Drag bike racing veteran Paul Gast proved yet again that he has the quickest Pro Nitrous Motorcycle as he was the lone rider to dip into the 3-second range. He unintentionally let off the throttle early on his first qualifying pass and still posted a 3.978 at 176.74 aboard his Fast By Gast Hayabusa. Since the evening session’s conditions were much cooler than Gast will likely see on race day, he chose to sit out the second session.
“We made a perfect run and there’s definitely a little bit more in it,” Gast said. “You’ve gotta have it running really good for three days, especially the third day. I’m here for the race. I opted out of tonight’s qualifier in 48-degree weather. It had a chance of going real fast, but by watching the other bikes, it probably wasn’t going to happen. I think it was prudent to just wait and make another one or two tomorrow. It’s all about racing for this bike and me at this stage of my deal.”
Kuwait’s Meshal Al-Saber followed Gast with a 4.017 at 174.53 on his Brad McCoy-tuned Q80 Racing bike, while defending world champion Chris Garner-Jones is third with his 4.052 at 163.28 on his TT Jones Racing entry.
This story was originally published on October 15, 2022. 
