SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT PRO MODIFIED TEAM WRAPS UP BUSY TWO MONTH STRETCH WITH APPEARANCE AT MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS
Norwalk, OH – This past weekend marked the conclusion of a torrid two month stretch of events for the Summit Racing Equipment sponsored Pro Modified team of Kenny Lang. A schedule filled with NHRA, PMRA and exhibition appearances that took the team across half the continent, to the testing of a new Lencodrive and Lang’s own wedding, have made for an interesting summer.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, June 23-26 at Summit Racing Equipment Park, marked the beginning of the journey for Lang, winner of the first ever NHRA Get Screened America (GSA) Pro Mod Series event at Gainesville in 2010. Despite a solid sixth place qualifying effort of 5.93 seconds at 246 mph, the team lost in the first round after the car got out of the groove, almost making contact with the wall. “Kenny did a great job of driving all weekend, including his .024 reaction time in the first round, and the fact that he saved the car on that run just shows how good of a driver he is.” said Crew Chief Rob Poirier.
The next two stops for the Canadian based team put them back on home turf with events in Cayuga, Ontario, July 1-3 and Gimli, Manitoba, July 9th. Competing in his first Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA) event of 2011, Lang put the entire field on notice, winning the event in convincing fashion, laying down consistent laps during each round of eliminations. 1300 miles and just six days away, in the team’s home province of Manitoba, their next stop awaited at Gimli Dragway, a track that Lang frequented in his early years of competition. Lang made several exhibition runs throughout the day in the Summit Racing Camaro, each time receiving a ruckus reception from the crowd as he rolled up the return road. “It was just awesome to be back here in Gimli and to be able to connect with so many old friends and to make so many new ones.” said Lang.
With nearly a month until their next outing, again with the PMRA series in Ontario, Canada, the team decided to test a new Lencodrive combination in the 2700 horsepower supercharged machine, under the watchful eyes of noted Pro Mod tuner Al Billes.
Feeling confident enough with the new combination and looking to gain more crucial tuning data leading up to the U.S. Nationals, the team headed for Grand Bend Motorplex and the Stratford Spectacular Hot August Nationals, August 5-7 in Grand Bend, Ontario. Despite some success throughout the weekend, a second PMRA series victory in 2011 evaded the team when Lang lost in the second round of competition.
With a few off weekends scheduled prior to the biggest drag race of the season Lang and long time girlfriend Brenda Selk married on August 13th in Lang’s home province of Manitoba. A simple “Thanks Honey” from Lang sums up her role as his biggest fan and her continued support of his hectic business and racing schedules.
One week prior to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at the famed Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Indiana, the team was back on track at Cayuga Dragway making lap after lap in an effort to dial in their tune up for the world’s most prestigious drag race. Fast forward just three days and the team pulled through the gates at Lucas Oil Raceway in anticipation of the weekend’s event. The U.S. Nationals gained its prestigious stature because of its gruelling schedule, the number of competitors that enter from across the globe and the fact that a win here can set a racer up for a serious run at their respective class championship.
Through four rounds of qualifying the Summit Racing Equipment Pro Mod team just couldn’t find the happy spot for their supercharged 1969 Camaro, thus having to resort to a last ditch Hail Mary attempt during the fourth and final qualifying session. The gamble paid off, allowing the team to move from the outside looking in, into the 12th starting spot for eliminations. This paired Lang with NHRA GSA Pro Mod Series newcomer Eric Dillard at the controls of Roger Burgess’ potent, turbocharged 2012 Mustang in the first round of eliminations. Shortly after taking care of business on the starting line with a good reaction time, despite a last minute lane swap orchestrated by Dillard’s team, Lang and the Summit Racing team were once again bit by tire shake and watched Dillard pull away to low ET of the race with a 5.86 second blast. Lang summed up the weekend like this; “We worked so hard leading up to this race and to have the struggles we did in qualifying and ultimately see our dream of winning the race fade away in the first round was just really disappointing. We’ve got a great crew though and are still sitting fourth in the points so I have no doubt in my mind we’ll bounce back.”
The conclusion of the U.S. Nationals doesn’t mean the end of the hectic travel schedule for the Summit Racing Equipment Pro Mod team though. This weekend they are competing in their third PMRA event of the season and will follow that up the weekend of September 15-18 with the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina when the NHRA GSA Pro Mod series hits the track for its second to last race of the season. The next event on the schedule will be the ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags, as part of the newly created Pro Modified class, September 23-24 at Summit Racing Equipment Park in Norwalk, Ohio, followed by the final NHRA GSA Pro Mod series event of the year, October 27-30, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
Norwalk, OH – This past weekend marked the conclusion of a torrid two month stretch of events for the Summit Racing Equipment sponsored Pro Modified team of Kenny Lang. A schedule filled with NHRA, PMRA and exhibition appearances that took the team across half the continent, to the testing of a new Lencodrive and Lang’s own wedding, have made for an interesting summer.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, June 23-26 at Summit Racing Equipment Park, marked the beginning of the journey for Lang, winner of the first ever NHRA Get Screened America (GSA) Pro Mod Series event at Gainesville in 2010. Despite a solid sixth place qualifying effort of 5.93 seconds at 246 mph, the team lost in the first round after the car got out of the groove, almost making contact with the wall. “Kenny did a great job of driving all weekend, including his .024 reaction time in the first round, and the fact that he saved the car on that run just shows how good of a driver he is.” said Crew Chief Rob Poirier.
The next two stops for the Canadian based team put them back on home turf with events in Cayuga, Ontario, July 1-3 and Gimli, Manitoba, July 9th. Competing in his first Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA) event of 2011, Lang put the entire field on notice, winning the event in convincing fashion, laying down consistent laps during each round of eliminations. 1300 miles and just six days away, in the team’s home province of Manitoba, their next stop awaited at Gimli Dragway, a track that Lang frequented in his early years of competition. Lang made several exhibition runs throughout the day in the Summit Racing Camaro, each time receiving a ruckus reception from the crowd as he rolled up the return road. “It was just awesome to be back here in Gimli and to be able to connect with so many old friends and to make so many new ones.” said Lang.
With nearly a month until their next outing, again with the PMRA series in Ontario, Canada, the team decided to test a new Lencodrive combination in the 2700 horsepower supercharged machine, under the watchful eyes of noted Pro Mod tuner Al Billes.
Feeling confident enough with the new combination and looking to gain more crucial tuning data leading up to the U.S. Nationals, the team headed for Grand Bend Motorplex and the Stratford Spectacular Hot August Nationals, August 5-7 in Grand Bend, Ontario. Despite some success throughout the weekend, a second PMRA series victory in 2011 evaded the team when Lang lost in the second round of competition.
With a few off weekends scheduled prior to the biggest drag race of the season Lang and long time girlfriend Brenda Selk married on August 13th in Lang’s home province of Manitoba. A simple “Thanks Honey” from Lang sums up her role as his biggest fan and her continued support of his hectic business and racing schedules.
One week prior to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at the famed Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Indiana, the team was back on track at Cayuga Dragway making lap after lap in an effort to dial in their tune up for the world’s most prestigious drag race. Fast forward just three days and the team pulled through the gates at Lucas Oil Raceway in anticipation of the weekend’s event. The U.S. Nationals gained its prestigious stature because of its gruelling schedule, the number of competitors that enter from across the globe and the fact that a win here can set a racer up for a serious run at their respective class championship.
Through four rounds of qualifying the Summit Racing Equipment Pro Mod team just couldn’t find the happy spot for their supercharged 1969 Camaro, thus having to resort to a last ditch Hail Mary attempt during the fourth and final qualifying session. The gamble paid off, allowing the team to move from the outside looking in, into the 12th starting spot for eliminations. This paired Lang with NHRA GSA Pro Mod Series newcomer Eric Dillard at the controls of Roger Burgess’ potent, turbocharged 2012 Mustang in the first round of eliminations. Shortly after taking care of business on the starting line with a good reaction time, despite a last minute lane swap orchestrated by Dillard’s team, Lang and the Summit Racing team were once again bit by tire shake and watched Dillard pull away to low ET of the race with a 5.86 second blast. Lang summed up the weekend like this; “We worked so hard leading up to this race and to have the struggles we did in qualifying and ultimately see our dream of winning the race fade away in the first round was just really disappointing. We’ve got a great crew though and are still sitting fourth in the points so I have no doubt in my mind we’ll bounce back.”
The conclusion of the U.S. Nationals doesn’t mean the end of the hectic travel schedule for the Summit Racing Equipment Pro Mod team though. This weekend they are competing in their third PMRA event of the season and will follow that up the weekend of September 15-18 with the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina when the NHRA GSA Pro Mod series hits the track for its second to last race of the season. The next event on the schedule will be the ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags, as part of the newly created Pro Modified class, September 23-24 at Summit Racing Equipment Park in Norwalk, Ohio, followed by the final NHRA GSA Pro Mod series event of the year, October 27-30, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
