Joey Gladstone experienced a 180-degree emotional swing on the Sonoma [Calif.] Raceway quarter-mile Sunday at the NHRA Denso Sonoma Nationals. 

For him, race day began with the kind of surprise no Pro Stock Motorcycle racer wants.  

“First round, I threw my hands up after what happened. The bike wouldn’t do a burnout, and I didn’t know if I could fix it,” he said. 

But for some reason, the Precision Service Equipment Suzuki rider didn’t let it upset him. He said he still felt rather lucky. 

“In racing, it’s funny – some days you feel like you can’t lose. And today felt a lot like that,” Gladstone said. “It’s kind of like gambling. If it keeps hitting back and you’re betting on red, eventually it’s going to hit red, right? I guess the odds were in my favor today.” 

His gut feeling was correct. By the end of this second race on the Western Swing (but he last for the motorcycle class), Gladstone was shedding tears of joy, reveling in his first-ever NHRA victory. 

Gladstone defeated Jianna Evaristo, Katie Sullivan, and Jerry Savoie before using a holeshot in his third consecutive final-round appearance to clip Eddie Krawiec. 

He covered the course in 6.759 seconds at 200.68 mph to defeat Krawiec, who countered with a quicker 6.758-second elapsed time at 199.67 mph aboard the Vance & Hines Mission Foods Suzuki. Gladstone denied Krawiec his 50th victory. 

In the process, Gladstone moved up to No. 2 in the standings, a mere two points behind new leader Angelle Sampey and 10 ahead of previous leader Steve Johnson. 

Although Gladstone said, “The bike was just on rails all day,” he was quick to say, “The race gods made us earn it.” 

And he did, unable to stop the flow of tears as he received his Wally statue. 

“I’ve been waiting for this day since I was 12 years old, when I decided I wanted to race Pro Stock Motorcycle,” Gladstone, who just turned 31 July 9. “To finally be here and to race these guys, to race the best in the world, this means everything to me and makes it all worth it. I spent my whole life trying to get here.” 

Moments later, as he soaked in his accomplishment, surrounded by fans on the racetrack who had gathered around to congratulate him and other winners Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), and Erics Enders (Pro Stock), Gladstone said he told himself before the final, “I can do this. I’ve got to keep grinding. It’s taken me 20 years after the initial thought of Pro Stock Motorcycle came in my mind. I’ve dedicated my life to this, and to be standing here [on the podium] in front of all these wonderful people [fans] at this amazing facility, I’ll never forget this. Thank you, guys.”  

In visiting with reporters, the feeling of that first victory hadn’t quite fully sunk in yet. He said, “This is pretty surreal. This means a lot to me. It means more to me than you could ever imagine.” 

He said that when he saw his scoreboard win light come on, he drifted into a bit of daydream for a second or so: “I’m actually pretty surprised I got the bike stopped. The last thing on my mind was getting the bike stopped and shut off.” 

The team, who included mentors Michael Phillips and Andrew Hines in addition to teammate Cory Reed, who’s recovering still from nasty injuries he suffered last fall at Charlotte, received plenty of praise. 

He said, “My team did an awesome job. I won with the right group of guys. I want to show my appreciation to Jim and Annie Whiteley and Cory Reed for treating me like a son and a brother and affording me the opportunity to have this blessing to do this and show our potential and follow our dreams.” 

Gladstone said that all day long, he “tried not to overthink it” and tied to act nonchalant, because “once you get to the later rounds of the day, everything is just a bonus. You’ve just got to do your job.” 

He did, and afterwards it struck him just how elite his group of competitors are. 

“The people I’m racing with are top-tier. The men and women I race against are top-notch. They’re incredible competitors. These people are stout,” he said. “You have to be perfect. That’s why I came here. I came here to race the best. We’re still green. I think with more time and more refinement, we’ll become one of those names.” 

For right now, though, Gladstone said he is enjoying the idea that he and Reed, 29, are “a couple of renegade 20-, 30-year-old guys out here, swinging with these guys and making ’em sweat. This is so cool. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

He said, “This is just the start. We’re hungrier now. We’re going to stand on it a little bit. We’re going to get this championship. The monkey’s off my back. Now I want a bigger one.” 

The monkey will be right back on there when the bikes reconvene next Aug. 12-14 at Heartland Park at Topeka for the Menards Nationals presented by PetArmor. The class will skip this weekend’s Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals at Seattle.