For the first time, factory stock competitors brought their Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Dodge Drag Paks and Ford Cobra Jets to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and raced them four-wide with a Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown NHRA Wally on the line. After two days of qualifying, Ricky Hord entered race day as the No. 1 qualifier but Winternationals winner Stephen Bell, the No. 6 qualifier, was looking to defend the $1,000 Flexjet bounty while No. 2 qualifier Mark Pawuk was aiming to claim his second Flexjet title of the season and regain the points lead.
After three rounds, it was Hord, a third-generation racer, winning for the first time in his Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown career outrunning Janac, Scott Libersher and Pawuk. Hord earned a first round competition bye and then took two more round wins to become the third different driver to win in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series in 2024.
“Getting this win means everything,” said Hord. “We’ve worked three years to get this first win and it’s been a long road. We broke a lot of parts and finally got one. It feels amazing to finally come out here and win. It’s satisfying to win the four-wide. It adds a little bit of stress because of the complexity of having to look around in the car and make sure everyone’s stage. I think the four wide is actually an awesome race.”
In the first round, Libersher and Scott took win lights outrunning Winternationals runner-up David Davies II and his Dodge Drag Pak and Lee Hartman. Libersher’s and Scott’s Chevrolet Camaros posted winning times of 7.884 and 7.974 seconds respectively. In the next quad it was most recent winner, Bell, and provisional No. 1 qualifier Janac moving into the next round with a win over Doug Hamp in an all-Camaro race. Pawuk and Raymond Nash drove their Dodges past Anthony Troyer’s Camaro in the final quad of the first round.
“I got the bye in the first round so I was happy with that but we got lucky because we had a plug wire cut off so I made a run with seven cylinders,” said Hord. “That kind of saved us but after that round win, the adrenaline kind of takes over. I’ve gone rounds before, but it felt good to just keep on going and take it to the final and win.”
Pawuk showed his driving skills in the second round, winning his quad on a double hole shot driving the Don Schumacher memorial Empaco Dodge Drag Pak. The Gatornationals winner was first off the starting line with a 0.021 reaction time and the advantage got his 7.971 second elapsed time to the finish line first over quicker runs by Janac’s 7.945 and Bell’s 7.953 second passes. Janac was able to advance to the final quad but Bell’s day ended and the Flexjet $1,000 bounty was collected by Pawuk for the round win.
The Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series will return to action at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago, May 17-19.
This story was originally published on April 15, 2024. 
