Canadian drag racing stands proud after a major “first” delivered from a highly potent team….

It was a winner-take-all (semifinal) matchup for NHRA’s Congruity Pro Mod Drag Racing Series (presented by LearnEV+) at Las Vegas’s National event last weekend.

Jackpot winner — at Las Vegas!

That match featured two of Bahrain 1 Racing teammates, with Canada’s Jordan Lazic facing off versus USA-driver Kris Thorne. Whoever lit up the win-light would mathematically clinch the ’24 world championship within the global fan favourite category — which features the fastest and most powerful Pro Mod class configuration cars — on this particular planet.

The event was the final of 10 races within NHRA Pro Mod and the concluding round of the category’s special four-race “Road to the Championship” playoffs.

The championship was decided when Lazic (from Rutland BC) who debuted in the NHRA class only last year, met up with Thorne, a former NHRA world champion (2022).

With it all on the line — Thorne did leave the starting line first but when he ran into trouble it was Lazic who cruised to the round win – and the championship – with a run of 5.759-seconds at 247.57 mph in his supercharged Bahrain 1 Racing Camaro.  With that history was made — Jordan Lazic became the first Canadian driver to claim the overall NHRA Pro Mod series points title dating back to its first class version conceptions – some 25 years ago.

With everything all on the line – Jordan Lazic became the very first Canadian NHRA Pro Mod World Championn when he defeated Kris Thorne at Las Vegas last weekend.

Lazic’s hard championship charge came in fact after missing the first two races of the season – but strong consecutive event placings within the first three of four playoff rounds assured his contention.

In fact going into the Las Vegas season final race, Jordan sat third in the points standings trailing only his other racing camp stablemates, the leader Khalid AlBalooshi and JBS Motorsports’s (and fellow Canadian) Justin Bond, who was standing second.

When Khalid lost in round one followed by Jordan beating Bond in round two – the championship chance became reality — and the semi finals bout was the championship decider.

Jordan Lazic

The Pro Mod event final round was in fact delayed until Monday due to some track issues. But that next morning Lazic made the most of it — and capped off a truly dream weekend. He raced highly formidable Mike Janis in the finals, but when Mike went red, this event victory was also his. He recorded a winning 5.729 secs at 251.53 mph in the championship round.

“It was a crazy weekend and that was just the crazy cherry on top,” Jordan beamed. “To go .008 (on the starting line) — I mean you can’t ask for much more than that.”

The event win was Lazic’s second career NHRA nationals level win.

“It was crazy and I was so so excited,” Lazic said post race. “I had family and friends here and watching from back home in Canada. We’re lucky to be here after missing the first two races. If I can have a whole season next year (10 races) maybe I can be even more dangerous?”

For Jordan Lazic, who is the owner of Gen3 Speed (his own BC-based specialty company), this rise to prominence has been impressively rapid.

“Going back to 2016 I was first asked to drive for JS Powersports in Outlaw 275,” he revealed. “Today still we have a race partnership for multiple cars. That’s what really started off my hired gun career. Over the few years I have driven and tuned multiple small tire radial and slick tire cars.”

Jordan then got heavier into Pro Mod class racing – primarily in conjunction with Dean Bettenson’s Red Deer AB-based team. He helped tune Bettenson’s Pro-Line/Pro-Charged Camaro to three consecutive West Coast Pro Mod Championships (2020-22). Then, in 2023 Jordan began both driving & tuning Bettenson’s fan favourite “Bunker’s Junker” supercharged ’57 chevy and with that claimed the WCPM season championship.

Jordan’s “deep dive” into Pro Mod class cars did originate within his racing relationship with the class entries of Alberta’s Dean Bettenson – two cars shown above.

“My relationship with JBS Motorsports (Justin Bond) became more enhanced later in 2023,” Lazic added. “I did some testing and that turned into a better friendship and partnership – including Khalid al Balooshi. As their driver I managed to win at NHRA St. Louis last year – in what was my very first NHRA national event entry! That played out well for this year. We made a deal for 8 races in 2024 – as part of their 3-car team — which could be described as the “international division” of Bahrain 1 Racing’s overall five car NHRA Pro Mod team.”

Justin Bond – Jordan Lazic – Khalid al Balooshi – makeup Bahrain 1 Racing’s “International Division”!

And just how dominate was the Bahrain 1 Racing camp in 2024? Well the final series points standings for the NHRA Congruity Pro Mod Drag Racing Series is:  pretty tell all!

Pro Modified (Final NHRA Championship Standings – Top Five)

1. Jordan Lazic, 1,106; 2. Kris Thorne, 1,032; 3. Justin Bond, 1,031; 4. Ken Quartuccio, 1,009; 5. Khalid alBalooshi, 1,005;

Posted by Bruce Biegler
Photos by Les Puchala, Phil Hutchison, courtesy of Dyan Lover & JBS Motorsports.