OCALA, FL – The R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will be rolling into Summit Equipment Motorsports Park looking to grab one more win light this year. Team owner and driver Josh Hart raced through three rounds at America’s Racetrack and then his momentum was sidelined by a rainstorm before the final. Hart missed picking up his third career Top Fuel win and the young driver used that experience as a motivator moving forward in his career. This weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, June 23-25, Hart will bring his 12,0000-horsepower R+L Carriers land rocket to the track with his focus on picking up his first win of the season.

“We have been making steady progress all season with a new racecar and we have made major strides in the past two races,” said Hart, who has five career final round appearances in Top Fuel. “Getting to the final round in Chicago was big and we lost a close race to my friend Clay Millican. We ran two races in one weekend in Bristol and our R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster made some strong passes. We just need to string four good qualifying runs together and then four good runs on Sunday.”

Hart has kept a laser focus on the development of his team since he burst onto the scene during the 2021 NHRA season. Last year was his first full year on tour and this season the young driver who is establishing himself as a leader in the category is finding his way on and off the track.

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BRISTOL, TN – Racing two races in one weekend had Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team focused on performance and the overall fan experience. Last weekend the NHRA New England Nationals was postponed to the Thunder Valley Nationals setting up Hart and the rest of the Top Fuel field for a two race in three days schedule. On Friday night Hart wrapped up his New England Nationals race and turned his attention to winning his first Thunder Valley Nationals title. The final two qualifying sessions on Saturday set Hart up as the No. 12 qualifier and a first round race with No. 5 qualifier Mike Salinas.

Salinas’ quickest time of the weekend, a 3.762 second pass was a target that Hart and his crew chief Ron Douglas knew they could compete with on race day. When the Christmas Tree flashed Hart was first off the line with a starting line advantage of .053 to .113 and the two-time Top Fuel national event winner never trailed in the race. His R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster that also gets considerable support from TechNet crossed the finish line with a winning time of 3.793 second at 331.36 mph.

“This was a wild weekend. I felt bad for the fans in Epping when we were there last week,” said Hart. “I felt even worse for us having to run Epping here because it was just a lot for the NHRA Safety Safari and everybody involved. It was really well orchestrated and worked out nice running two races in one weekend. I just wish we gone in our favor a little bit more. The first round win was a nice boost for the team and the car was flawless on that run.”

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BRISTOL, TN – A week later Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team were able to complete the 10th NHRA New England Nationals. After battling the elements in Epping, New Hampshire for four day and only reaping two qualifying runs the championship contending team from Florida moved south with the rest of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series to Bristol Dragway to wrap up the seventh national event of the season.

Hart’s two runs at New England Dragway had the two-time Top Fuel national event winner sitting in the No. 4 qualified spot. On Friday at Bristol Dragway the team was afforded one qualifying run to get a baseline to go into elimination rounds Friday night. Hart posted the quickest run of the first session and was ready to take on two-time Top Fuel champion Brittany Force.

Under drastically different conditions Hart and Force launched together and as they approached halftrack Hart’s R+L Carrier Top Fuel dragster lost traction as Force powered past him on a clean run for the win. Hart was able to immediately turn his attention to the Thunder Valley Nationals today and made two quality passes. He will head into his second race of the weekend sitting No. 12 and looking at a first round match-up with Mike Salinas tomorrow.

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OCALA, FL – Josh Hart has never shied away from a challenge and in four days the third year Top Fuel driver and team owner will power his R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster into Bristol Dragway and a major opportunity to win two events in one weekend, compete in another Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge and put his improving independent team at the top of the point standings. The New England Nationals, where Hart was the No. 4 qualifier, was postponed running concurrently with the Thunder Valley Nationals, June 9-11, at Bristol Dragway.

“I am glad the NHRA made the decision to move the New England Nationals to run with the Thunder Valley Nationals this weekend,” said Hart, runner-up at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Nationals. “It will make for a very busy and exciting weekend. Our R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster will be ready to make some noise and I want to see as many win lights as possible starting with the Friday night qualifying session which will also be the first round of the New England Nationals.”

Hart will be looking to turn his luck around at one of the most historic tracks on the NHRA tour. This will be the NHRA rising star’s third trip to Thunder Valley and in his previous two races he has qualified in the top half of tough fields but been unable to capitalize on race day. This season Hart has been making steady progress since winning the Pep Boys Top Fuel Allstar Callout at his home track, Gainesville Raceway, and racing to the finals in Chicago.

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OCALA, FL – The R+L Carriers Top Fuel team with driver and team owner Josh Hart are heading to New England on a mission and with a plan. Two weeks ago, Hart raced to the final round at Route 66 Raceway and was just one one-hundredth of a second away from his first win of the 2023 NHRA season. The runner-up finish was further proof that the strategy Hart and crew chief Ron Douglas have put into place following a tough start to the season is coming together. This weekend at the NHRA New England Nationals, June 2-4, Hart will be looking to pick up his first national event win of the season.

“We won the Pep Boys All-Star Callout and had a car that could have won the Gatornationals on Sunday, but the driver cost us,” said Hart, a two-time Top Fuel national event winner. “After that we went into a little slump, and we have been methodically working our way back to our rookie season performance level. No one ever panicked over here, we just went to work and figured some things out. The main thing we have seen is we are making progress and keep moving forward. Chicago was a big race for this R+L Carriers team.”

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OCALA, FL – NHRA Top Fuel championship contender Josh Hart will be squaring off with two-time NHRA Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon on Monday, May 29, at Lucas Oil Raceway as part of the grand prize Snap-on Tools Superspeedway contest event. Snap-on Tools will be hosting 24 VIP contest winners and their guests at the Indy 500 on Sunday and then at an all-day fully immersive day of drag racing that will include instruction in the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School culminating with a side-by-side exhibition race between Hart’s R+L Carrier Top Fuel dragster and Pedregon’s Snap-on Tools Funny Car.

“Cruz called and asked me if I would be interested in racing him in front of some of the Snap-on Tools Superspeedway contest winners and franchisees. I jumped at the chance,” said Hart, who has two Top Fuel national event titles to his credit. “I have never made a pass beside a nitro Funny Car and I can’t wait. This is a really cool event Snap-on Tools is hosting giving these winners the chance to check out the Indy 500 and then get a full day of drag racing.”

The Snap-on Superspeedway event is the final chapter of the contest that has afforded Snap-on customers and franchisees the chance to win prizes ranging from tools to Traxxas radio-controlled cars to the grand prize event. Twelve customer winners plus a guest and twelve franchisee winners and a guest will be treated to an amazing two-day racing experience. On Monday, the winners will enjoy a full day of Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School instruction and racing. There will also be an opportunity for them to take rides on a separate AutoCross course set up at the track. The Pedregon versus Hart side-by-side Funny Car versus Top Fuel dragster exhibition run will take place at 5 p.m. before the group enjoys hospitality at the track.

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CHICAGO – The R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster team and driver Josh Hart continued their steady improvement with a runner-up finish at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals outside of Chicago. The Ocala, Florida-based team qualified No. 12 but defeated No. 5 qualifier Antron Brown, No. 13 qualifier Jacob McNeal, No. 16 qualifier TJ Zizzo before coming up a few hundredths of a second short to veteran Clay Millican in the final round. Tricky track conditions and warm weather bedeviled most of the teams on race day, but Hart and crew chief Ron Douglas were able to navigate the conditions and advance to their fifth career final round.

“We had a super tricky racetrack today,” said Hart, a two-time Top Fuel national event winner. “I am happy we are back in Chicago though. I really liked this place. It looks like a gladiator stadium. I’ve wanted to get back here badly for a long time and hopefully it’s back again next year.”

Through two days of qualifying Hart’s R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster was not its usual dominant self that has led the team to back-to-back final quads at the previous two four-wide national events. The team’s quickest pass of 3.770 seconds came on Saturday morning and they built off those numbers on race day. Hart had his hands full in the first round against three-time world champion Brown. Both dragsters smoked the tires, but Hart’s racecar was able to hang on long enough to give him the momentum to win.

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OCALA, FL – Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team are ready to get to Chicago and the Gerber Collision and Glass Rt. 66 NHRA Nationals. The return of the NHRA to the super-track located in Joliet, Illinois, just 20 minutes from downtown Chicago has the Florida-based driver and team owner focused on building on the momentum from the past month. Opening the season with three straight early exits followed by two final quad appearances in Las Vegas and Charlotte four-wide national events has Hart ready to get back to traditional side-by-side racing.

“I am ready to get back to racing one driver at a time,” said Hart. “We got our race car figured out in Las Vegas and Charlotte, but with four-wide racing there is a lot going on. I am comfortable in the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster now and I think we will start seeing results in Chicago. I raced there in Top Alcohol Dragster, so it isn’t quite a new facility for me.”

Prior to Hart’s move to Top Fuel, he raced at the Chicago NHRA national events from 2016-2018 with his best effort coming in 2017 when he raced to a semifinal finish. Since his Top Fuel career started Hart has picked up two national event wins and finished in the Top Ten last season, his first full year competing at the highest level.

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CONCORD, NC – For the third consecutive year Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster raced to the final quad at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Racing against Steve Torrence for the third time on race day as well as eventual winner Austin Prock and runner-up Leah Pruett, Hart secured his second consecutive semi-final finish of the season in four-wide national events. zMax Dragway holds a special place in Hart’s racing career when you consider the success the third year Top Fuel driver has had at the facility located 30 minutes north of Charlotte.

“Charlotte was my first final ever even in alcohol dragster,” said Hart, who had a successful career in the Lucas Oil Series before moving to the pro ranks in 2021. “It’s been a good track to us. It’s the Bellagio of drag racing. Our team always seems to have the right tune up. We just fell a little bit short this weekend in the final. All I will say is on to the next one and we have a year to plan for the next four-wide.”

In the first quad Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster picked up right where they left off in qualifying posting a 3.702 second pass at 326.79 mph a near mirror image of their final qualifying pass, a 3.704 second run. Hart didn’t post the quickest run of the round, that honor went to Torrence who ran 3.697 seconds, but Hart did get to the stripe first winning the quad and moving on for the third consecutive year at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. The R+L Carriers Top Fuel team has never lost in the first round of the four-wide races contested at zMax Dragway.

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