Justin Lamb drove to victory in both Competition Eliminator and Super Stock at last weekend’s NHRA Lucas Oil Division 7 event in Fontana, CA.  Behind the wheel of the A-1 Transmissions Cobalt owned by the Bowdish family and Ken Reich, Lamb earned his second Competition Eliminator victory of the young season.  Minutes later, he sealed the rare double-up with a Super Stock victory in his own Sunstate Companies backed Super Stock Cobalt.

“It’s difficult to win in any category, so to win two in one event is really special,” said Lamb.  “In Comp, we’ve got an incredible team.  Ken and the Bowdish family have a great hot rod and they’re a lot of fun to be around and work with; I’m just the fortunate one that gets to hop behind the wheel and let go of the switch.  In the Super Stock entry, we’ve got a great combination right now, and I’m driving pretty well.  Heck, our whole team seems to be clicking right now – Kyle and Ryen and doing really well and all of our cars have been flawless.”

In Fontana, Lamb put on a clinic in Super Stock competition, posting reaction times that varied from .012 to .023 coming into a final round matchup with perennial Division 7 standout Don Keen. Preparing for the final round, Lamb couldn’t help but think back to his last final round in Super Stock, at the season opening Winternationals. There, he made a near-perfect run, pairing a .006 reaction time with a scant .001-finish margin; only to fall short against Cody Lane. This time around, Lamb made a nearly equal effort, and narrowly earned the victory. In Fontana, Lamb once again posted a stellar .006 reaction time, and worked the finish line to cross first by just .003-of-a-second. Keen actually bettered Justin on the starting line with a .003 reaction of his own, but fell with a 10.515 on his 10.49 target to Lamb’s 8.719 (8.70 dial).

In Competition Eliminator, Lamb’s rode to victory was slightly less treacherous.  He qualified atop the field in the A-1 Transmissions Cobalt, which earned him an opening round bye run.  Second round, he escaped his matchup with Ed Sigmon without CIC penalty.  He then used up .02 in CIC in a semi-final victory over Tyler Hogan.  That setup a final round matchup with number 2 qualifier Tony Mandella in which both entries seemed evenly matched. Lamb took the starting line advantage, .025 to .040, and held on for the win despite running slightly closer to his B/SMA index than did Mandella (-.512 to -.514).

With the double victory, Lamb shot up to 4th position in the NHRA national points chase in both Competition Eliminator and Super Stock.  He currently leads the Pacific Division standings in both categories. In addition, teammate Kyle Seipel currently ranks 11   th in the nation in Stock Eliminator, and is ranked second in the Division 7 Top Dragster standings. Lamb, the 2013 NHRA Stock Eliminator national champion, knows that there is a long season ahead in terms of competing for a title.

“We’re off to a good start, but there are several racers who are off to good starts,” Lamb said.  “And there are others whose seasons are still just getting started. We just need to focus on us.  We’ve got a team and a program that’s capable of winning races in basically every category that we enter. If we can do that, the points will take care of themselves.”