For the second time in the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series second year driver Josh Hart will race at a new national event track for the first time in his young professional career. This weekend when the NHRA returns to Virginia Motorsports Park for the Virginia Nationals, Hart and his TechNet Top Fuel dragster team will make their first passes at the fast track located an hour from the nation’s capital. The track will not be completely unknown to the two-time Top Fuel national event winner since he has experience racing Top Alcohol Dragster on the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at three regional events. In 2019 Hart ran his career quickest elapsed time in a Top Alcohol Dragster, 5.132 seconds, in a round one victory at Virginia Motorsports Park.
“I have experience from my Top Alcohol Dragster days in Virginia, but we haven’t raced in Virginia in a couple years,” said Hart. “I set my elapsed time record for Top Alcohol Dragster at that track, so I feel pretty good about returning. The biggest difference will be racing my TechNet Top Fuel dragster at over 320 mph but after the first pass I know it will be all good.”
Hart had a very successful career in the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks before making the jump to Top Fuel in 2021 running a partial schedule. The racer from Ocala, Florida, had a strategic plan to launch his professional career and support from TechNet and R+L Carriers was instrumental in putting his development and success on the fast track. He won his first professional national event, the 2021 NHRA Gatornationals and then added a second Top Fuel win during the NHRA Countdown in Charlotte, North Carolina. Through 13 races last season he also added an additional four semifinal appearances.
“We were going to run a handful of events last year with TechNet who has been with me for years and then we won the Gatornationals and raced to some semifinals and our season just took off,” said Hart. “We got additional support from R+L Carriers and we finished out the season. I am proud to have TechNet on our race car this weekend because I have a lot of confidence right now. We have been running strong and this TechNet Top Fuel car is a lot of fun to drive.”
Over the off-season Hart purchased additional equipment and a brand new 11,000 horsepower Top Fuel dragster to campaign in 2022. With crew chief and business partner Ron Douglas, Hart has been going through the expected ups and downs of bringing a new race car online. Two weeks ago, during the Circle K Four-Wide Nationals Hart’s TechNet team raced to the final quad and performed at the high level the team has been searching for all season.
“The Four-Wide Nationals race was a really good weekend for us,” said Hart. “We got four qualifying runs and then picked up two big round wins on Sunday. Ron and the team were awesome, and I think we are moving in the right direction. This season is about to get busy, and I feel like we are in a great position to have a lot of success. I truly believe that nothing is impossible as long as you put in the hard work and effort. This team is doing that.”
The confidence Hart has in the team is directly attributed to how well they have performed all season even when circumstances were not going their way. A quarterfinal finish at the season opening Winternationals was followed by a semifinal finish at the Arizona Nationals got them off to a good start. The next three races saw Hart exit in the first round with a variety of issues contributing to their lack of success. Through the struggles the team kept a determined and positive attitude which Hart feels is most important to the team’s long-term success.
“We had a great season in 2021 and got off to a good start this year,” said Hart. “Then we had some issues with the new car and some things that none of us had experienced before. We worked together to figure them out and now I really feel this team is stronger than ever. This TechNet team is going to succeed.”
Qualifying for the Virginia Nationals begins on Friday at 8:10 p.m. ET with two more qualifying sessions on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Hart and the rest of the Top Fuel field will begin final eliminations on Sunday at noon. ET and the race will be broadcast on FS1 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Elon Werner PR
