Story By: ELON WERNER / JOSH HART RACING – LAS VEGAS, NV – At the conclusion of the penultimate NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals, Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will have one more chance to end their season on a high note.
This weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Hart’s team never got a strong handle on the tricky track conditions at the track located fifteen minutes from downtown Las Vegas. Through four rounds of qualifying Hart struggled to transfer the power generated by his R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster to the all-concrete track. His best effort was a 3.801 second pass during the first qualifying session on Saturday held up to secure him the 16th spot in a tight Top Fuel field.
“There were 19 Top Fuel dragsters on the property, so we knew it was going to be super competitive,” said Hart, a two-time Top Fuel national event winner. “We just never got over the hump.”
On race day Hart was paired with No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force in the first round. The R+L Carriers team knew they had a tough opponent, but they were up to the task. Hart grabbed a slight starting line advantage with a .056 second reaction time but by half-track Force was pulling away with a solid 3.721 second smooth pass.
“We just had to go up there and hope we could catch a break,” said Hart. “We are looking to finish the season in a strong points position and we’ll have to wait for Pomona. We are still looking for consistency and we have one more race this season.”
Hart will leave The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway looking to make up ground in two weeks when the tour heads to In-N-Out Burgers Drag Strip at Pomona. The fourth year pro will be looking to race into the top ten at the final race of the season.
The R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will have two qualifying runs on Friday, November 15, and then two more qualifying runs on Saturday, November 16. The quickest 16 Top Fuel dragsters will look to race for the final win of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series on Sunday, November 17 from Pomona.