Justin Lamb has developed a penchant for winning drag races.  More specifically, NHRA Lucas Oil National Events, as the 23-year old college student just earned his eighth coveted national event “Wally.”  More specifically yet, Lamb has a penchant for winning NHRA National Events along the vaunted Western Swing, the annual stretch of back-to-back summer events in Seattle, WA, Sonoma, CA, and Denver, CO.
 
Lamb’s first NHRA title came in Sonoma, back in 2007 when he defeated Sheldon Gecker for the Super Comp crown.  Last season, he kicked off his Western Swing with a Super Stock victory in Denver, and capped it two weeks later with a near double in Sonoma.  There, he won the Super Comp category for a second time, and took runner-up honors in Super Gas.

Justin Lamb has developed a penchant for winning drag races.  More specifically, NHRA Lucas Oil National Events, as the 23-year old college student just earned his eighth coveted national event “Wally.”  More specifically yet, Lamb has a penchant for winning NHRA National Events along the vaunted Western Swing, the annual stretch of back-to-back summer events in Seattle, WA, Sonoma, CA, and Denver, CO.
 
Lamb’s first NHRA title came in Sonoma, back in 2007 when he defeated Sheldon Gecker for the Super Comp crown.  Last season, he kicked off his Western Swing with a Super Stock victory in Denver, and capped it two weeks later with a near double in Sonoma.  There, he won the Super Comp category for a second time, and took runner-up honors in Super Gas.
 
Normally, one would think that Lamb’s 2009 western swing would be a tough act to follow, but the young Nevada racer nearly one-upped himself thus far in 2010.  This season, the western swing was rearranged, with the opening event contested in Seattle.  There, Lamb drove his familiar Race Tech Camaro roadster to the final round in Super Gas, only to lose on a freak staging violation.
 
Undeterred, Lamb continued on to Sonoma, where he elected to compete in Competition eliminator and Super Comp, leaving the reigns of the Super Gas machine to two-time NHRA Super Comp World Champion and current Top Fuel pilot Shawn Langdon.  While Lamb’s weekend was forgettable by his standards (a third round red light in Super Comp and a quarterfinal loss in Comp), Langdon drove the Camaro to it’s second consecutive final round appearance, and ousted perennial top-ten competitor Val Torres, Jr. in the final stanza to earn his sixth NHRA national event trophy.
 
Just one day later, Lamb returned to the seat of the family Camaro as NHRA resumed the long postponed sportsman eliminations from the NHRA Arizona Nationals, originally scheduled for February on Monday following the Sonoma event.  Lamb expertly maneuvered his Race Tech Camaro through seven more rounds of competition and into its third consecutive NHRA final round in just eight days!  There, Lamb posted a stellar .009 package (.008 reaction and near perfect 9.901) to dispense of former NHRA National Champion Jim Hughes.  The win marked Lamb’s second victory of the season (he claimed Super Stock honors at the Las Vegas Nationals back in April), his fourth at the Infineon Raceway facility, and the car’s second in as many days.
 
“I don’t know what it is about Sonoma,” said Lamb.  “I’ve just had a lot of success here.  It’s one of those places where I just feel confident when I roll in the gate.  It’s hard to explain.  It’s a tough place to race.  The weather and the wind tend to make drastic changes from one round to the next, so keen observation and good record-keeping is key.”
 
While Lamb would love to defend his Super Stock title and keep a great western swing going this weekend in Denver, he won’t be attending this years NHRA Mile High Nationals.
 
“It was really tempting to go to Denver,” admitted Lamb.  “We’ve had great success there in the past, plus it’s home to V. Gaines, our friend and partner, and a very instrumental part of our team.  But looking at the big picture, I think it makes more sense to stay in Sonoma for the Lucas Oil Divisional event this weekend.”
 
The big picture Lamb speaks of may well be the Lucas Oil Points chase.  His win Monday moves him up to the 21st position in the Super Gas national standings, and he has only attended one divisional event thus far in 2010.