The NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle is a class that continues to be highly competitive. Coming into 2023 the innovation continues with Vance and Hines bringing out the newly designed Suzuki Hayabusa body. With this growth, the Pro Stock Motorcycle class could be a nail-biter this season.
Last weekend’s season-opening 54th Annual Amalie Motor Oil Gatornational at Gainesville Raceway showed an emergence of young talent.
That said, to follow are three Pro Stock Motorcycle riders to keep a close eye on this season:
1). Jianna Evaristo
Evaristo in January of last year experienced a scary crash at a test session in Florida. The front-end parts failed to send her over the handlebars of her Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle at speeds exceeding 165 mph. This kept the third-year racer out for the first three races of the 2022 season due to a fractured foot.
Evaristo would compete in the remaining 12 races of the season posting a 1-11 round win-loss record. The San Jose California native is an aggressive rider that attacks the racetrack with her tremendous skill. Fast forward to this past weekend, the hard work done in the offseason was on full display.
Evaristo would post a career-best 6.789 at 198.61 mph placing her fifth in the 16-bike field going into Sunday’s eliminations. On elimination Sunday, the third-year Pro Stock Motorcycle rider would put the defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Matt Smith on the trailer early on her way to a semi-final finish as she would lose to the eventual race winner Gaige Herrera.
There is a noticeable improvement in Evaristo’s riding ability and bike performance. Last year they were still trying to figure out this new Suzuki package. With her talent and Matt Smith at the Helm, this could be the year we see a major jump in her overall performance.
2). Gaige Herrera
In 2022, Herrera made his NHRA debut and competed in six events, qualifying in four of them. Herrera got an opportunity to ride Eddie Krawiec’s Suzuki during a test session in Las Vegas last October. This would set the stage for him to have an opportunity to become a full-time racer with Vance and Hines in 2023.
Herrera is a fourth-generation racer who was successful in XDA’s Pro Street and Outlaw racing classes. His experience when it comes to fast bikes stood out with every pass he made in qualifying. The Second year NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle rider’s post-low elapse time of qualifying with a 6.685 at 203.49 mph would put him on the pole for Sunday’s eliminations.
Herrera finished off a star-making weekend with one last dominant performance in the final round, going 6.706 at 202.15 on his Vance & Hines/Mission Foods Suzuki to beat Angie Smith and earn his first career NHRA victory. In his first career race with Vance & Hines, the young standout put together a veteran type of performance making him a key rider to watch.
3). Chase Van Sant
Van Sant is another young racer that has a significant level of experience win it comes to fast motorcycles. The former jr. dragster driver, and NCAA sprinter, impressed many with how quickly he emerged as one of the top 4.60 racers in the world. Van Sant showed great poise and bike control at the pre-season test session at Gainesville Raceway.
At this past weekend’s Gatornationals, he continued to show his ability to ride, qualifying third with a 6.747 @ 200.80 mph. The White Alligator Racing rookie would make it to the semi-finals where he would lose to veteran rider Angie Smith.
Van Sant, one of the biggest races on the NHRA circuit showed that the stage wasn’t too big for him. His Suzuki tuned by Tim Kulungian was fast all weekend long and so were his reaction times. After his performance in the first races of the Camping World Drag Racing season, Van Sant and his Trick-Tools Suzuki will be something to watch in 2023.