Veteran driver Lenny Lottig earned his second career Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown No. 1 qualifier today at the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals. Earlier this season Lottig drove his ITI Trailers and Truck Bodies Chevrolet COPO Camaro to the top spot at the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals. This weekend at the Texas Motorplex Lottig came off the trailer ready to race grabbing the provisional No. 1 qualifier on Friday night and holding onto the No. 1 spot through the third round of qualifying.
“The conditions today were awesome with exceptionally good weather and the track was good enough to hold it coming off the starting line. It’s been a good fast day,” said Lottig. “Being the No. 1 qualifier is always a good position to be in. It’s an honor to get the yellow hat on Saturday, but we really like it in the black hat on Sunday. There’s great competition here and the field is the tightest I’ve ever seen. It’s gonna take everybody being on their A Game to get through this. We’re hoping we can bring everything we have to the table when the race starts.”
Lottig will face stiff competition from the rest of the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown class with point leader Aaron Stanfield, looking to wrap up his third Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown world championship. In an epic first round tilt Stanfield, the No. 9 qualifier will face No. 8 qualifier Stephen Bell, his closest opponent in a battle of COPO Camaros. If Stanfield prevails, he will need to gain a 139-point advantage to lock up the championship. He currently has a 112-point lead.
The latest Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown winner, Mark Pawuk, will enter race day as the No. 13 qualifier and will face No. 4 qualifier David Janac in the first round. If Janac can take out Pawuk who won his first Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown title two weeks ago at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis he would pocket the $1,000 Flexjet Bounty.
“I want to hold onto this bounty title for a while,” said Pawuk. “I want to see how big this Flexjet Bounty can get. The first round is always the toughest, but we will be ready.”
The Chevys or the Fords or the Dodges are nothing to take lightly. Everyone is making good power and you have to take everyone seriously whether they are the No. 16 qualifier or the No. 1 qualifier.
It is so fun because this is a crazy class. You have to be able to read what the tracks want to hold and then you have to know how much power we put down to it. We have to look at the weather, too. All the planets have to align to be able to go and get down the track. I’ve been fortunate and blessed enough to have a great team behind me. It takes an army to make these things go.”
Competition for the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown class in the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex continues with eliminations Saturday and continue Sunday with the semifinals and finals. Winners are slated to be crowned Sunday at 4:20 p.m.
This story was originally published on October 14, 2023. 
