The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is more than home for Las Vegas native Justin Lamb. It’s been a proving ground for his capabilities as a racecar driver in multiple categories, and this weekend at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Lamb hoisted his ninth Las Vegas national event trophy and the 29th of his career as he raced to victory in Super Stock behind the wheel of his trusty Chevy Cobalt.
With the win, five-time Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series champion Lamb is tied for second in having the most national event wins at LVMS between both Pro and Sportsman racers. The only driver with more Las Vegas national event trophies is Dan Fletcher, who has 11.
Lamb powered through six rounds of eliminations and claimed the title in his SS/AS 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt with a final-round defeat of SS/FA 1969 Mustang driver Tony Hewes. In the final, Lamb was a smidge behind in terms of reaction time – he launched in .042-second to his opponent’s .037 – but drove the finish line better for an 8.974 (8.94) win over a 9.986 (9.92).
“Even though it’s my home track, I don’t race here as often as you would think,” said Lamb, who resides in nearby Henderson. “I don’t race the local bracket series very often, and for the longest time, I didn’t win here – but lately, I’ve won a lot. That’s really satisfying because I’ve put a lot of effort into having good racecars and learning how to dial them at a track like this – it’s very, very challenging with the big weather swings, tail winds, cross winds.”
Lifelong racer Lamb, who got his start as a child in NHRA’s Jr. Drag Racing League, earned his first Las Vegas national event trophy in 2010 in Super Stock. To date, he’s earned a total of four Super Stock wins there at the national level, four more in Stock Eliminator, and one in Comp Eliminator.
Last month, Lamb claimed another LVMS triumph as he won the PMR Stock/Super Stock title at the Muscle Cars at the Strip event driving the Chevy Cobalt in which he’s seen many win lights and raced to the winner’s circle many times over the years.
“Driving this car is like riding a bike,” he said. “I’ve made so many runs in the Cobalt – probably close to 2,000 or more. I haven’t run it in a year, but the Spring Fling [K&N Spring Fling Million bracket race] is coming up, and I wanted to knock the dust off of it. That’s a big race, and you want to make sure your car is good to go. When a car sits for so long, you never know, but so far I’m pretty happy.”
After the Spring Fling, Lamb will put the blue Cobalt back in the garage for a spell. His primary focus in Super Stock will return to driving Larry and Carol Stone’s ultra-sleek COPO Camaro, a car that has been turning heads for the last couple of seasons but has yet to be properly celebrated on the national event stage. Lamb won the LODRS Division 7 race with the efficient COPO last fall and is on a mission to wheel the prized COPO to a next-level win.
He will return to the seat of the SilverState branded Super Stock COPO as well as the matching RAD Torque Systems Stock Eliminator COPO Camaro at the upcoming division race at LVMS. For now, Lamb has accomplished one thing on his to-do list: winning a national event for the 11th consecutive season. Since his first win in 2006, there have only been two years in which he didn’t claim at least one victory (2008 and 2011).
“That’s something I’m very proud of,” said Lamb, who now owns 29 national event trophies. “It’s cool to have a lot of national event wins as a Sportsman. I only get eight or so chances a year, compared to the Pro drivers who get 20-something. I don’t know that it’s a huge goal for me, to win at least one race every year, but it’s pretty cool to keep that streak going.
“It was great to get this win with so many of our partners and friends there. It was awesome to do this with SilverState on the car, and to have Dan Provost there from RAD Torque Systems, the support of Larry and Carol Stone, and great friends and fellow racers like the Hough family. Every win is special, but this one was a lot of fun.”
This story was originally published on April 4, 2022. 
