Josh Hart and R+L Carriers Ready to Tackle the Western Swing

Ocala, FL (July 16, 2025) --- The second half of the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series starts this weekend at the historic Pacific Raceways, home of some of the most notable drag races over the past fifty years. For Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team making the trek to the Pacific Northwest is about making their own history and advancing the success of their independently owned team. Hart, a successful entrepreneur who owns Burnyzz Speed Shop with his wife Brittanie is looking to establish his brand of business and racing with his Top Fuel team across the country. This weekend’s Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals and next week’s Sonoma Nationals in northern California are the furthest west the operation has a chance to make an impact.

“When we come to Pacific Raceway, we travel over 2,000 miles from the shop in Indy and barely over 3,000 miles from Burnyzz in Ocala,” said Hart. “This is a huge commitment, and we want to make the most of this two-week trip. Both tracks have a lot of history, but Seattle is an amazing facility. The track is surrounded by trees, and you can make quick runs especially with the Friday night, late night session. That run really sets up your whole weekend.”

Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster will be ready to tackle the Northwest Nationals this weekend, photo credit Krista Zivcic Photography

Fans will be treated to a Friday night qualifying session that will include a race for the Deecell Power Systems “After Dark Low Qualifier” bonus. The bonus money will go to the low qualifiers with the low qualifier in Top Fuel and Funny Car earning $4,000 each. More tracks are spicing up their Friday night qualifying with special bonuses or trophies and Hart thinks these added incentives are a plus for the fans and the teams.

“We are out here to win and anytime you put a carrot out there every team wants to win the money or the specialty trophy so that makes it exciting for the fans,” said Hart. “We had a special deal in Epping and in Dallas they do a big bonus on Friday night. Friday night in Seattle should be pretty spectacular with header flames and low ETs.”

This season Hart and his R+L Carriers Top Fuel team have advanced to the quarterfinals six times. The team is looking for its first win of the season but with every race they are gathering more data to make a push on the back half of the season. These two races will have a mix of racing conditions with hot and cool track temps so Hart is confident his team can hit the target and make solid runs throughout qualifying. Saturday will feature three rounds of qualifying in race-like conditions.

“We are consistently getting out of the first round in eliminations, and our goal is to work on getting better qualifying positions for even more favorable first round matchups,” said Hart. “The tricky part is there are so many good teams out here there are no easy first rounds. We have to come off the trailer and get a good run on Friday night or we will be playing catch-up all-day Saturday. That is the issue for every team out here when we do the qualifying schedule like this. You put a lot of eggs in that Q1 session.”

Hart is a multi-time Top Fuel national event winner and picked up the Pep Boys Top Fuel All-Star Callout big money win in 2023. Those wins continue to motivate Hart and the R+L Carrier team but success this season is even more tantamount. Four more races remain in the regular season and while the newly announced regular season championship is out of reach, a run for the world championship is still very much a possibility. The Countdown playoff six-race season ending dash is already on Hart’s mind and a solid Northwest Nationals will go a long way in preparing for a final season push.

“The regular season is important, especially since they are going to start crowning champions for the regular season, but we are racing for a world championship,” said Hart. “We are in the Top Ten, but we could move up to six or seven over the next four races and then we are right in the mix for the championship. It all starts here in Seattle and Sonoma. I am looking forward to getting on track after a two-week layoff.”

Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will have one qualifying run on Friday, July 18 and then three more qualifying runs on July 19 at Pacific Raceways. The 16 quickest Top Fuel dragsters after four rounds of qualifying will compete for a Wally on race day on Sunday, July 20 at 10:30 a.m. PT. Fans can watch the race on FS1 and the finals on FOX. For tickets or more information on the NHRA Northwest Nationals visit nhra.com.