Krista Zivcic Photography

Josh Hart and his team rolled out of Pacific Raceways with their heads held high thanks to a strong showing on race day. Now, the team is ready to bring that success to Sonoma Raceway for the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge. The goal is simple: build momentum as the Countdown to the Championship approaches.

“We are looking at these last three races of the regular season as our opportunity to put our team in championship contention,” said Hart. “The regular season championship is out of reach, but the world championship is within our grasp for the six-race Countdown. We just need to take all the positive things we have been doing all season and focus on Sonoma, Brainerd, and Indy so we can roll into the Countdown on a good run.”

In 2025, Hart has found a way to get past the first round of eliminations, but moving past the second round has been a challenge. The bad luck bug seems to have made a nest in Hart’s hauler, and he’s ready to kick it out this weekend at Sonoma.

“We have been making good runs in the first round based on what we learned in qualifying,” said Hart. “We just need to catch some breaks and make our own luck in the second round and beyond. We have a really quick race car. We stepped up every run in Seattle, and the driver just picked a terrible time to blink in the first round last week. I know we could have won that round and done some serious damage in Seattle. I put that behind me, and the team is ready to go for Sonoma. We get a couple runs on Friday and two on Saturday. We just need to come off the trailer ready to roll.”

The team is ready to take advantage of the great conditions that Sonoma Raceway offers. There’s potential to really make some big horsepower in wine country, and Hart’s team is prepared to use what they learned earlier in the season to take advantage of what the track will give them.

“We got some great performance numbers in Pomona and hopefully we can see some conditions as favorable this weekend,” said Hart. “Those Friday qualifying runs will be important to set us up for success on Saturday and Sunday. The competition is fierce out here. You have to be at the top of your game every time you roll through the water box. I am looking forward to getting after it this weekend.”