When discussing the race for the 2009 IHRA Pro Modified world championship, only two names can be included as a part of the conversation – Ed Hoover and Kenny Lang.

And they intend to keep it that way.

For the third consecutive race the two rival drivers met in the final round of an IHRA national event, with Ed Hoover once again getting the edge when it mattered most.

“It feels good to overcome the adversities we had this weekend. We put an engine in last night until 3 a.m. and first thing this morning I did a burnout and the thing had zero oil pressure,” Hoover said. “Luckily the guy red lighted on me and we came back and got the engine fixed.

When discussing the race for the 2009 IHRA Pro Modified world championship, only two names can be included as a part of the conversation – Ed Hoover and Kenny Lang.

And they intend to keep it that way.

For the third consecutive race the two rival drivers met in the final round of an IHRA national event, with Ed Hoover once again getting the edge when it mattered most.

“It feels good to overcome the adversities we had this weekend. We put an engine in last night until 3 a.m. and first thing this morning I did a burnout and the thing had zero oil pressure,” Hoover said. “Luckily the guy red lighted on me and we came back and got the engine fixed.

“Thankfully the engine stayed together enough to get us the win. It was a great weekend for Trussell Motorsports.”

Hoover (Gilbert, S.C.) ran a solid 5.988 elapsed time at 237.71 miles per hour on Sunday, his best lap of the weekend, to rocket to his second consecutive victory while Lang finished as runner-up for the fourth time this year.

“I beat Mitch Stott here in one of my last years of nitrous racing and that was the last time I had two wins in a row,” Hoover said. “It has been a long time and it feels good to do it again.”

Lang (Grande Pointe, Manitoba) ran an equally impressive 6.025 seconds at 237.75 miles per hour.

“He is a good racer and he has a really good team,” Hoover said. “That is what happens out here in the IHRA. You go to the front one weekend and are down the next. We work on this thing fulltime and that is what it takes out here in Pro Mod.”

Sunday marked the third consecutive race the two drivers have met in the final and the fifth straight race they have faced off on Sunday. In those five showdowns Lang has won three times and Hoover twice, but both of Hoover’s wins have come over the last two events.

Thanks to that consistency Hoover jumped ahead of Lang in the Pro Mod championship standings by 11 points.

“We have to take this momentum right now and get a lead with it because I don’t want to go to Rockingham and depend on that one race for the championship,” Hoover said. “I want to go in there with it under my belt. I want to go in there with a cushion and that is what we are trying to work on now before it is too late.”

Hoover recorded wins over Ike Maier, Gary Irving and Lang to claim the win.

Lang reached the final thanks to a win over the fastest man of the weekend Pontieri in the semifinals, recording a solid 6.018 elapsed time at 237.71 miles per hour to gain lane choice. Pontieri coasted across the line after smoking the tires.

Hoover reached the final via a bye run in the semis.

In the quarters all of the top drivers moved on as Pontieri coasted to a win over Russo who smoked the tires at the line and Hoover blew by Gary Irving with a six-flat run. Lang also moved on via a second-round bye.

In first round action Pontieri and Irving both received bye runs, Hoover defeated Ike Maier who went red, Lang ran away from Harold Martin and Russo defeated Melanie Troxel.

Only her second race behind the wheel of the popular door car, Troxel produced an impressive lap on Saturday to propel herself into the top five in qualifying, but is still searching for that elusive first round win.
 

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