Story By: ELON WERNER / JOSH HART RACING – OCALA, FL – The past two years Sonoma Raceway has been a welcome stop on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series for Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team. This weekend the two-time Top Fuel national event winner will be looking to the Denso Sonoma Nationals as another opportunity to build momentum heading into the second half of the 2024 NHRA season. Last weekend as the No. 8 qualifier in Seattle Hart raced to the quarterfinals on the heels of two strong days of qualifying. This weekend he will be looking to continue the positive moves in the California wine country.
“Sonoma is a beautiful part of the country, and they really love drag racing,” said Hart. “This will be our third race at Sonoma Raceway and every year we have won more rounds on Sunday, so we are looking for big things this weekend. I was pleased with our effort last weekend in Seattle and I think we are moving in the right direction.”
Prior to Seattle Hart’s team added veteran crew chief John Stewart to work with R+L Carriers Top Fuel team primary crew chief Ron Douglas. During an intense testing session prior to the Northwest Nationals the team saw positive performance improvements that they built on over three days on the track at Pacific Raceways. Racing to the quarterfinals allowed Hart to close the gap on drivers in front of him with three races before the Countdown to the Championship begins following the historic U.S. Nationals.
“We are chasing some drivers in front of us to improve our position going into the Countdown,” said Hart. “When the points reset, I want to be in the middle of the pack and that is a big goal for this team. It is attainable but we will need to keep working hard and make our own luck. The best thing we can do is get more qualifying bonus points and win rounds on Sunday.”
At the Northwest Nationals the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team posted the quickest run of the first qualifying session and the second quickest run of the final qualifying session collecting five valuable bonus points. It was the most bonus points earned in the category and showed Hart’s team was moving in the right direction. The past two years at Sonoma Raceway Hart has started the race No. 7 and No. 4 in qualifying so the opportunity for quick runs is a real possibility.
Last year Hart had one of the quickest and most consistent race cars in qualifying and on race day. His bid to win the Sonoma Nationals came to an end in the semifinals to eventual race winner Justin Ashley. In that race Hart was first off the starting line with a spectacular .035 second reaction time but lost the race by .008 seconds which translates to approximately four feet at over 325 miles per hour.
“We were on our game last year in Sonoma and I want to duplicate that effort,” said Hart. “My lights were solid, and I want to bring that level of intensity to the rest of the season. This whole team has worked very hard, and it takes a Herculean effort to win one of these races. I have full confidence in everyone on this R+L Carriers team that we can get the job done and get back into the winner’s circle.”
Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will get two shots at the track on Friday, July 26 at 5:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. followed by two more sessions on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. Final eliminations for the quickest 16 Top Fuel dragsters will begin on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. with the race being broadcast nationally on FOX.