HART STARTS COUNTDOWN WITH TOUGH READING OUTING

READING, PA (September 14, 2025) --- There are five races remaining in the 2025 NHRA Countdown to the Championship and Top Fuel world championship contender Josh Hart will need to build momentum exiting the 40th NHRA Reading Nationals. With two more races over the next two weeks, Hart and the R+L Carriers team will immediately shift their focus to closing the gap with his Countdown competitors. Through two days of qualifying at Maple Grove Raceway Hart made three runs in the low 3.80s and entered race day as the No. 10 qualifier. He was evenly matched up with his opponent in the first round and knew that he needed to step up his performance if he was going to advance to the quarterfinals for the eighth time this season.

“We came off the trailer with a quick run on Friday in the first round,” said Hart, a multi-time Top Fuel national event winner. “We stepped up in the second qualifying session which was good. On Saturday we were all battling a tough track and after the final session I felt good coming into race day. I knew I had a good crew behind me, and we were going to give it our best.”

In the opening round after several oil down delays Hart faced off against fellow Countdown opponent and businessman Steve Torrence. Both 12,000-horsepowered Top Fuel dragsters rolled into the starting beams and then launched off the starting line. Torrence took a brief early lead, but Hart was chasing him down and simply ran out of track before Torrence got to the finish line first. Hart’s losing elapsed time of 3.804 seconds was paired with a powerful 335.07 mph speed and was his quickest run of the weekend.

“We stepped up, but we were just a little slow in the early part of the run,” said Hart. “I could feel this R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster charging but we ran out of track.”

Earlier this week Hart made news when he confirmed rumors that he was looking for potential buyers for his Top Fuel racing operation and just hours later sold it to Richard Freeman and Elite Motorsports. Hart did not let the announcement distract him from this weekend’s race spending time in the Nitro Club suites as well as on the NHRA stage with Hannah Rickards.

“I am blessed to be able to chase my dream of winning a Top Fuel world championship and this season has opened my eyes to what is important,” said Hart. “We will have some more announcements coming up. I am keeping my options open. I could be racing for someone else in a dream scenario or I could rebuild my operation. I am not going anywhere that’s for sure.”

Hart is committed to finishing this season on a high note and representing all his sponsors with maximum effort on and off the racetrack. The team will be back on track in less than a week at the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, September 19-21.

Qualifying Results

Q1: 3.820 sec, 330.31 mph; Qual. 7

Q2: 3.811 sec; 332.26 mph; Qual. 9

Q3: 4.208 sec; 205.63 mph; Qual. 10

Q4: 3.841 sec; 328.30 mph; Qual. 10

Bonus points:

Race Results

First Round

Steve Torrence, Kilgore, Tex., CAPCO Racing, (.087), 3.766 sec, 334.15 mph def. Josh Hart, Ocala, Fla., R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster, (.099), 3.804 sec, 335.07 mph

Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Point Standings - Top Fuel

1. Doug Kalitta 2185

2. Tony Stewart 2167

3. Shawn Langdon 2152

4. Justin Ashley 2135

5. Shawn Reed 2118

5. Clay Millican 2118

7. Brittany Force 2113

8. Steve Torrence 2090

9. Antron Brown 2075

10. Josh Hart 2053

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