Lenny Lottig sweeps Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown with victory in Charlotte
After securing the first No. 1 qualifying position of his career on Saturday, Lenny Lottig and his ITI Trailers and Truck Bodies Chevrolet COPO Camaro would rally to win his first win of the season and third of his career on Sunday at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
In the final quad of eliminations, Lottig would have a .344-second reaction time combined with an 8.059-second pass at 176.59 mph to defeat runner-up Aaron Stanfield’s .719 reaction with a 7.701 pass at 178.26 and Stephen Bell’s 8.312 run at 151.60. Mark Pawuk would time out on the starting line and not make a run.
"It's been a great weekend, we were low qualifier and to get the win at the end is great. We had to hurry up at the end. We got up here in 12 minutes. It was the typical hurry up and wait game, which was a little bit stressful. I guess Pawuk timed out and then we unload with a pretty big wheel stand. We'll take the win on a dream weekend. Our confidence has been just great because we have a car and team that is competitive,” said Lottig, who last won at the Gatornationals in March 2022. “I have to thank the crew and we surround ourselves with great people. We've got a great team and we're just having so much fun. It's been a fabulous weekend. It will be fun to celebrate with all the local people from back home who are here with us.”
“We also had Frank Aragona Sr helping us out all weekend and the whole team had him and his family on our minds. We recently lost his son [three-time NHRA Comp champ] Frank Jr. who was a great friend and competitor. We wanted to dedicate this win to Frank Jr. and his family,” added Lottig.
With a bye run to start the day, Lenny Lottig would run a 7.712-second pass at 176.77 mph and Anthony Berge would go 7.784 at 180.69 for automatic advancement to the third round. In another bye, Stanfield had a 7.746 pass at 178.26 to advance along with David Davies’ 7.760 at 179.56 automatically take them to the third round.
Lottig made it to the final quad on a holeshot when he had a .052 reaction time combined with a 7.685-second pass at 179.18 mph to send AJ Berge home. Lottig would advance with Stephen Bell and his 7.663 at 179.47 while also sending home reigning champ David Barton.
With the victory, Lottig also picks up a target on his back through the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Bounty Program. Whoever ends his win streak will collect $1,000.
“I want to carry that bounty for a while. I want to build up so if and when someone gets it there is a big payday,” Lottig said.