Jianna Evaristo rode her Scrappers Racing Pro Stock Motorcycle to the semi-finals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio on Sunday afternoon.

After Friday night’s qualifying sessions for Pro Stock Motorcycle were canceled due to inclement weather throughout the day, Evaristo was able to qualify sixth with a time of 6.941 after two qualifying sessions on Saturday.

With more weather threatening Sunday’s eliminations, NHRA moved the schedule up by one hour to get the day’s activities completed. In round one, Evaristo would compete against Ryan Oehler and with a .017 reaction time and an ET of 6.903, she would punch her ticket to round two.

In round two, Evaristo lined up alongside Gaige Herrara, who has had an incredible streak of wins until a red light in Bristol against Steve Johnson. But Evaristo became the first rider in four races to beat Herrara head-to-head dating back to the 2022 season. Evaristo had a .050 RT to Herrara’s .067. At the line, Evaristo’s ET was 6.897 to Herrara’s 6.988 – punching her ticket to the semi-finals where she would meet Steve Johnson.

“All of that right there is Matt Smith Racing,” said Evaristo, following her win in Round 2. “It’s Matt (Smith), Angie (Smith) and the whole team and all the hard work that they put in every day, 24 hours a day. I’ve had the pleasure of being able to work with them now and it’s really paying off. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I’m very excited about what’s to come.”

Unfortunately, in the semi-final round, Evaristo’s reation time proved too fast and she would red light at the starting line, ultimately resulting in a loss to Johnson. But Evaristo knows the results of the weekend in Norwalk are a showcase of the speed in her Scrappers Racing motorcycle and a good stepping stone as she continue to learn and gain momentum in the series.

“This is all definitely still a learning experience,” said Evaristo, following her semi-final race. “I’m definitely getting more comfortable on the bike, which is why I feel like I saw the light. I really feel like I was ready. I felt good about it and I swore I saw the light. The moment I went, I was like, ‘Well, shoot.’ But it was good. The run was good. I saw the bike drifting towards the wall, but the bike definitely had the ability to be able to win that round and now I know that I also have that ability and had that ability to win that round. All I can do is learn from today. I’m getting way more comfortable and that’s something that is a really big positive out of today.”

The NHRA Drag Racing Series and the Pro Stock Motorcycle class will return to action in two weeks at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado for the Mile High Nationals, July 14 to 16. The riders will start a three week stretch of events on the west coast from Colorado to Seattle and ending at the home track for the Salinas family at Sonoma Raceway.

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TOP FUEL
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 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed
  777 Leah Pruett                             4 Justin Ashley                
E4   ****WINNER****  0.081  3.761 326.79                     0.043  4.497 198.90
 Prior rounds:
E3    (A Prock     ) 0.046  3.771 331.12      (B Force     ) 0.038  3.711 331.94
E2    (M Salinas   ) 0.094  3.741 326.40      (S Torrence  ) 0.039  3.721 328.06
E1    (K Wurtzel   ) 0.176  4.056 219.22      (C Millican  ) 0.041  3.715 329.34
 Qualified:             #1  3.684 333.08                        #7  3.708 332.59



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FUNNY CAR
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  256 Blake Alexander                        14 Matt Hagan                   
E4   ****WINNER****  0.028  3.935 321.96                     0.067  3.991 327.90
 Prior rounds:
E3    (B Tasca III ) 0.070  3.924 322.81      (J Todd      ) 0.057  3.959 328.30
E2    (A DeJoria   ) 0.061  5.144 144.66      (R Hight     ) 0.068  3.912 329.18
E1    (T Wilkerson ) 0.078  3.995 319.22      (D Creasy Jr ) 0.067  3.962 323.43
 Qualified:            #12  3.999 319.60                        #3  3.892 327.82



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PRO STOCK 
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    7 Dallas Glenn                            6 Matt Hartford                
E4                   0.037 17.599  67.65     ****WINNER****  0.005  6.624 207.02
 Prior rounds:
E3    (T Coughlin J) 0.035  6.635 206.42      (A Stanfield ) 0.028  6.624 206.57
E2    (E Enders    ) 0.033  6.632 206.39      (D Kramer    ) 0.048  6.601 206.89
E1    (B Butner III) 0.052  6.610 206.61      (F Cuadra    ) 0.017  6.615 206.45
 Qualified:             #7  6.619 207.72                        #1  6.593 205.91



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PRO MOTORCYCLE 
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  300 Hector Arana Jr                         5 Steve Johnson                
E4   ****WINNER****  0.034  6.821 199.82                     0.074  6.943 176.63
 Prior rounds:
E3    (M Smith     ) 0.023  6.820 199.64      (J Evaristo  ) 0.080  6.897 194.44
E2    (A Smith     ) 0.037  6.801 199.52      (E Krawiec   ) 0.020  6.848 195.90
E1    (W Wells     ) 0.125  6.826 199.46      (C Van Sant  ) 0.083  6.802 197.59
 Qualified:             #3  6.814 199.14                        #5  6.840 195.87



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PRO MOD
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  203 Jose Gonzalez                        4000 Jason Scruggs                
E4                   0.030  5.807 248.93     ****WINNER****  0.033  5.760 250.32
 Prior rounds:
E3    (K Thorne    ) -0.068  5.817 248.84      (M Castellana) 0.024  5.777 247.47
E2    (J Lee       ) 0.045  5.867 247.61      (S Frigo     ) 0.034  5.786 248.80
E1    (D Wolfe     ) 0.002  5.778 249.44      (B Banaka    ) 0.028  5.756 248.66
 Qualified:            #10  5.829 247.11                        #1  5.759 247.70

Scrappers Racing