Quiet Gaige Herrera Making Noise As New Vance & Hines Rider

Andrew Hines said he felt like his Vance & Hines team threw new rider Gaige Herrera “to the wolves” at the NHRA’s season-opening Gatornationals this March.

But Herrera tamed the wolfpack handily, scoring the No. 1 qualifying position and winning his first start for the powerhouse Pro Stock Motorcycle organization. (He wasn’t the ninth in NHRA history to win in his first pro start, for he debuted last September at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, then qualified at St. Louis, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Pomona, all for the Stoffer-Underdahl team. So he already had five events to his credit).

“We are really proud here at Vance & Hines for him going out and showcasing the efforts of our team and race-facility employees,” crew chief Hines, a six-time champion himself, said. “We kind of threw him to the wolves at that first race. We brought new Suzuki GEN 3 Hayabusa bodywork, brand-new Vance & Hines four-cylinder engine cases, and also threw him on it as a new rider to our team. I felt the pressure on me as much as he felt: if I didn’t bring a bike capable of winning, I would have failed.  That was a big deal to have that all align and come away with a win in our first 2023 outing.”

However, he said, “Honestly, it didn’t surprise me.  He has been in pressure situations outside of NHRA racing. I knew if I gave him a great motorcycle that he would be capable of what we accomplished. When I watched him through the later part of the ’22 season, he showed the traits that he was ready to win.”

Herrera, a 29-year-old fourth-generation drag racer from La Habra, Calif., indeed was ready. He had a couple of titles in other series and for the past several years had been a force in Outlaw and XDA Pro Street competition before taking on Vance & Hines’ Mission Foods Suzuki. Running in the 6.30-second range in the 1/4-mile at more than 200 mph was commonplace for him, and he has had extensive experience on a Suzuki, even as the fastest Suzuki Hayabusa racer in the U.S.

Herrera called the feat “awesome” and “an unreal experience” and said, “I definitely didn’t expect the first weekend to be like that: No. 1 qualifier and then win the race.” But he knew that the elation of victory is fleeting and grind of achieving it again and again all too real. He said that pragmatic realization that “I can’t do this every time” is “the hard part. Then you expect so much out of it every week, out of yourself every weekend….