<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/f12d7c01a131f0a3838fd301a0fb9f34.jpg" alt="f12d7c01a131f0a3838fd301a0fb9f34" align="right"borders="0"/>
NORWALK, Ohio (March 19, 2007) – After years of struggling in the Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel ranks, 29-year-old Bobby Lagana Jr. maintains the same pre-season mentality as any year prior to this weekend’s Nitro Jam™ season kick-off in San Antonio, Texas. (Buy tickets at Ticketmaster: http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/959593.) The event, the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals presented by NAPA AUTO PARTS, is scheduled for March 23 – 25 at San Antonio Raceway.
“A lot of people don’t realize how important it is to not set your expectations too high. We just go out there with the goal of having fun,” said Lagana Jr., who calls Scarsdale , N.Y. home. “We want to put ourselves in a position to qualify, but I hear people get there Thursday and say ‘I’m going to win the race.’ It’s dangerous to be too confident. The last thing you want to do is leave a race disappointed.
“This sport is all about overachieving. We are the classic example of that, competing with guys with ten times more money. Our ability to do that all comes from my dad, he taught us how to race, taught us how to run this thing from every single bolt.”
And Lagana Jr. did just that last season, claiming the first two wins of his career, an achievement he’s been pursuing his entire adult life. The first win came against IHRA’s defending world champion Clay Millican at Grand Bend, Ontario. His second win, coming in Epping , N.H. , was just icing on the cake.
The team has stepped things up this year. With the money Lagana Jr. earned for finishing third in the 2006 point standings, the team upgraded to a newer, nicer hauler.
“We do have some help this year from Skull Shine – Torco. And with our third place money last year, bought a bigger truck and trailer. But we’ll still need to qualify every time, that’s what keeps us going from race-to-race.
“I think this is going to be the most competitive year with IHRA ever,” said Lagana Jr. “There are just so many good cars, drivers, crew chiefs, teams…it’s going to be a dog-fight all year. It will be so easy with all the competition this year to all of a sudden find yourself not qualified for a race.
“As usual, Jay’s (Lewis, crew chief) got the car looking good this year,” added Lagana. “How can I complain, I have the ‘crew chief of the year.’”
Other drivers competing at this weekend’s Texas Nationals include:
-Cruz Pedregon, Bob Gilbertson, Del Worsham, Gary Densham and Dale Creasy Jr. in Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car
-Scotty Cannon, Doug Foley, Bruce Litton, Scott Weis, Terry McMillen and TJ Zizzo in Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel
-Quain Stott, Danny Rowe, Mike Janis, Glen Kerunsky and Matt Hagan in Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro Modified
-Mark Thomas, Rob Atchison and Terry McMillen in Alcohol Funny Car
-Pete Berner, Frank Gugliotta, Robert Patrick and Rob Mansfield in Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro Stock
Saturday HOLT CAT “Night of Fire”
The HOLT CAT “Night of Fire,” which occurs Saturday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m. during the Texas Nationals, features the final round of professional qualifying under the lights – including two flame-burning Nitro-fueled classes – and the ground-pounding Bob Motz jet-powered Kenworth truck.
Ticket Discounts
Providing San Antonio fans even more value when attending the Texas Nationals, NAPA AUTO PARTS is offering a Nitro Fast Pass coupon available at participating stores. Redeemable at the San Antonio Raceway ticket office and all Ticketmaster locations, the coupon grants $15 off a Friday or Sunday adult general admission ticket, plus a free kids ticket.
For more information, log onto IHRA.com - Homepage Of IHRA Motorsports - A Division Of Live Nation, Welcome to San Antonio Raceway or www.ticketmaster.com.
About IHRA
Headquartered in Norwalk , Ohio , the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), a division of Live Nation, promotes professional, semi-professional and local level racing opportunities for drivers at all levels. The $19.5 million Nitro Jam™ Drag Racing Series is a 12-event North American professional drag racing circuit. In 2007, the series will be comprised of nine events in major cities throughout the United States and three in Canada . The Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Championship presented by Mr. Gasket consists of competition at national events and 40 events in six regional divisions, while IHRA’s Summit SuperSeries is conducted nearly every weekend at over 70 IHRA-sanctioned tracks. Providing a safe environment to develop future stars, IHRA offers the Junior Dragster Racing Series for youths ages 8-17. Stand-alone events include Live Nation’s entertainment-filled “Thunder Jam” shows and the street legal racing and lifestyle event series Kumho Street Warriorz presented by Hooters. More information can be found at IHRA.com - Homepage Of IHRA Motorsports - A Division Of Live Nation.
About Live Nation
Live Nation is the world’s leading live music company, annually connecting more than 67 million fans with their favorite performers at over 33,000 events. We are the largest producer of live concerts in the world, the second-largest venue management company and have a rapidly growing online presence. Live Nation creates superior experiences for artists and fans, regularly producing tours for the biggest superstars in the business, including The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, U2 and Coldplay. Globally, we own, operate and/or have booking rights for more than 170 venues, including House of Blues-branded music venues and prestigious locations such as San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium, Nikon at Jones Beach in New York and London’s Hammersmith Apollo and Wembley Arena. Live Nation’s websites collectively are the second most popular entertainment event websites in the United States, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol “LYV.” For more information regarding concerts near you, Live Nation and its businesses, please visit our website at Live Nation | Find Concert Tickets, Tour Dates, Seating Charts & Venue Schedules with the World's Largest Concert Search Engine
Photo courtesy of IHRA.com
ADDICTED TO NITRO: RACER LAGANA JR. HOPES TO CONTINUE 2006 SUCCESS THIS WEEKEND IN SAN ANTONIO
NORWALK, Ohio (March 19, 2007) – After years of struggling in the Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel ranks, 29-year-old Bobby Lagana Jr. maintains the same pre-season mentality as any year prior to this weekend’s Nitro Jam™ season kick-off in San Antonio, Texas. (Buy tickets at Ticketmaster: http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/959593.) The event, the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals presented by NAPA AUTO PARTS, is scheduled for March 23 – 25 at San Antonio Raceway.
“A lot of people don’t realize how important it is to not set your expectations too high. We just go out there with the goal of having fun,” said Lagana Jr., who calls Scarsdale , N.Y. home. “We want to put ourselves in a position to qualify, but I hear people get there Thursday and say ‘I’m going to win the race.’ It’s dangerous to be too confident. The last thing you want to do is leave a race disappointed.
“This sport is all about overachieving. We are the classic example of that, competing with guys with ten times more money. Our ability to do that all comes from my dad, he taught us how to race, taught us how to run this thing from every single bolt.”
And Lagana Jr. did just that last season, claiming the first two wins of his career, an achievement he’s been pursuing his entire adult life. The first win came against IHRA’s defending world champion Clay Millican at Grand Bend, Ontario. His second win, coming in Epping , N.H. , was just icing on the cake.
The team has stepped things up this year. With the money Lagana Jr. earned for finishing third in the 2006 point standings, the team upgraded to a newer, nicer hauler.
“We do have some help this year from Skull Shine – Torco. And with our third place money last year, bought a bigger truck and trailer. But we’ll still need to qualify every time, that’s what keeps us going from race-to-race.
“I think this is going to be the most competitive year with IHRA ever,” said Lagana Jr. “There are just so many good cars, drivers, crew chiefs, teams…it’s going to be a dog-fight all year. It will be so easy with all the competition this year to all of a sudden find yourself not qualified for a race.
“As usual, Jay’s (Lewis, crew chief) got the car looking good this year,” added Lagana. “How can I complain, I have the ‘crew chief of the year.’”
Other drivers competing at this weekend’s Texas Nationals include:
-Cruz Pedregon, Bob Gilbertson, Del Worsham, Gary Densham and Dale Creasy Jr. in Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car
-Scotty Cannon, Doug Foley, Bruce Litton, Scott Weis, Terry McMillen and TJ Zizzo in Knoll Gas – Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel
-Quain Stott, Danny Rowe, Mike Janis, Glen Kerunsky and Matt Hagan in Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro Modified
-Mark Thomas, Rob Atchison and Terry McMillen in Alcohol Funny Car
-Pete Berner, Frank Gugliotta, Robert Patrick and Rob Mansfield in Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro Stock
Saturday HOLT CAT “Night of Fire”
The HOLT CAT “Night of Fire,” which occurs Saturday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m. during the Texas Nationals, features the final round of professional qualifying under the lights – including two flame-burning Nitro-fueled classes – and the ground-pounding Bob Motz jet-powered Kenworth truck.
Ticket Discounts
Providing San Antonio fans even more value when attending the Texas Nationals, NAPA AUTO PARTS is offering a Nitro Fast Pass coupon available at participating stores. Redeemable at the San Antonio Raceway ticket office and all Ticketmaster locations, the coupon grants $15 off a Friday or Sunday adult general admission ticket, plus a free kids ticket.
For more information, log onto IHRA.com - Homepage Of IHRA Motorsports - A Division Of Live Nation, Welcome to San Antonio Raceway or www.ticketmaster.com.
About IHRA
Headquartered in Norwalk , Ohio , the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), a division of Live Nation, promotes professional, semi-professional and local level racing opportunities for drivers at all levels. The $19.5 million Nitro Jam™ Drag Racing Series is a 12-event North American professional drag racing circuit. In 2007, the series will be comprised of nine events in major cities throughout the United States and three in Canada . The Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Championship presented by Mr. Gasket consists of competition at national events and 40 events in six regional divisions, while IHRA’s Summit SuperSeries is conducted nearly every weekend at over 70 IHRA-sanctioned tracks. Providing a safe environment to develop future stars, IHRA offers the Junior Dragster Racing Series for youths ages 8-17. Stand-alone events include Live Nation’s entertainment-filled “Thunder Jam” shows and the street legal racing and lifestyle event series Kumho Street Warriorz presented by Hooters. More information can be found at IHRA.com - Homepage Of IHRA Motorsports - A Division Of Live Nation.
About Live Nation
Live Nation is the world’s leading live music company, annually connecting more than 67 million fans with their favorite performers at over 33,000 events. We are the largest producer of live concerts in the world, the second-largest venue management company and have a rapidly growing online presence. Live Nation creates superior experiences for artists and fans, regularly producing tours for the biggest superstars in the business, including The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, U2 and Coldplay. Globally, we own, operate and/or have booking rights for more than 170 venues, including House of Blues-branded music venues and prestigious locations such as San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium, Nikon at Jones Beach in New York and London’s Hammersmith Apollo and Wembley Arena. Live Nation’s websites collectively are the second most popular entertainment event websites in the United States, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol “LYV.” For more information regarding concerts near you, Live Nation and its businesses, please visit our website at Live Nation | Find Concert Tickets, Tour Dates, Seating Charts & Venue Schedules with the World's Largest Concert Search Engine
Photo courtesy of IHRA.com
