thought I would’ve been making any kind of history. Last year was a dream. This year feels the same way. It doesn’t feel real, what we’ve done in such a short time.”
He said he is honored to share a record with Schultz, somebody who was so important to the class.
“I wish I’d gotten to meet him. I hear stories of him. He was such a great dude and he made pro stock motorcycle what it is today.”
Herrera will have the chance to break Schultz’s record when Pro Stock Motorcycles return to the track for the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol June 7-9. But it isn’t just Pro Stock Motorcycle records that are falling to Herrera. If he wins in Bristol, he will break consecutive win marks by both Schultz and Pro Stock car legend Bob Glidden, and he will tie Glidden’s all-time NHRA mark of 35 straight round victories.
Herrera brushes off critics
Regardless of the sport, winning brings its share of negative attention to athletes, and Herrera is no different. He said after Sunday’s win that he doesn’t let doubters take away from his and his team’s success.
“We hear all the time, ‘It’s the bike. Someone else could jump on it and do the same thing,'” Herrera said. “It’s very possible. There’s a lot of great riders out here. But, (the Vance and Hines team) swap motors around all of our bikes, so its not like certain motors, certain chassis (stand out). It’s just the overall combination.”
He said his tuner, Andrew Hines, who has also won multiple Pro Stock Motorcycle championships, and the rest of the team around him have put in the work, and detractors can’t take away from the results. He is also proud of his riding style, and feels like the results have shown his ability.
“Pro stock motorcycle is the most meticulous class, because body movement dictates a lot,” he said. “If you stick a shoulder out too far in the wind you’re scrubbing speed. But I think the overall combo of me and Andrew and us bouncing ideas back and forth is what I think has made this bike so deadly and consistent.”
In addition to his body control, Herrera said he feels like his practice and preparation at the starting line have played a role in his meteoric rise, and success over the past season and a half.
“I haven’t always had the fastest bike each round,” he said. “I feel like i am always pretty consistent on the tree. All these wins have been very difficult if you ask me. I’ve still got to run the bike, got to ride the bike.”
Gaige Herrera captured his 31st straight round win, and eighth straight event win during Sunday’s Route 66 Nationals. (Photo: Maddie Skidan | The Podium Finish)
