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Justin Lamb Scores First NHRA National Super Stock Victory in Las Vegas
No stranger to the winner's circle, whether it be in his K&N Super Stock Cobalt or one of his other three cars, 22 year old UNLV student Justin Lamb acquired the first NHRA National Event win by a local resident at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals.
Justin Lamb's K&N Super Stock Cobalt
Competing and winning at the venue is nothing new for Lamb as he has raced at the facility since his Jr. Dragster days.
While Lamb didn't consider any of his round match ups to be easy ones during this event, he points out that the third round where he was paired with defending NHRA Super Stock Champ Jimmy DeFrank sticks out most in his mind.
"It's not like I tell anyone this, but I really felt like whoever won that round was going to win the race," Lambs says of the round. "I mean he's a four time champion and defending one at that. I just felt like it was going to be a tough round."
"When I looked at the ladder and saw who was left, I mean it might be overly confident but I think that Jimmy and I had the best chance of winning after our round," he continued. "We had the better side of the ladder and we were both driving well."
In this case it was Lamb who was drove the better of the two, posting a .005 light, giving him a two-hundredths advantage at the start and carried it though for the win light over the defending champ.
The round win was a major confidence booster for Lamb and he continued to work his way though his side of the ladder, which he studies and knows quite a bit about each of his competitors, from how they've been driving right down to how their cars take the stripe.
His final round competitor, sportsman stand-out, Brad Plourd was no exception.
"The big thing about Super Stock is like my car takes the stripe with the nose," he explained. "Brad's car takes it with the front wheel, as most do. But like with Jimmy, his car takes with the nose. So you have to really pay attention as to what part of the car takes the stripe. But then again, a car like Brad's can also take the stripe with the nose, should he get on the brakes right at the stripe."
"I was really feeling good about my chances in the final. Brad hadn't been running all that good during the weekend, he really wasn't hitting the tree like usual and was really getting lucky," Lamb continued.
Nine time Wally winner Plourd saved his best reaction time of the event for the Super Stock final, bettering Lamb on the tree by .007 and helped make it one of the closer races you'll see in the class.
With only a mere margin of .005 at the stripe, Lamb denied the win to Plourd and grabbed his seventh NHRA National Event win in his ninth final round appearance.
One never knows what class or car Lamb will show up to an event in.
"I've never been one to be much interested in chasing points. I have four cars and run four classes, Comp, Super Gas, Super Stock and Super Comp," he said. "And Top Dragster, if you want to count that. I just race whatever I feel like racing and I like it that way."
With a full stable of machines, Lamb keeps each one of them is protected with K&N products from oil filters to air filters.
"The over the top commitment delivered by team manager Denny Bartz and owner Eddie Babbitt's gave us everything we needed to win," commented Demuth
If Team Babbitt's 2010 arenacross season was scripted as an upcoming blockbuster movie it would be dismissed as being far too freakishly far-fetched. No one team could so totally dominate a championship series - could they? Believe it. The record books have been rewritten - Team Babbitt's trifecta sweep of the Arenacross Championship podium will go down as best team finish in AMA history.
The 2010 Arenacross Championship was Josh Demuth's third, but his first ever as a part of a team podium sweep
The last race of the 2010 AMA Arenacross season has been contested and with it Team Babbitt's "Dream Team" experienced a near flawless season of wins and triumphs. When the dust settled at Denver Coliseum, site of the last race, Team Babbitt's owned not only first place with Josh Demuth (his third AMA Arenacross Championship), but also second with Chad Johnson, and third place with Tyler Bowers.
"The over the top commitment delivered by team manager Denny Bartz and owner Eddie Babbitt's gave us everything we needed to win. I couldn't have asked for a better team to ride for and be represented by. I'm sure Bowers and Johnson would agree," commented Josh Demuth.
Some of the team's other 2010 highlights include 18 out of 19 main event wins, 42 podiums out of 57, and six podium sweeps. Babbitt's also locked up the Arenacross East and West Coast Lites Champions with Dano Aulseybrook and AJ Catanzaro, respectively.
"I have always dreamed of having a podium sweep, but never a Championship ending podium sweep, the feeling is almost impossible to describe," remarked team owner Eddie Babbitt's. "The whole team is pumped, each rider is proud to have been a part of such a successful season, great bikes and a great run program with awesome sponsors have made it all come together."
Babbitt's says that being prepared well in advance of the season opener and working with solid sponsors that he can count on all contributed to the kind of stellar season the team had.
"Congratulations to Demuth, Johnson and Bowers. They made my dreams come true, I couldn't have asked for a better team this year," explains Babbitt's. "Our sponsors truly stepped up as well, giving us the ability to provide nothing but excellence to our riders, we came in prepared, our bikes were built of perfection and we showed a Kawasaki factory presence every weekend. With this level of dedication we delivered a championship title to our sponsors. K&N has been behind us since 2006 (parts KA-2506XD and KN-207) the performance and durability we gain with K&N products is second to none."
How do you follow-up on a season like this and how do you motivate the team to strive for even greater goals?
"Well I think the motivation comes natural and I don't know what we could do better next year this was almost a perfect season, so to sweep could be quite difficult, but to win the Championship - we look forward to repeating in 2010," expressed a very confident Babbitt's.
Toyota continues to offer rugged, but refined, mid-size SUVs in a market where most manufacturers have gravitated toward uni-body cross over vehicles. This leaves true off-road enthusiasts with limited options when looking to purchase a highly capable SUV.
K&N's 33-2438 for 2010 to 2016 Toyota 4Runner and FJ Cruiser 4.0L V6 models.
Toyota 2010 FJ Cruiser
Many advanced electronic off-road assist features are available on the 2010 to 2016 4Runner and FJ Cruiser. Along with tough suspension and frames these electronic assist features propel these Toyotas into a class comparable to a Jeep Wrangler.
For 2010-2013 4Runner and FJ Cruiser models equipped with a 4.0L V6 engine, K&N can help to increase performance with its new High-Flow Air Filter™ number 33-2438.
K&N air filters provide less restriction than typical paper air filters, which can increase the efficiency of the combustion process. Allowing your engine to breathe easier can give your car extra horsepower and extra acceleration that can come in handy, even during every day driving. The simple drop in design makes a K&N replacement air filter an easy, and ecological, performance add-on.
Made from cotton instead of paper, this air filter never needs to be replaced. 33-2438 will require cleaning every 50,000 miles under normal highway driving conditions. It will provide outstanding engine protection for the life of your vehicle, and since it never needs to be replaced, part number 33-2438 will help to reduce waste.
K&N stock replacement air filters for street vehicles are covered by our famous K&N Million Mile Limited Warranty® and will be the last air filter your vehicle will ever need.
The K&N air filter 33-2438 fits the following vehicles:
2016 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 4.0L V6
2016 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER 4.0L V6
2015 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 4.0L V6
2015 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER 4.0L V6
2015 LEXUS GX460 4.6L V8
2014 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 4.0L V6
2014 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER 4.0L V6
2014 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER 4.0L V6
2014 LEXUS GX460 4.6L V8
2013 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 4.0L V6
2013 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER 4.0L V6
2013 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER 4.0L V6
2013 LEXUS GX460 4.6L V8
2012 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 4.0L V6
2012 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER 4.0L V6
2012 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER 4.0L V6
2012 LEXUS GX460 4.6L V8
2011 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 4.0L V6
2011 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER 4.0L V6
2011 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER 4.0L V6
2011 LEXUS GX460 4.6L V8
2010 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 4.0L V6
2010 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER 4.0L V6
2010 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER 4.0L V6
2010 LEXUS GX460 4.6L V8
Mike Edwards takes NHRA Pro Stock victory in Las Vegas
After a semi-final round exit at the NHRA Spring Nationals event just the weekend before in Houston, Mike Edwards, driver of the Penhall/Interstate Batteries/K&N Pontiac GXP, rolled into The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ready to play a Pro Stock hand that was going to be hard to beat.
K&N Horsepower Challenge points leader Mike Edwards
During the first qualifying pass for the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals, K&N Horsepower Challenge points leader Edwards didn't make quite his usual straight-to-the-top lap down the track and found himself a few hundredths shy of the leader.
"We had some issues with engine and had to make some changes with that," he says of the first shot at the track. "We worked on it and got it to come around a little better for the next pass."
Edwards's car had already had several planned changes made to it and its setup after the NHRA event in Houston, due to the major differences in air conditions that would be present during the Las Vegas race.
"Going from I would say, one extreme to the other when you have conditions in Houston where it's sea level and a thirty inch barometer to the altitude you have in Vegas and a twenty-seven inch barometer, you know several of the changes you are going to make going in," commented Edwards. "We have run there a lot so we pretty much know, but you always have to make your first run and see how it all laid out for you."
Results from the Friday night session would show that the changes the team made were certainly in the right direction as Edwards would bounce back up to the familiar territory of the number one spot, which Edwards even managed to better come session number three.
"Saturday morning we made a pretty nice run," Edwards said of his run that would claim both top E.T. and speed for the event.
That "pretty nice run" was also enough for Edwards to have almost a full three-hundredths of a second on the number two qualifier and a full eight hundredths heading into race day over his first round competitor, number sixteen qualifier, Rickie Jones.
Based on Edwards's average reaction times, one may have thought his oh-sixty-one light in round number one may have been by him wanting to play it safe on the tree.
"I don't know if I would say I was taking it easy, we were just trying to be conservative about everything and make a good run and just try not to do anything really wrong the first round," explained Edwards. "You never really know what the track is going to hold first round but it helped us to know what adjustments we needed to make for second round."
Edwards continued on past Warren Johnson in round two and local resident Greg Anderson in the semi-finals before making his way to pair up with Greg Stanfield in his first Pro Stock final at the Las Vegas venue.
Stanfield, who was the number eleven qualifier, needed to go for all he could on the line during final, knowing Edwards had slightly more than six-hundreds in E.T. over him in the previous round and hadn't run numbers anywhere near that of Edwards throughout the entire event.
While Stanfield managed to pull out a little on the tree, Edwards had it more than made up by the time they reached the three-thirty foot mark and was no match for the Penhall/K&N GXP of Edwards who went on to take the stripe by almost fourteen feet, safely sailing into his fourth victory of the season, twenty-fourth overall and his very first in Las Vegas.
The K&N Horsepower Challenge Points leader, thanks to his phenomenal amount of number one qualifiers since the 2010 points began accumulating last June, also not only holds the current lead in NHRA Pro Stock Championship Points chase, but is doing so by a whopping two-hundred sixty-one points over number two, 2008 K&N Horsepower Challenge Champion, Allen Johnson.
Next the NHRA Full Throttle series heads to Madison, IL, just outside of St. Louis, MO for the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, April 30 - May 2.
For Matt Long, the fast track to success didn't always include the track. Long grew up in a racing family, but he took a different path to the drivers seat. When he was younger, Long worked for his father Tye, who owned and raced Super Late Models in the Ohio Valley area. Long quickly became involved with the money side of the business, having passed on opportunities to drive while learning marketing and sponsorship. Long went of to college, and eventually landed a job with Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Corporate Sales Department. After settling down in North Carolina, Long decided to jump back into the family side of the business, this time as a driver.
Matt Long's Number 25 Crate Dirt Late Model Car
"I gave up racing cold turkey when I moved to Charlotte," said the now five year veteran of Dirt Late Model racing. "After a year, I didn't know what to do with myself. I decided to buy a Crate Dirt Late Model, it made the most sense financially. I had no driving experience before that."
Long quickly adapted to the fast pace, high horsepower world of dirt racing. He picked up a top five in the Fastrak Southeast Regional points in 2008, and improved into the national spotlight with a top 15 in the Fastrak National points last season.
Last week Long picked up the third main event win of his career at Carolina Speedway. "It's my home track...we always race well there. That race was the first on a new setup, and the car was awesome. We ended up winning by almost a half track," said Long.
This season, Long's team is looking to crash the National Dirt Racing Association (NDRA) party. The team has set their sights on winning the NDRA Regional Championship, and they're also shooting for a top three finish nationally. On top of that, Long wants to continue moving up the Fastrak standings. "We'd really like to win five to ten main events this year. That would be a lot easier if we didn't run all of the touring series. The competition there is much stiffer."
Long's crate engine car is considered an economy racer. The crate motor allows racers to focus more resources on the suspension and driveline, and focus less on the motor itself; But Long cautions not to be fooled. "Most people think running a crate motor means no engine work whatsoever. K&N Filters help my motors last much longer than some of the guys I race with. I buy my motors from Heintz Performance, and the first time I ever had on rebuilt, they called and told me they'd never seen the inside of one so clean before. We use K&N Filters on the air cleaner, valve cover breathers, transmission breathers, rear end breathers, and fuel cell breathers. I have never once had a mechanical breakdown because of clogged breathers or dirty motor oil. The best thing about K&N Filters: they're easy to clean, and that's a big plus on dirt."
