Richard Gadson is an African American drag bike racer. He was born on March 8, 1986, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Much of Gadson’s early life is unknown, but he always had a passion for drag bike racing. Some of his earliest memories of the sport come from watching his uncle, Ricky, race in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class in the 1990s. Gadson once stated:
“You’ve got to understand one thing — I come from a motorcycle racing family. It wasn’t just my uncle. My grandparents rode motorcycles. My dad, my sisters, and brothers all ride motorcycles. There was no plan B in this life. It’s all about motorcycles. I can remember going to Gainesville in the late 1990s and watching John Myers, Dave Schultz, and Antron Brown when he rode for Team 23.”
In 2003, Gadson earned the Rookie of the Year Award in the AMA/Prostar series (later known as AMA/Dragbike, then XDA) during his first season. The following year, he secured his first win at the Saint Louis Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway International Raceway) in Madison, Illinois.
Gadson’s first championship came in 2011 when he won the Southeastern Motorcycle Drag Racing Association (SEMDRA) Pro Mod series title. In 2015, he doubled up on the Fasttime Motorsports Suzuki, capturing both the NHDRO Pro Comp Championship and the Manufacturer’s Cup (ManCup) Championship. In 2018, he added another title by winning the XDA Vance & Hines 4.60 Index Championship.
In 2019, Gadson had three event wins and seven runner-up finishes in the Xtreme Dragbike Association (XDA). At the Pro Street Battle Royale, he recorded a career-best run of 6.403 seconds at 221 mph, earning a victory over 2019 Orient Express Pro Street Series champion Jeremy Teasley. He also secured a second win in the Mickey Thompson Performance Top Sportsman category, riding a Suzuki Hayabusa Nitrous bike. Along the way, he defeated 2019 series champion Robin Procopio and bested the quickest bike in the category, ridden by Kevin Manchester, in the final round.
The following year, Gadson had a career-best season, with two race wins, a runner-up finish, and a semifinal appearance in the 2020 NHDRO Super Stock Championship, the fifth title of his career.
In June 2025, Gadson earned his first NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle victory by defeating his teammate Gaige Herrera at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tennessee. As of 2025, Richard Gadson’s career continues to thrive.
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