Justin Lamb didn’t step into the 2025 season of the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series with a fully booked schedule. Wanting to peel back a bit and spend more time with his family, Lamb was content to chase trophies and not necessarily the championship. The formula proved surprisingly successful as a concentrated effort at key events brought win lights that began to stack and, ultimately, brought home a sixth overall world championship for the Las Vegas-based racer.
On Sunday at the final Lucas Oil Series event of the season held there at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lamb was at his best, turning on win lights in both Stock Eliminator and Super Stock en route to a pair of wins, the Pacific Division Super Stock championship, and his fourth Super Stock world title.
“First of all, I had great cars; they’re really, really good,” said Lamb, who pilots his RAD Torque Systems COPO Camaro in Stock and a second RAD Torque entry in Super Stock for the Stone family of Stone Chevrolet Buick GMC in Tulare, Calif. “But I also didn’t race as much as I have in past years, so when I was there, I put in even more effort than I normally do. I will say, I’m exhausted because I put everything in. I’m not sure I’ve ever driven better.”
The double-up win and championships came on the heels of a disappointing weekend at the national event at that same racetrack, where Lamb experienced a first-round loss in both categories. The championship had a very good possibility of going to a well-deserving driver in Jimmy Hidalgo Jr., the defending Super Stock world champion who had also won the world in Stock in 2022. With the frustrating results of the national event still stinging a bit, Lamb arrived for the divisional and reset his tone to one of determination, reflecting on all that had transpired to get to that point.
Early season Super Stock final rounds at the national events in Pomona and Las Vegas had given him a strong start, and after victory at the spring Las Vegas divisional, Lamb won the Seattle national. It became evident that chasing the world might make more sense than initially thought, but balancing work and family with racing was different than it used to be, and it took some convincing. Longtime friend and fellow racer Jeff Devey offered his Chevy Cobalt to Lamb for the Seattle divisional, and another good friend and racer, Dan Lafferty, got the car to the track. Lamb was able to fly in, jump in the car, and win the race, adding important points to the pile. That was when he realized he had to keep going.
“I just figured I’d go to Seattle and see what happened, but then I won it and that meant I had to go somewhere else,” he recalled. “So we went to Bakersfield, and that was a waste of a weekend. I was sick and felt terrible, and I didn’t do well at all. But Christopher Dodd was like, ‘Come drive my car in Dallas.’ I didn’t get a lot of points there, but they mattered.”
Driving an unfamiliar though strong racecar, Lamb went rounds there at the Dallas divisional during the Texas Motorplex Stampede of Speed, incredibly lining up next to Hidalgo with all eyes watching in the quarterfinals. When Lamb left the starting line -.002-second too soon and got the red light, it wasn’t over, but the hill became a bit steeper.
“I was never totally sold on it, that we would win the championship,” said Lamb. “But when I had the chance this weekend at the last divisional of the year, I thought, so many people have helped me get this far, I just have to do whatever it takes.”
Lamb was 52 points behind Hidalgo entering the weekend.
“Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. is really fricken good, and to even compete with him – I just have a lot of respect for him,” said Lamb. “To be honest, there were races I didn’t drive as well as I should have, and Hidalgo is probably the best one doing it right now. I felt like I had to give it everything at the end to even have a chance.”
From round one of Super Stock at the Las Vegas divisional, Lamb was digging deep, launching with great reaction times, and wisely managing the finish line while running right on the dial in multiple rounds. A bit of good fortune also fell his way as the margins of victory were sometimes razor-thin. The win in the fourth round was particularly rewarding as it not only came with a ticket to the quarterfinals; it also secured the Division 7 Super Stock championship, Lamb’s eighth title in NHRA’s Pacific Division.
“I knew I was driving really well, but the bigger thing was that I didn’t want to leave empty-handed,” admitted Lamb. “It might seem trivial because I’ve won the division many times, but I really wanted to win it. I felt like that round was more pressure than the final. Once I did that, it was just a matter of continuing to make really good runs. I was exhausted, and I hadn’t eaten all day. It was like, just get me to the end. I was so tired I almost parked the Stocker at that point, but my wife Jeanine said, ‘Do you want to mess up the rhythm?’ So, I just kept going in both.”
Win lights continued to flash and determination continued to build for Lamb in both categories. A final-round triumph in Stock over Jody Lang came with his 35th divisional trophy, and then there was just one thing left to do: claim victory in the Super Stock final and win the championship.
With everything on the line and feeling sharper than ever, the final was one for the ages. Lamb launched his SS/BM RAD Torque COPO Camaro off the starting line with a .015 reaction to Craig Gualtiere’s .013, and the two battled all the way down track. The win light came to life in Lamb’s lane, and the mission was accomplished. By just .008-second, Lamb was a six-time Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series champion.
“This feels pretty special,” he said, smiling widely with wife Jeanine by his side along with a new set of gleaming trophies for the shelf. “I haven’t competed for a championship in several years, but there was a time when it almost seemed like winning came easy, and I couldn’t do anything wrong. It’s not like that now; a lot of the close races haven’t gone my way since 2018, and I’ve felt like I haven’t done much right. Fortunately, Larry Stone and his family stuck with me through changing engine combinations and revamping the car, and it’s a great car.
“This is super rewarding, but I was grateful to even have a chance. If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that it would end up like this, I wouldn’t have believed you. I didn’t even plan on doing the points races, but I had a lot of help and made all the effort to make the best of it. It worked out.”
Lamb extended great gratitude to wife Jeanine and children Jayce and Jovi; dad Chris and mom Carole; the Stone family, including Larry, Carol, and David; Dan Provost and Tammy Pigeault of RAD Torque Systems; engine builder Jon Richardson; Luke and Jessica Bogacki along with each of the This Is Bracket Racing Elite and Elite Jr. members; Mike Mans and wife Kelli; Gary “Pirate” Tackett; Jeff and Joyce Devey; Trey Vetter; Brian, Mindy, and Dylan Hough; Dan Lafferty and Nikele Wood; and Ryan Mangus.
He thanked partners Stone Chevrolet, RAD Torque Systems, Matco Tools, Goodyear Race Tires, Liqui-Moly, Palmer Electric, Moser Engineering, Redback Boots, A-1 Performance, and Lafferty Drilling and Blasting.
This story was originally published on November 11, 2025. 
