OCALA, FL (May 31, 2023) — 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.”
Josh Hart and R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster, photo by Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery
Hart didn’t dominate in qualifying at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Nationals entering race day as the No. 12 qualifier, but his team managed some tricky track conditions and the veteran tuning skills of Douglas put Hart in a position to win with his driving abilities. A pedal-fest first round win over three-time world champion Antron Brown led to two solid round wins over rookie Jacob McNeal and veteran TJ Zizzo in the semis. Facing friend and long-time racer Clay Millican in the final Hart was in a no-lose situation.
“Clay is a great friend of mine and we wanted to win for sure but seeing what that win meant to Clay and his team was pretty cool,” said Hart. “We have a race car that can win rounds and we are looking to have more success in Epping than we did last year. We will have a busy weekend and I am looking forward to racing in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for the first time. That looks like a really cool deal and it will make for a fun Saturday.”
Hart will be one of four Top Fuel semifinalists from Chicago that will get to rerun their races with $10,000 and three championship points on the line. During the first qualifying run on Saturday Millican will match up with Brittany Force who he beat in Chicago. Hart was scheduled to race Zizzo but the part-time driver from Chicago will not be racing at the New England Nationals. The next driver up is the quickest second round loser, Jacob McNeal, who will also be absent, so Hart will face Leah Pruett, who was the second quickest loser in Chicago.
“We will be ready for whoever we have to race for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge,” said Hart, who pocketed $80,000 earlier this year winning the Pep Boys Top Fuel All-Star Callout. “These specialty races are great for the fans and when you get into the Countdown those championship points could come in handy. I want to thank Mission Foods for putting this race on and I am looking forward to getting after it.”
The R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will come into New England Dragway with a win light already on their record. On Monday before the race Hart raced two-time Funny Car world champion Cruz Pedregon during the Snap-on Tools Superspeedway contest event.
Cruz Pedregon and Josh Hart square off at Lucas Oil Raceway Park, photo courtesy of Cruz Pedregon Racing
“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 it was an awesome experience. This was a cool event Snap-on Tools hosted giving these winners the chance to check out the Indy 500 and then get a full day of drag racing.”
Hart and Pedregon fired up their 12,000-horsepower land rockets while the Snap-on guests got an up close and personal experience. They each executed long and smoky burnouts before taking the Christmas Tree with Pedregon getting a slight competition advantage off the starting line to even out the elapsed times. Both Pedregon and Hart were clean off the line and as they blasted towards half-track Cruz’s Snap-on Dodge Funny Car dropped a cylinder and shut off on the exhibition with Hart making a clean pass to the finish line.
Last year during his first trip to New England Dragway Hart made quick and consistent runs entering race day at the No. 5 qualifier. Unfortunately, a mechanical issue at the start of the race grenaded his R+L Carriers engine right off the starting line costing him a first round win. It was a costly error and one that Hart has no plans to repeat.
“We were ready to go in that first round and I remember hitting the throttle pedal and then all heck broke loose,” said Hart. “The only positive was there were some amazing photos, but that isn’t really what we are after out here. My team works too hard to not win rounds and we want to win races. This season has been a progression of positive steps. I am excited to get back to New England Dragway and see the fans again and turn on some win lights.”
Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will get their first pass at New England Dragway on Friday night at 6 p.m. followed by two qualifying runs on Saturday at 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. which will include the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge races. Final eliminations will commence on Sunday, June 4, at 11 a.m. (ET) with the race being broadcast on FS1.