Story By: ELON WERNER / JOSH HART RACING – SEATTLE, WA – After a lengthy layoff following a tough outing at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers team made major changes. This weekend at the Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle, Washington, Hart had his strongest qualifying effort of the season and raced to the quarterfinals losing a close race to eventual runner-up Shawn Langdon today. Through two days of qualifying Hart’s R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster was the quickest dragster of the first qualifying session on Friday and the second quickest dragster of the final qualifying session yesterday. The team earned five bonus points for the effort and headed into race day as the No. 8 qualifier.
“I was very pleased with how this team bounced back after Norwalk and performed in qualifying this weekend,” said Hart, a two-time Top Fuel national event winner. “We added veteran crew chief John Stewart to work with my primary crew chief Ron Douglas, plus we tested in Indianapolis last week. Those changes are starting to pay off this weekend.”
Going into race day Hart had posted solid qualifying runs of 3.804 seconds and 3.809 seconds in similar conditions. In the Friday night session under cooler conditions Hart stepped up with a 3.748 second run and his first round opponent Antron Brown was slightly quicker with a 3.746 second pass to set him up as the No. 7 qualifier. It was an even match-up pitting two of the best leavers in the category against each other to start race day.
Hart and Brown were the first pair of Top Fuel dragsters to start the first round and it was Hart getting the jump off the starting line with a .065 second reaction time. Hart never trailed in the race pulling away from Brown as the R+L Carriers rocketed down the Pacific Raceways racetrack. Hart’s winning elapsed time of 3.742 seconds at 328.94 mph was almost identical to his quickest run in qualifying.
“That was a big win for this R+L Carriers and Burnyzz Speed Shop Top Fuel team,” said Hart, after the run. “There are a lot of guys working their tails off to move us in the right direction. I am so proud of everyone on this team that is pulling together to get us moving forward. We will have a tough competitor in the next round with Shawn Langdon, but I am feeling really good about our team.”
In the quarterfinals Hart once again was first off the starting line with a .062 second reaction time. Both 12,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragsters were welded together at half-track and Langdon was able to get the nose of his dragster out in front as the finish line closed in. At the finish line stripe Langdon’s 3.721 second pass was just slightly quicker than Hart’s 3.779 second run.
“I am so blessed to be able to race at this level with this great team,” said Hart, from the top end. “All the glory goes to God and I have to thank him and all the guys working on my team. I don’t think people understand how many people are working behind the scenes to give me the opportunity to race this R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster. We made big strides this weekend and I can’t wait to get to Sonoma next weekend.”
In five days, Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will be back in action at the Sonoma Nationals for two qualifying sessions on Friday, July 26 followed by another day of qualifying on Saturday, July 27 before final eliminations on Sunday, July 28 from Sonoma Raceway. Last year Hart raced to the semifinals and will be looking forward to picking up his first win of the 2024 season.