RUSSO RIDES CONSISTENCY TO SECOND CAREER IHRA VICTORY
Mon, 2009-10-26 13:01
When it comes to consistency, few are better than Chris Russo.
Not always the quickest or fastest during the race weekend, Russo makes a living by making consistent passes down the race track and so far that approach has worked wonders for him.
Already with one win this season using his conservative approach, Russo showed why is one of the best in Pro Mod racing today on Sunday with his second victory of the season at the IHRA World Finals at Rockingham Dragway.
Not always the quickest or fastest during the race weekend, Russo makes a living by making consistent passes down the race track and so far that approach has worked wonders for him.
Already with one win this season using his conservative approach, Russo showed why is one of the best in Pro Mod racing today on Sunday with his second victory of the season at the IHRA World Finals at Rockingham Dragway.
“We know we might not always be the fastest, but we really try to put down consistent laps,” Russo said. “A lot of times consistency is just the way to go and today was one of those days. We caught it at just the right time and just built on it from there.”
Russo knocked off IHRA newcomer Adam Flamholc in the final with a consistent 4.142 elapsed time at 179.25 miles per hour while Flamholc ran a 6.005 after getting into trouble early.
“I never thought I would get one win in a season so getting two is just incredible,” Russo said. “When I was fortunate enough to get the win in Dallas I knew I needed to savor it because these things are so hard to get I knew I might never see it again.
“I know that sounds a little dramatic, but it is true. There are a lot of people who have raced for a lot of years who have never won one and to get two in our first year is amazing.”
Russo defeated Flamholc, Kenny Lang, Benny Alfonso and Andrew Parise to take home his second career victory.
“We spent most of the year struggling. We would qualify well and then lose in the first round. We just couldn’t put it together until tonight,” Russo said. “I didn’t think we had much of a chance coming into this weekend, but sometimes it is just your day.”
Missing from the final was IHRA World Champion Kenny Lang who wrapped up his second consecutive championship on Saturday. Lang was looking for his ninth consecutive final and fourth consecutive victory, but fell short when his car wiggled against Russo in the semifinals.
Despite not going to the final Lang still accomplished what he set out to do and that was win a second IHRA championship.
“It is great to be able to get back-to-back championships. Winning a championship is something that is so rare and we were able to accomplish twice,” Lang said.
All Lang needed to do to seal the title was show up and he did just that and more, taking the No. 1 qualifying spot on Friday and advancing to the semifinals on Sunday to run away from a once tight points battle with veteran Ed Hoover.
Hoover, who held a slim chance at the title entering this weekend, failed to qualify on Friday.
"It has been great racing him all season long. It was a shame he didn’t make the field this weekend,” Lang said. “We enjoyed racing him this year and he made it incredibly tough on us, but our team came together and put together a great finish to the season.
“Last year was great, but this seems so much sweeter. To go to eight final rounds and win as much as we did is incredible.”
In the quarterfinals Lang continued to march through the field with a win over Harold Martin, while his opponent Russo advanced over Benny Alfonso. In the other semifinal match it was a pair of newcomers battling to advance to their first final in IHRA competition.
Flamholc advanced to the final with a win over Fred Scriba while Farber defeated the turbocharged machine of Andy Jensen.
Not always the quickest or fastest during the race weekend, Russo makes a living by making consistent passes down the race track and so far that approach has worked wonders for him.Already with one win this season using his conservative approach, Russo showed why is one of the best in Pro Mod racing today on Sunday with his second victory of the season at the IHRA World Finals at Rockingham Dragway.
When it comes to consistency, few are better than Chris Russo.
Russo defeated Flamholc, Kenny Lang, Benny Alfonso and Andrew Parise to take home his second career victory.
Not always the quickest or fastest during the race weekend, Russo makes a living by making consistent passes down the race track and so far that approach has worked wonders for him.
Already with one win this season using his conservative approach, Russo showed why is one of the best in Pro Mod racing today on Sunday with his second victory of the season at the IHRA World Finals at Rockingham Dragway.
“We know we might not always be the fastest, but we really try to put down consistent laps,” Russo said. “A lot of times consistency is just the way to go and today was one of those days. We caught it at just the right time and just built on it from there.”
Russo knocked off IHRA newcomer Adam Flamholc in the final with a consistent 4.142 elapsed time at 179.25 miles per hour while Flamholc ran a 6.005 after getting into trouble early.
“I never thought I would get one win in a season so getting two is just incredible,” Russo said. “When I was fortunate enough to get the win in Dallas I knew I needed to savor it because these things are so hard to get I knew I might never see it again.
“I know that sounds a little dramatic, but it is true. There are a lot of people who have raced for a lot of years who have never won one and to get two in our first year is amazing.”
Russo defeated Flamholc, Kenny Lang, Benny Alfonso and Andrew Parise to take home his second career victory.
“We spent most of the year struggling. We would qualify well and then lose in the first round. We just couldn’t put it together until tonight,” Russo said. “I didn’t think we had much of a chance coming into this weekend, but sometimes it is just your day.”
Missing from the final was IHRA World Champion Kenny Lang who wrapped up his second consecutive championship on Saturday. Lang was looking for his ninth consecutive final and fourth consecutive victory, but fell short when his car wiggled against Russo in the semifinals.
Despite not going to the final Lang still accomplished what he set out to do and that was win a second IHRA championship.
“It is great to be able to get back-to-back championships. Winning a championship is something that is so rare and we were able to accomplish twice,” Lang said.
All Lang needed to do to seal the title was show up and he did just that and more, taking the No. 1 qualifying spot on Friday and advancing to the semifinals on Sunday to run away from a once tight points battle with veteran Ed Hoover.
Hoover, who held a slim chance at the title entering this weekend, failed to qualify on Friday.
On top of picking up a championship, Kenny Lang also won the Mickey Thompson Ten Grand Slam over Tony Pontieri.
“Last year was great, but this seems so much sweeter. To go to eight final rounds and win as much as we did is incredible.”
In the quarterfinals Lang continued to march through the field with a win over Harold Martin, while his opponent Russo advanced over Benny Alfonso. In the other semifinal match it was a pair of newcomers battling to advance to their first final in IHRA competition.
Flamholc advanced to the final with a win over Fred Scriba while Farber defeated the turbocharged machine of Andy Jensen.
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