Jody's win gives Lang brothers a Pomona double

National Dragster, Dec 3, 2004 by Ritenhouse, Duke

The place was Pomona Raceway, the scene was a driver named Lang winning the Stock title, and the result was a nice piece of symmetry in a sport and a class where such things are sometimes difficult to come by. With Jody Lang's season-ending win at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, the racing Lang brothers managed to begin and end the 2004 season with national event wins in Pomona.

In February, it was older brother Toby who grabbed the spotlight, winning at the season-opening K&N Filters Winternationals (and also winning in Phoenix to take an early lead in the national points standings). In November, it was Jody grabbing the spotlight, racing through a deep field and getting past Harry Doolittle in a double-breakout final to claim his ninth national event title in 13 final-round appearances.

"I always wondered what it was like for the guys who finished the season with a win," said Lang, who wound up fifth in the final Stock national standings. "I knew what it was like to start fast from my brother because he had such a great start to the year. I figured he might be neck and neck all season for the championship.

"I usually set the same goals every year: win one divisional race, one national event, shoot for winning the division, and try for a top 10 [national] finish, so it was nice to win in Pomona and hit all of those goals."

Both drivers chose 12.41 dials for the final, making the race an odd combination of a heads-up start without heads-up rules. Doolittle, driving an H/FIA '02 Firebird, got off the line first with a great .005 light - although Lang's .022 was certainly competitive - but ended up taking too much stripe, crossing in 12.337 to hand the win to Lang's closer 12.398. from his M/SA Malibu wagon.

"I think it was a coincidence; I was surprised he didn't dial down," said Lang. "I thought about dialing down, too, because I thought I might be able to run a .40, but I decided to go with a .41. I figured on coming around him, but that wasn't happening, and I actually thought there might be something wrong with my car. Finally, he was so far ahead of me that I just tapped the brakes and decided to see what happened."

The key race: There were two, both of which helped decide titles. For race winner Lang, it was his fourth-round survival against Ken Passerby, who had a good enough run to beat Lang's 19-thousdandths package if he hadn't narrowly red-lighted. For new national champion Lee Zane, it was Jeff Hefler's first-round loss, a result which mathematically clinched the LODRS Stock championship for Zane. Hefler would have had to win the event to have any chance of overtaking Zane at the top of the standings.

The runner-up: Doolittle's runner-up was not quite enough to push him into the top 50 of the final LODRS Stock standings (1,123 drivers scored points this season in Stock). The Pomona final was his first at an NHRA national event.

Fast facts: Lang's fifth-place finish was a two-place improvement from 2003. Also, in what turned out to be a tough season for many traditional Stock favorites, Lang was one of only three drivers to repeat a top 10 finish from a year ago. The others were Hefler, who dropped one spot to third, and Zane, who improved five spots in winning the LODRS championship. ... Three-time defending national champion Kevin Helms finished 34th and scored no major wins in his ill-fated quest for an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship. Helms' final run of the season was symbolic of many of the struggles that he endured this season: He redlighted, then broke in the second round against Zane, a race that featured the incoming and outgoing Stock national champions. ... Zane met his biggest goal, winning a national points title, but came up nine points short of also claiming the Division 1 Stock championship. Shane Carr, who finished second nationally, held off Zane, 419-410, to win one of the deeper classes in ah1 of LODRS racing.

Did you know? Lang's win gave him the family's off-season bragging rights by a single point. His 601 points and fifth-place finish were one point and one place better than brother Toby Lang's final numbers. The brothers combined for six major event wins this season, three apiece on the national and divisional levels.

Quotable: "Winning is still a big deal; you definitely don't get used to it." - Jody Lang, after winning his ninth national event title.

Best packages: I. Tim Hall (Fountain Valley, Calif.) .011/11.286 (11.28 dial) round one; 2. Jody Lang (Puyallup, Wash.) .010/12.439 (12.43 dial) round four; 3. Bob Mulry (Gilroy, Calif.) .008/12.056 (12.05 dial) round one.