After winning Super Stock at the Northwest Nationals in Seattle, five-time world champion Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competitor Justin Lamb had a fire beneath him, and he turned that fire into victory in Stock at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals the very next weekend. Focused on accumulating national event trophies over championships at this stage of his storied career, Lamb is achieving the desired outcome – and claiming a seventh Sonoma win and 34th overall, just one week after the Seattle triumph, was particularly rewarding.
Driving the FS/C RAD Torque Systems COPO Camaro Stocker to a first round victory over Kyle Rizzoli started eliminations on a good note. The two accomplished drivers and former world champions had run into each other repeatedly in recent years, with favor often falling on Rizzoli’s side of the track despite strong performances by Lamb. This time around, it was Lamb with the win light, as he ran dead-on his 9.43 target and his opponent cut a great light but broke out by .005.
After booking wins over Bob Beals and Brent Calvert, Lamb met Bryan Phillips in the semifinals. Lamb won the round, but it was not without turmoil.
“Something broke,” said Lamb, whose .036 reaction and 9.700 on a 9.45 eclipsed the .048 light and 11.946 (10.91) put forth by Phillips. “I lost like a tenth between the quarterfinals and the semis, and it was all early. It barely did a wheelie and was slow reacting; I didn’t know what was wrong, then it ran like crap in the finals again. To be honest, I’m probably pretty dang lucky. The gentleman I raced, he’s a great racer and was driving awesome all weekend, too. Lucky for me, he turned it red.”
Lamb was on the way to his 52nd career final, while on the other side of the ladder, Chad Loge was advancing in the A/SA ’62 Plymouth Sport Fury formerly owned by John Shaul and most closely associated with Steve Wann. Loge defeated Jared Jordan, Shelby Williams, Brian McLanahan, and Nanette Stein to reach the final, where he would ultimately foul away his shot at the trophy with a -.014 red light.
Lamb had won the event, but the drama continued, as the fuel pump on cousin Trey Vetter’s Super Comp dragster had failed as he was driving to the staging lanes. Lamb had been made aware of his cousin’s troubles before running the Stock final, and as soon as he turned off the track after getting the win light, he raced back to the pits to work on Vetter’s car.
He quickly removed the fuel pump from his own Super Stocker and installed it on Vetter’s dragster, enabling him make the round. The effort by all was enormous, and although the win in Super Comp was not to be had, Vetter was able to earn his first national event win in Super Stock and share the winner’s circle with Lamb.
“Trey is a hell of a driver,” said Lamb. “He’s going to be really good for a really long time, and I’m so proud of him. He did great.”
So far this season, Lamb himself has been a force on Sunday on the NHRA national event tour. He won Stock in Phoenix over Jody Lang, was runner-up in Super Stock at the Winternationals and at the Las Vegas Four-Wide event, locked down his 17th Super Stock win and first in the Larry and Carol Stone-owned RAD Torque Systems COPO Camaro in Seattle, and scored his ninth Stock Eliminator win in Sonoma. In all, Lamb’s 34 national event trophies are diversified across six categories, a feat only a handful of drivers have ever achieved.
“I can’t do this without my sponsors and everybody that helps me,” said Lamb, who will return to the national event trail later this season. “It was really special to have Larry and Carol Stone there. They haven’t been to a race in over a year, so to finally have them here hanging out with us and then being able to win was awesome. Last weekend we got to win with Dan and Tammy from RAD Torque in Seattle, and now this. My wife and kids are here, and they put up with all this nonsense. I can’t thank them enough. This has just been an awesome couple of weeks.”
Lamb races with the support of 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.
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This story was originally published on July 31, 2025. 
