There was a time when NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Gaige Herrera looked like fictional boxer Ivan Drago in the movie Rocky 3. Then the seemingly unbeatable rider performed the equivalent of cutting himself with a red-light. Then he sustained the equivalent of getting knocked out in the next race.

At the final NHRA Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals, Herrera was back to being the old Drago again. The rookie rider for the Vance & Hines team scored the victory at the house Vance & Hines built, Bandimere Speedway by taking out No. 1 qualifier Hector Arana Jr. in the final round. 

"I'm on cloud nine," Herrera said. "The last two races I had a little bump in the road, some bad luck. And to be able to bounce back from that here of all places, it's amazing feeling. I can't really describe it in words. It's a shame to see this place go away. It's very beautiful here and I'm just glad to be able to put my name on a big part of the last one to ever win here on Pro Stock Motorcycle."

For the record, Herrera's victory marked win No. 14 for the team from nearby Trinidad. 

"That's a big deal on its own, just to be a part of the whole Vance & Hines team," Hererra said.  "To be able to add my name to that list of people out of Vance & Hines that have won here, that's amazing. The whole team's amazing. So I'm very glad to be a part of it. And the little part of it that I am and it's Bandimere so it's awesome."

Those bumps in the road, first at Bristol, and then at Norwalk, were exactly that. Vance & Hines have seemingly repaved the avenue of success. 

"I have all the confidence in the role to my whole team and it was the one race I had to set back on my own," Herrera said. "Then the second race, we had a parts failure. So it's part of drag racing. You have highs, you have lows. So it's something us drivers have to realize, you know, can't always be on top. So to be able to bounce back from that, that's the biggest thing all together as far as part as the team and me. So I'm happy to be back on top and I hope to keep it going again."

Herrera didn't have to look far for encouragement during the brief lull in domination. 

"There was a lot of encouragement from Andrew and Eddie," Herrera admitted. "They didn't want me to put my head down or be upset about it because it's part of racing. They've been doing this for many years and they know you can't win them all. And I wasn't expecting to win them all. I wasn't expecting to have the beginning of the season like I did so I definitely wasn't down about it at all. It's one of those things I've been racing for a long time, so I totally get and understand the sport. This is probably one of the hardest sports mentally I would take. And so to be able to bounce back from that, I'm very pleased."