Story By: ELON WERNER / JOSH HART RACING – OCALA, FL – The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series has gotten off to a slower than expected start for Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team but improvement in the Arizona desert could pay dividends this weekend at the NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals.
In the first round of the NHRA Arizona Nationals Hart made his smoothest pass of the weekend and during a Monday test session the team saw continued improvement. The prospect of continuing this positive momentum has Hart ready to attack the Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals with a vengeance at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“We are always excited to get to the racetrack, but I feel very positive about how we ended Phoenix and then our test session on Monday,” said Hart, who raced to the final quad in the 2023 Las Vegas four-wide national event. “This sport is very humbling, and we are not where we want to be or where I expect to be but the only way to reverse that is hard work. I don’t think anyone is working harder than my R+L Carriers team. I am going to keep my focus on my driving and we’ll see what we can do this weekend at The Strip.”
Hart has a strong recent history racing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway advancing to the final quad last year and racing to the semifinals at the Nevada Nationals during the NHRA Countdown playoffs. For the entrepreneur from Ocala, Florida, the desire to get back into the winner’s circle fuels his passion and determination.
“We are a top-tier team and we just need a few things to go our way,” said Hart. “We have worked our way through some growing pains making some parts adjustments and I feel like we are going to start seeing improvements on the track. The fact that we get four qualifying runs at this race will be big for us. We need runs and data so two runs on Friday and two more on Saturday will be huge for our R+L Carriers team.”
Since Hart made the move to Top Fuel racing during the 2022 NHRA season after a successful career in Top Alcohol Dragster he has made strides. He won two Top Fuel national events his rookie season and collected the Pep Boys Top Fuel All-Star Callout title at the beginning of the 2023 season and he was runner-up at the Rt. 66 Nationals in Chicago. Hs finished the season in the Top Ten but those successes, while important, are not the ultimate goal that Hart is chasing.
“We are working every day to be consistent winners and race for the Top Fuel championship,” said Hart. “Mission Foods has stepped up and we want to go rounds on Sunday so we can race for the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturdays at races. There is a lot of opportunity to turn on win lights and this R+L Carriers and Burnyzz Speed Shop team knows we can get the job done. We have a lot of support across the country and that keeps us motivated too.”
Hart and R+L Carriers team will be making two qualifying runs on Friday, April 12 and two qualifying runs on Saturday, April 13 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The top 16 quickest Top Fuel dragsters in the field will have a chance to take home the first four-wide Wally of the season on Sunday, April 14. The first round of eliminations will begin on Sunday at 12 p.m. PST. Fans can watch the finals on FS1.