Litton and Boychuk wins keep it Canadian

The Edmonton crowd was ready for some high-performance entertainment.

Words and photos by Larry Crum/IHRA

SATURDAY, JULY 7

It was déjà vu all over again at Castrol Raceway. Exactly 10 years ago Bruce Litton visited victory lane at the inaugural MOPAR Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam Nationals on a beautiful summer weekend in 2003. A decade later not much has changed.

Driving the exact same car he took to victory lane in 2003 to commemorate the 10th running of the MOPAR Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam Nationals, Litton returned to victory lane in front of a full house Saturday night during the SMS Komatsu Night of Fire with a big win over Bobby Lagana Jr., ending Lagana’s two-year run at the track and giving Litton his first Ironman since June of 2011.

“We really wanted to do something special to remember that first race in Edmonton so we brought the retro car that has been sitting in the shop all this time,” Litton said. “Returning to victory lane with that same car a decade later was definitely a special moment for the team and something we will remember for a very long time.”

Litton was joined in victory lane by Randy Bradford in Nostalgia Fuel Altered as the two winners from Saturday night. The other professional categories featured qualified fields as Jim Obalek (AMSOIL Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car), Damian Cownden (Nitro Bike) and David Brant (Rocky Mountain Nostalgia Funny Car) topped their respective fields entering championship Sunday.

Saturday’s Top Fuel final was filled with tension as Litton and Lagana went head-to-head for the fifth time in a row at Castrol Raceway in front of the usual jam-packed Edmonton crowd.

Litton topped the Top Fuel field after round one, running a 5.121/272.56 under tricky track conditions to take lane choice in the final. In the finale Lagana performed his trademark quarter-mile burnout while Litton waited patiently. Unfortunately, Lagana’s run looked a lot like the burnout as smoke filled the air moments after stabbing the throttle and Litton drove to a weekend-best 5.007/290.44 to take the win.