Canadian flags waved in the grandstands at historic Gainesville Raceway Sunday as Manitoba’s Kenny Lang made drag racing history as the first to win a Wally in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series.

Lang became the first winner in NHRA’s newest national touring series as he drove his green 1953 Corvette to victory over Sweden’s Michael Gullqvist, who drove the ProCareRX 1968 Camaro owned by series supporter Roger Burgess.

“This is a great event and I am thrilled to win it,” said Lang who qualified sixth and defeated a tough group of drivers in earlier rounds including JEGS.com’s Troy Coughlin, In-N-Out Burger ’63 Corvette driver Melanie Troxel and Qatar’s Khalid Balooshi.

Canadian flags waved in the grandstands at historic Gainesville Raceway Sunday as Manitoba’s Kenny Lang made drag racing history as the first to win a Wally in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series.

Lang became the first winner in NHRA’s newest national touring series as he drove his green 1953 Corvette to victory over Sweden’s Michael Gullqvist, who drove the ProCareRX 1968 Camaro owned by series supporter Roger Burgess.

“This is a great event and I am thrilled to win it,” said Lang who qualified sixth and defeated a tough group of drivers in earlier rounds including JEGS.com’s Troy Coughlin, In-N-Out Burger ’63 Corvette driver Melanie Troxel and Qatar’s Khalid Balooshi.

Lang powered his ’53 Corvette to a 5.908-second run at 243.68 mph to earn the victory in the final-round, but ultimately didn’t need the strong performance when Gullqvist fouled at the start.

“It definitely hasn’t all sunk in yet,” said Lang about being the first official Pro Mod winner in NHRA history. “We are one of the lesser-funded teams out here but we do a good job and we do it because we love it. I wasn’t surprised to see those flags out there because we get a lot of support wherever we go. We had a great car today.”

The NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series continues April 9-11 at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.


Round-by-round results for the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series Sunday at Gainesville Raceway. It is the first of 10 events for the series in 2010.

ROUND ONE -- Michael Gullqvist, Chevy Camaro, 5.852, 248.84 def. Tim Tindle, Shelby Mustang, 6.030, 207.02; Khalid Balooshi, Camaro, 5.916, 244.03 def. Tony Pontieri, Camaro, 5.877, 246.30; Kenny Lang, Chevy Corvette, 5.860, 244.92 def. Troy Coughlin, Camaro, foul; Burton Auxier, Camaro, 5.898, 240.12 def. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.937, 238.76; Joe Baker, Pontiac Firebird, 5.956, 232.35 def.
Mike Knowles, Corvette, 5.913, 246.80; Melanie Troxel, Corvette, 5.901, 247.70 def. Chip King, Dodge Daytona, 5.945, 241.41; Jay Payne, Camaro, 5.809, 244.87 def. Ed Hoover, Camaro, 5.893, 244.25; Roger Burgess, Corvette, 5.824, 246.80 def. Adam Flamholc, Camaro, broke;

QUARTERFINALS -- Auxier, 5.943, 237.71 def. Baker, 6.853, 160.54; Lang, 5.883, 244.43 def. Troxel, 8.028, 125.44; Gullqvist, 5.827, 248.52 def. Burgess, DQ; Balooshi, 5.877, 245.72 def. Payne, 5.913, 244.34;

SEMIFINALS -- Lang, 5.932, 244.03 def. Balooshi, 5.909, 245.49; Gullqvist, 5.857, 248.16 def. Auxier, 11.983, 81.19;

FINAL -- Lang, 5.908, 243.68 def. Gullqvist, foul.

Top 10 point standings for the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series following Sunday’s race at Gainesville Raceway. It is the first of 10 events for the series in 2010.

1.  Kenny Lang, 95; 2. Michael Gullqvist, 74; 3. (tie) Burton Auxier, 63; Khalid Balooshi, 63; 5. (tie) Joe Baker, 52; Roger Burgess, 52; Jay Payne, 52; Melanie Troxel, 52; 9. (tie) Troy Coughlin, 41; Adam Flamholc, 41; Ed Hoover, 41; Chip King, 41; Mike Knowles, 41; Tony Pontieri, 41; Rickie Smith, 41.