Henderson resident finds early success in NHRA ranks

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Sunday, April 5, 2009 | 5:53 p.m.

Foothill High graduate Justin Lamb almost had a perfect homecoming Sunday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Lamb, 21, advanced to the Super Gas sportsman finals during the NHRA SummitRacing.Com Nationals, but came up short against California’s Ted Siepel.

Lamb, a Henderson resident and UNLV senior, struggled out of the blocks with a 0.055 reaction time while Siepel’s quick start at 0.003 secured the win for the 72-year-old racing veteran.

“I made a little mistake in the finals,” Lamb said of the rough start.

Losing to Siepel was not all that bad.

Lamb and Siepel’s son, Kyle, share a dragster and the two families are close friends.

“I wanted to win but he would have been my next choice,” Lamb said. “It made losing not that bad.”

This was Lamb’s third national event – he was victorious this year in Pomona, Calif., — as he continues to show promise in the drag racing ranks.

He is studying accounting at UNLV but if he continues racing like he did this weekend, he appears to be headed to stardom in the NHRA.

“I need something to fall back on,” Lamb said of attending college. “I could have this runner-up finish today and never place in another race.”

Champions crowned in top divisions

Jeg Coughlin had an unusual elimination round Sunday in the Pro Stock division.

Coughlin’s time of 6.715 seconds at 205.16 mph topped Greg Stanfield in the finals at the NHRA SummitRacing.Com Nationals to cap the odd day.

Coughlin had a first round replay after a piece of rubber got stuck in the staging beam of opponent Kurt Johnson. He also won three rounds due to his opponents having foul start, or red light. One of those red lights was in the finals against Stanfield, who tried to get the early start.

The chaotic first round put Coughlin and his crew behind schedule.

“We had to hustle,” Coughlin said. “It was like we were in the hurry up offense all day. But when you are standing in the winners’ circle and the end of the day having a cold one, you did OK.”

Coughlin’s victory pushed him into the top spot of the standings with 430 points, 12 points ahead of second place Jason Fine.

In the Top Fuel finals, five-time defending NHRA champion Tony Schumacher won for the third consecutive time in Las Vegas with a time of 3.874 at 311.77 mph to beat Brandon Bernstein and move into first place of the points standings.

Schumacher has won events the last five years in Las Vegas, including both NHRA races in 2008. He was also victorious last week in Houston to lead the standings with 412 points through five races.

Antron Brown is second with 394 points and Bernstein is third with 388.

“That is what a team is all about,” Schumacher said. “I didn’t do as good of a job as I did last weekend and they carried me.”

In the Funny Car finals, Ron Capps extended his points leads with his third victory in five events this season. Capps beat Matt Hagan with a time of 4.182 seconds at 297.81 mph.

Capps is comfortably in first place of the standings with 408 points. Hagan is second at 302.

“It is days like this when you have to grind it out that you realize you are going to have a good year,” Capps said.