JOSH HART STARTS SEASON WITH STRONG WINTERNATIONALS PERFORMANCE

POMONA, CA – The 62nd annual NHRA Winternationals saw last year’s NHRA rookie standout driver Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster team continue to impress. Through two days of qualifying his performance improved every run. His crew chief and business partner Ron Douglas continued to fine tune a brand-new race car that could carry Hart to his third career victory and first Winternationals title. When qualifying was wrapped up Hart was the No. 9 qualifier and looking at a first round match-up with Shawn Langdon, a driver he defeated in the final round of last year’s season opener, the NHRA Gatornationals.

“I try to race myself and not the person in the other lane,” said Hart. “This race was a lot different from the Gatornationals. We have been working out the details on this R+L Carriers race car. Me getting comfortable was not as quick as last year in Gainesville. There was just a lot of fine tuning.”

In the first round Hart took off beside Langdon and was side-by-side with the 2013 Top Fuel world champion as both 11,000 horsepower land rockets accelerated down track. Hart began to pull away at half-track and flew to victory with a winning time of 3.740 seconds, his quickest run of the weekend to advance to the quarterfinals.

With the win Hart would face No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force in the quarterfinals. Hart defeated Force most recently in their two most previous races, the semifinals of the Carolina Nationals and the first round of the Midwest Nationals in St. Louis. Today was another close race but the outcome did not go Hart’s way.

Force was able to get off the line first and held the lead for the entire race. During his burnout Hart by his own admission was thrown off and that distraction uncharacteristically carried over into his starting line routine. The young driver was adamant about not taking anything away from Force’s victory.

“You have to give her (Force) props. She did a great job on the light,” said Hart. “My guys were awesome between rounds before that run. We had a couple problems and the team came together. It was cool to watch. It was almost magical in my opinion. Something on the burnout was a little weirder than normal and it threw me off my game a little bit. I have no excuses, she just outran us.”

Hart’s confidence in his R+L Carriers crew was obvious at the end of the day and the mood in his pit area was upbeat and determined. Hart knows he has a solid race team that will only continue to improve. The off-season saw significant change for a team that is entering its first full season of competition. A new race car was the biggest change and getting Hart comfortable has been a process that started almost two weeks ago during the Phoenix test session.

“This is a new car for me and I have learned a lot. When you see your guys come together like they did between rounds it gives me a lot of confidence going forward. We will go on to the next one,” said Hart. “Every person has their designated area of responsibility on the car. Driving is my area. I have to do whatever it takes to be sharper and faster. I will work on that.”

With the Arizona Nationals only a few days away Hart is ready to get back into the fight. He will leave California sitting No. 7 in the points tied with eight-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher.

“Getting back in the car in four days will be priceless. Being able to test in Phoenix was good and I am so thankful we did that. There were a lot of adjustments we needed to make inside the new car. This race is always monumental to get back in the car in competition to see all the fans and get all the first season opener butterflies out of the way. We are comfortable and looking forward to Phoenix,” added Hart.

Qualifying Results

Q1: 6.874 sec, 96.20 mph; Qual. 15

Q2: 3.810 sec, 322.88 mph; Qual. 10

Q3: 3.755 sec, 323.19 mph; Qual. 9

Bonus Points: 0

Race Results

E1:  Josh Hart, Ocala, Florida, R+L Carriers dragster, 3.740, 327.82 mph def. Shawn Langdon, Danville, IN, DHL Kalitta Air dragster 3.920, 300.20 mph

E2:  Brittany Force, Yorba Linda, Calif., Monster Energy dragster 3.726, 322.27 mph def. Josh Hart, Ocala, Florida, R+L Carriers dragster, 3.728, 329.27 mph