Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team are looking to finish the six race NHRA Countdown to the Championship with a strong performance to build momentum for the 2025 season and chase the 2024 world championship. Today as the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals his 2024 championship hopes took a blow with an early exit at Maple Grove Raceway. Hart entered the playoffs in eleventh place looking to make an immediate move into the Top Ten. After two days of qualifying Hart was the No. 9 qualifier and faced off in the first round with veteran Clay Millican, the most recent event winner.
“We were matched up against Millican again, who we lost a close race two weeks ago at the U.S. Nationals in the second round,” said Hart, a two-time national event winner. “Clay went on to win that race. We wanted to get the Countdown started with some good momentum, but we have never really had much good fortune at Maple Grove Raceway. The track is amazing and the Koretsky’s did a great job with the facility, but we just could not deliver on race day.”
Hart and Millican were the first pair of Top Fuel dragsters to hit the cool and smooth Maple Grove Raceway track. Their qualifying times were only .001 second apart with Millican getting lane choice thanks to his 3.762 second run in front of Hart’s 3.763 second pass from Friday night. It looked like the track was set up for similar conditions on race day.
Hart and Millican staged their 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster and unfortunately Hart hit the throttle too early, jumping the starting line Christmas Tree. The early start earned an immediate disqualification and handed Millican a free run to the quarterfinals. It was a tough loss for Hart who is known as an excellent driver off the starting line with the second-best average reaction time in the class.
“That was my mistake and is really out of character,” said Hart. “I wasn’t trying to cut an amazing light I was just doing my routine. I knew this R+L Carriers dragster could compete with anyone. I hate it for the team and all our sponsors. The good news is I am putting this race in the rearview mirror and focusing on Charlotte in five days. You have to have a short memory in drag racing.”
There are five national events remaining in the playoffs and Hart did not slip too far behind the drivers around him in the point standings. The drivers sitting in ninth and tenth also lost in the first round. He is within three rounds of seventh place. The businessman from Ocala, Florida, is focused on taking his championship chase one race at time.
The team will be back on track at zMax Dragway starting Friday, September 20 with two qualifying sessions. Saturday, September 21 will feature two more sessions with the quickest 16 Top Fuel dragsters racing for the iconic Wally trophy on Sunday, September 22. The race will be televised nationally on FS1.
This story was originally published on September 16, 2024. 
