in the lanes
TOPEKA, KS (August 14, 2022) --- Racing today from the lofty No. 3 qualifying position, Josh Hart drove the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster into the quarterfinals before losing to three-time former world champion Antron Brown in the 33rd Menard’s NHRA Nationals presented by Pet Armor at Heartland Motorsports Park. Through two days of qualifying Hart along with crew chief and business partner Ron Douglas made the most of their passes on a hot and tricky racetrack. His 3.766 second pass at 310.41 mph was one-thousandth of a second from the No. 2 spot giving the driver from Ocala, Florida confidence going into race day.
After equaling the best starting position of his Top Fuel career, Hart drove the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster past Austin Prock and the Montana Brand dragster out of the John Force Racing stable in round one.
“We made the most of qualifying,” said the two-time tour winner, “and starting the day in the top four is a good spot. We are going to keep improving and working to get our first No. 1 qualifier. The first round win was big and those are the kind of wins that motivate you. If you want to race for the championship like we do we are going to do everything we can to qualify as high as possible and win as many rounds as possible. There is a lot of tough competition out here but we are a tough car to beat as well.”
Thanks to a .034 of a second starting line advantage, Hart who cut a .022 light, was well ahead of Brown when a mechanical problem slowed his R+L Carriers entry to 3.940 seconds and only 279 mph. Hart’s racecar was charging until just before the finish line when the engine let go and robbing him of much needed power.
“We are getting down to the last couple of races in the regular season and this R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster is making good runs,” Hart said. “We had an issue in the second round today but that was more track condition related than performance. I am looking forward to getting to Brainerd.”
Hart will leave Topeka sitting in fifth place in the Top Fuel point standings with two regular season races remaining. The second-year driver and team owner will be looking to make his run at the Top Fuel world championship. This week the R+L Carriers team will be in action at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals from Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota.
Qualifying Results
Q1: 3.766, 310.41 mph; Qual. 3
Q2: 3.902, 308.92 mph; Qual. 3
Q3: 3.846, 316.82 mph; Qual. 3
Bonus Points: 1 for third quick in Q1, 3.766, 310.41 mph.
Race Results
First Round
Josh Hart, Ocala, Fla., R+L Carriers dragster, 3.823, 315.56 mph, def. Austin Prock, Pittsboro, Ind., Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster, 3.895, 258.86 mph.
Second Round
Antron Brown, Pittsboro, Ind., Matco Tools dragster, 3.812, 312.42 mph, def. Josh Hart, Ocala, Fla., R+L Carriers dragster, 3.940, 279.15 mph.
Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten - Top Fuel
1. Brittany Force 1122
2. Mike Salinas 1091
3. Justin Ashley 989
4. Steve Torrence 960
5. Josh Hart 736
6. Leah Pruett 726
7. Shawn Langdon 709
8. Doug Kalitta 659
9. Tony Schumacher 625
10. Antron Brown 613
About R+L Carriers
Based in the United States, R+L Carriers is a Global Freight Transportation and Logistics company that has remained family-owned and operated since 1965. R+L Carriers offers one of the most comprehensive networks of nationwide service centers for LTL, Truckload, Expedited and Cross-Border Shipping. In addition to its core value-added shipping solutions, R+L Carriers has a portfolio of services that extends to International Supply Chain Management, Warehousing and Customs Brokerage.
Learn about R+L Carriers: rlc.com | Media: media@rlc.com
HART RIDES NO. 3 START TO QUARTERFINAL FINISH
Feb. 18-20 Lucas Oil Winternationals Pomona, Calif. Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Feb. 25-27 Arizona Nationals Chandler, Ariz. Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park
March 11-13. Amalie Oil Gatornationals. Gainesville, Fla. Gainesville Raceway
April 1-3 Four-Wide Nationals Las Vegas The Strip at LVMS
April 22-24 Mopar Express Lane SpringNationals Baytown,Texas Houston Raceway Park
April 29-May 1 NGK Four-Wide Nationals. Concord, N.C. zMax DragwayM
May 13-15 Virginia Nationals Dinwiddie, Va. Virginia Motorsports Park
June 3-5 New England Nationals Epping, N.H. New England Dragway
June 17-19 Thunder Valley Nationals. Bristol, Tenn. Bristol Dragway
June 24-26 Summit Racing Equip. Nationals Norwalk, Ohio Summit Racing Equipment Park
July 15-17 Dodge SRT Mile-High Nationals Morrison, Colo. Bandimere Speedway
July 22-24 Sonoma Nationals Sonoma, Calif. Sonoma Raceway
July 29-31 Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals Kent, Wash. Pacific Raceways
Aug. 12-14 Menard’s Nationals Topeka, Kan. Heartland Motorsports Park
Aug. 19-21 Lucas Oil Nationals Brainerd, Minn. Brainerd Int’l Raceway
Sept. 2-5 Dodge SRT U.S. Nationals Indianapolis, IN Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis
Sept. 16-18. Mopar Express Lane Nationals Mohnton, Pa. Maple Grove Raceway
Sept. 23-25 Carolina Nationals Concord, N.C. zMax Dragway
Sept. 30-Oct. 2 Midwest Nationals Madison, Il World Wide Technology Raceway
Oct. 14-16 Texas FallNationals Ennis, Texas Texas Motorplex
Oct. 28-30 Dodge SRT Nationals Las Vegas The Strip at LVMS
Nov. 11-13 Auto Club Finals Pomona, Ca Auto Club Raceway at Pomona