Lang had some trouble early in his run while Tindle trundled to a 6.013/235.19 lap to pick up the win while a dejected Lang coasted across the line on an 8.015 E.T.

Lang may have hurt his engine in winning his semi-final matchup against IHRA Pro Mod legend Ed Hoover in a pedal fest at mid-track. Both cars were nearly even at half-track when the smoke started to roll from both entries. Lang, however, was able to hang on, pushing forward with a 6.290 run at 231.64 mph to Hoover’s 6.978 pass at 172.76 mph.
Despite an early exit on Sunday, Canadian racer Ray Commisso and his tuner Al Billes remain on top of the Pro Mod points standing with 172 markers, while Hoover moves to second with 146 points. Lang (133), Tindle (114) and Gray (105) round out the top five.

PRO STOCK

After years of successfully competing in IHRA Pro Stock, finally Gary Goforth got the monkey off his back and delivered for his team and his fans, getting his first career IHRA Pro Stock victory Sunday afternoon.

After the win Goforth said, “Three years of hard work, that is what is going through my head right now. We are living proof that you can buy the best stuff in the world, but if you don’t have the people to help you run it it doesn’t do you any good. I am so proud of my crew; everybody did a fabulous job for me. I could not do any of this if they are not turning the wrenches on the car.”

In the semi-finals Pete Berner ended a spectacular weekend for Robert Patrick with a 6.340 pass at 220.22 mph to Patrick’s 6.433 run at 217.74 mph and Goforth ended Frank Gugliotta’s day with a holeshot win on a 6.377 pass to Gugliotta’s 6.345. Goforth nipped him at the start with a .026 light.

Goforth earned his title. He had to defeat defending IHRA Pro Stock World Champion Pete Berner from Crete, Ill., in possibly the best drag race of the entire weekend. Goforth beat Berner to the win stripe by just 72-thousandths of a second. He rang up a 6.357/219.79 to Berner’s 6.359/220.01 to claim the win.

“Racing Pete is a very intimidating thing. If you can imagine, it would be like going against Tiger Woods in a golf match, it is just crazy,” Goforth said. “You are overwhelmed and you just hope you can do good enough just to stay with him. And to actually get by Pete, that is a big deal for us.

“I was thinking that the finish line can’t come soon enough. It looked like they added 30 or 40 more feet of finish line,” Goforth said with a laugh. “I didn’t even know I had won. They didn’t tell me until they got around the corner. The rescue team were the ones that were patting me on the back. I thought they were lying to me at first, I had to pinch myself to make sure I was still here.”

A big win wasn’t the only thing Goforth gained at the Spring Nationals; he also took over the Pro Stock points lead with 165 points. Baton Rouge winner Jason Collins sits second with 146 points followed by Gugliotta (134), Berner (133) and Montecalvo (131).