Richard Gadson Clinches NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Regular

Reigning world champion Richard Gadson clinched the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle regular season championship on Monday. He sealed the title by racing his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki Gen 3 Hayabusa to the semi-final round at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Gadson will head into the upcoming six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs as the top seed. The U.S. Nationals event sets the ten-rider field for the playoff series that will crown the 2026 Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion.

Race Weekend Performance

After a nearly two-month break since the last race, Gadson qualified fourth with a 6.818-second run at 197.86 mph. His path to the semi-finals included a first-round win where opponent Marc Ingwersen fouled on the starting line, negating a faster elapsed time.

Gadson's run ended in the semi-finals against Matt Smith. Smith's 6.773-second pass at 200.26 mph bested Gadson's 6.878-second effort at 197.25 mph. The points earned from his weekend were enough to secure the regular season crown.

"We've been in a little bit of a performance funk since the race in Norwalk," Gadson said. "I haven't been able to run big numbers, but I've been racing my way through rounds and getting wins one way or another, sometimes with luck like today."

Herrera's Indy Challenge

Gaige Herrera, a two-time defending U.S. Nationals winner, aimed for a third consecutive victory. He qualified second with a 6.781-second run and won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for the third time this season.

Herrera advanced to the semi-finals before being eliminated. "We were missing a little performance this weekend, but I can't be too mad," Herrera stated. His focus now shifts to the Countdown playoffs, where he hopes to reclaim the championship from Gadson.

"I definitely feel mentally and physically prepared for the Countdown," Herrera added. "It's going to be a tight one between me, Matt, Angie and Richard."

Team Dynamics and Rule Changes

Crew chief Andrew Hines said the team's performance was affected by recent NHRA competition adjustments. A rule change reinstated a five-pound weight increase for the Suzuki team.

"The Buells have a little bit of a performance advantage on us right now," Hines explained. "We were getting destroyed from the eighth-mile mark to the end of the track before the weight change and now we're getting destroyed even more, so obviously it was the wrong thing to do."

The team used the long break before Indy for engine maintenance and dyno testing. Hines emphasized preparation for the intense playoff schedule of six races in ten weeks.

Standings and Schedule

At the conclusion of the eight-race regular season, the point standings for the top two contenders were as follows:

Points for the top ten riders will be reset for the Countdown. Gadson will start the playoffs in first place, with Herrera in third.

The RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines team's next race is the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, from September 18-20.