LANG RECLAIMS IHRA PM LEAD
Sun, 2009-08-02 21:35
For the sixth consecutive race Kenny Lang found himself in the finals of an IHRA Pro Modified race.
This time, however, he was able to finish the deal.
While any driver would be happy with multiple final round appearances, for the defending world champion four runner-ups to only one win was beginning to get a little old so he decided to do something about that on Sunday, picking up his second Ironman of the season while taking over the points lead at the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery Sunday in Martin, Mich.
Going to the finals and getting a runner-up, there is nothing wrong with that, but six finals in a row with only one win I was starting to get a little bored with that,” Lang said. “It felt good to finally clinch another win and get that under our belt and jump into the points lead.” For the sixth consecutive race Kenny Lang found himself in the finals of an IHRA Pro Modified race.
This time, however, he was able to finish the deal.
While any driver would be happy with multiple final round appearances, for the defending world champion four runner-ups to only one win was beginning to get a little old so he decided to do something about that on Sunday, picking up his second Ironman of the season while taking over the points lead at the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery Sunday in Martin, Mich.
Going to the finals and getting a runner-up, there is nothing wrong with that, but six finals in a row with only one win I was starting to get a little bored with that,” Lang said. “It felt good to finally clinch another win and get that under our belt and jump into the points lead.”
Lang ran a solid 6.012 elapsed time at 238.64 miles per hour to get around the big surprise of the weekend Ike Maier (Tottenham, Ontario) who ran a 6.108 E.T. at 231.71 mph in a final that consisted of the best of the best in Canadian drag racing.
“I don’t take anyone lightly because anybody can pick you off at anytime. I knew that car was going ot go down every time and it did so we had to make sure we had our stuff together,” Lang said. “Our run wasn’t pretty by any means, but we got down the track.
“This was a great field; a bunch of fast cars and some really tough competitors so qualifying first was impressive. But getting the win was that much more important.”
Lang (Grande Pointe, Manitoba) defeated Maier, Melanie Troxel, Joe Baker and Jason Kalso to pick up his fifth career win.
He was also able to regain the Pro Modified points lead over former top man Ed Hoover who fell out in the second round. Lang now holds a 56 point advantage over Hoover as the battle for the championship enters the home stretch with three races remaining on the schedule.
“Anybody that can make six final rounds in a row in any category is impressive. Luckily we were the ones that did it,” Lang said. “We have been a little bit off base with the tune-up, we are starting to get it back now and for the rest of the year we are going to be back where we need to be.”
Maier gave everything he had on Sunday in trying to pick up his first career Ironman, knocking off the former points leader and the new world record holder in E.T. Tony Pontieri, but came up short against the defending world champion.
In semifinal action Maier was able to drive around Pontieri while Lang defeated an ever improving Melanie Troxel who finally found her footing this weekend.
After struggling in her first two races, Troxel finally got the wild door car under control with consistent laps in the low sixes while making her first career semifinal round.
Sunday afternoon also saw the wildest afternoon of Pro Modified racing seen all season.
And it all started in the quarterfinals.
The quarters were filled with upsets and new records as Pontieri reset the record books with a new IHRA E.T. World Record at 5.936 seconds in a victory over Pete Farber. After getting the hiccups out of his system during his first run of the weekend, Pontieri went on a tear of five-second runs to roar through the field.
Maier continued the wild afternoon round of doorslammer racing with an upset of former points leader Hoover while Lang defeated Joe Baker to retake that lead. Troxel finished up the session with a victory over Tim Mathison to move on to her first career semifinal round.
Despite the wild quarters, there were few surprises in the opening round as nearly every top seed moved on. The only upset of the round came when Brad Personett’s attempt at a new IHRA speed record fell short when Mathison knocked off the No. 5 qualifier.
Roger Richards
This time, however, he was able to finish the deal.
While any driver would be happy with multiple final round appearances, for the defending world champion four runner-ups to only one win was beginning to get a little old so he decided to do something about that on Sunday, picking up his second Ironman of the season while taking over the points lead at the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery Sunday in Martin, Mich.
Going to the finals and getting a runner-up, there is nothing wrong with that, but six finals in a row with only one win I was starting to get a little bored with that,” Lang said. “It felt good to finally clinch another win and get that under our belt and jump into the points lead.” For the sixth consecutive race Kenny Lang found himself in the finals of an IHRA Pro Modified race.
Roger Richards
This time, however, he was able to finish the deal.
While any driver would be happy with multiple final round appearances, for the defending world champion four runner-ups to only one win was beginning to get a little old so he decided to do something about that on Sunday, picking up his second Ironman of the season while taking over the points lead at the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery Sunday in Martin, Mich.
Going to the finals and getting a runner-up, there is nothing wrong with that, but six finals in a row with only one win I was starting to get a little bored with that,” Lang said. “It felt good to finally clinch another win and get that under our belt and jump into the points lead.”
Lang ran a solid 6.012 elapsed time at 238.64 miles per hour to get around the big surprise of the weekend Ike Maier (Tottenham, Ontario) who ran a 6.108 E.T. at 231.71 mph in a final that consisted of the best of the best in Canadian drag racing.
“I don’t take anyone lightly because anybody can pick you off at anytime. I knew that car was going ot go down every time and it did so we had to make sure we had our stuff together,” Lang said. “Our run wasn’t pretty by any means, but we got down the track.
“This was a great field; a bunch of fast cars and some really tough competitors so qualifying first was impressive. But getting the win was that much more important.”
Lang (Grande Pointe, Manitoba) defeated Maier, Melanie Troxel, Joe Baker and Jason Kalso to pick up his fifth career win.
He was also able to regain the Pro Modified points lead over former top man Ed Hoover who fell out in the second round. Lang now holds a 56 point advantage over Hoover as the battle for the championship enters the home stretch with three races remaining on the schedule.
“Anybody that can make six final rounds in a row in any category is impressive. Luckily we were the ones that did it,” Lang said. “We have been a little bit off base with the tune-up, we are starting to get it back now and for the rest of the year we are going to be back where we need to be.”
Maier gave everything he had on Sunday in trying to pick up his first career Ironman, knocking off the former points leader and the new world record holder in E.T. Tony Pontieri, but came up short against the defending world champion.
In semifinal action Maier was able to drive around Pontieri while Lang defeated an ever improving Melanie Troxel who finally found her footing this weekend.
After struggling in her first two races, Troxel finally got the wild door car under control with consistent laps in the low sixes while making her first career semifinal round.
Sunday afternoon also saw the wildest afternoon of Pro Modified racing seen all season.
And it all started in the quarterfinals.
The quarters were filled with upsets and new records as Pontieri reset the record books with a new IHRA E.T. World Record at 5.936 seconds in a victory over Pete Farber. After getting the hiccups out of his system during his first run of the weekend, Pontieri went on a tear of five-second runs to roar through the field.
Maier continued the wild afternoon round of doorslammer racing with an upset of former points leader Hoover while Lang defeated Joe Baker to retake that lead. Troxel finished up the session with a victory over Tim Mathison to move on to her first career semifinal round.
Despite the wild quarters, there were few surprises in the opening round as nearly every top seed moved on. The only upset of the round came when Brad Personett’s attempt at a new IHRA speed record fell short when Mathison knocked off the No. 5 qualifier.
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