The grin on his face told the whole story. Unlike his 19 other wins in Pro Stock, Gaige Herrera admitted he stole one this time at the NHRA FallNationals. Matt Smith was reeling in Herrera in the back half of the track when his Denso Buell unexpectedly stopped pulling, enabling the defending champion to “steal” a race he indeed was going to lose. 

“Yeah, I definitely stole this one,” Herrera admitted. “This one was not mine to win by no means and I'm sure everyone else knows it. That just makes it even that much better. They kept saying the pressure's on me, but I think it's the opposite right now”

The win enabled Herrera to successfully score his 20th career victory, making him the quickest drag racer in NHRA history to reach this point. Herrera’s ninth win of the season, achieved with a 6.816, 200.56 pass, now gives him a 62-point lead with only two races remaining in the 2024 season.  

As it turns out, the final round wasn’t the only break he got in a final eliuminations day chock full of surprises across the four professional categories. 

“Today means a lot,” Herrera said. “I had more luck on my side today than performance, for sure. I was sleeping on one of the lights, and Chase went red. In the final, Matt would have had me. Luck was definitely on my side, and I’d rather be lucky than good any day. My bike ran well all day with the heat, considering. I made a few little mistakes, but all in all, I’m glad to go home with the win and another cowboy hat.
“This Countdown has been pretty tight. We all know there was some trash talk, so for us to not have the performance advantage and get the win, it means a lot to me. This season, it just means a lot more each round win we get. This year has been a lot more pressure for me as a rider. Each round and win means so much more this time. I’m kind of just showing my real side and not holding it in anymore.”

Herrera’s confidence that he didn’t have the bike to beat was largely fueled by the tendency of their bike not to be at optimum conditions when the temperatures are as high as they were on Sunday. In the heat of the day, the ambient temperature rose as high as 96 -degrees, with the track temperature almost 40 degrees warmer. 

“When the weather's really bad, we're at a disadvantage performance-wise,” Herrera explained. “Our bikes don't make as much torque as the Buells. So the Buells do better in worse air conditions, just like in Denver when we used to go there. So we definitely were scrounging for everything we could. We changed the tire for the last run. We changed all kinds of stuff, trying to get whatever little bit out of the bike we could, a little extra. 

“tt paid off there in the Final a little bit, but it definitely had all of us sweating in the trailer, for sure,” Herrera said. “Andrew [Hines] was on the laptop until the last second before every round, trying to get every little bit out of it. So this whole win and all that definitely goes to Andrew for all his hard work.”

Herrera is known for his soft-spoken approach and lack of overwhelming emotion when winning. But this time was different. There were no overwhelming performance advantages, just a day on which he and the Vance & Hines team had to scratch and claw their way to victory. 

“This Countdown has been pretty tight and we all know there's been some talk in the offseason, trash talk, and rumors that my bike's superior and blah, blah,” Herrera said..”So for us to not have the performance advantage and to get the win just means a lot to me. When I heard Matt's bike go on the limiter, I was already screaming in my helmet because I was excited to basically whip Matt's butt. 

“It just means a lot more each round when we get it, and I would say last year it was like cruise control. As long as I stayed level-headed and all that, I felt like I had it in the bag last year. This year has been a lot more pressure for me as a rider and Andrew, the guys at the shop. So I feel like each round and winning means so much more this time and definitely I'm just showing my real side and not holding it in anymore.”