Canada’s Charger Continues Storm!
In what is for sure the top Canadian drag racing news story so far of 2013 — Edmonton’s Todd Lesenko continues impressive strides within NHRA’s demanding fuel FC class category….
During last weekend’s NHRA Arizona Nationals at Phoenix, and on a race weekend which saw Todd personally celebrate his 50th birthday, Lesenko drove the Uni-Select/Worsham Racing Dodge to some very similar results to that of the Pomona Winternationals held the weekend before.
In only their 2nd start together, the budding new Can-Am team qualified solidly and followed that up with a very significant round victory.
After qualifying with a dramatic 4.245 secs at 300.80 mph during Saturday’s final session – Todd lined up against the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Winternationals event winner Courtney Force and her JFR Traxxas Ford Mustang in round one on Sunday.
Todd left the starting line first (.084 o .097 RT) before both drivers experienced tire spin issues. Todd was able to recover first and ran a winning 5.206 secs at 191.92 mph.
In round two Todd was scheduled to take on another JFR race car – this one driven by the drag racing legend himself – John Force. But a mechanical issue which emerged following an engine change between rounds cropped up suddenly — and the car would not start. Todd could only look on as John Force singled for the win (with a very sub par tire spinning run) driving his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang.
“After all that to sit there and watch Force blow the tires off on that single was a helpless feeling,” Todd revealed. “You just could not help but think of what could have been. But that’s all part of the reality of drag racing. It seems if you are injured – in this sport some salt gets thrown in (LOL!). But I’m very sure our day will come.”
“We kicked the rods out winning round one so we had to switch motors,” Todd added, “It appears that we then had an issue with the wiring of the car – something got burnt and shorted out. That’s why the car would not start.”
Todd Lesenko defeated Winternationals winner Courtney Force during round one at Phoenix last Sunday
Overall the event effort was truly positive for the new team which continues to jell quickly towards the future and who together had beaten defending NHRA 2012 World Champion Jack Beckman in round one at Pomona the week before.
“The guys truly did a great job,” Todd confided. “The track out there was very difficult with the changing conditions and all the dust blowing on it. It was really a tuners game and Chuck and Grant gave me a great car to drive. With every lap I’m gaining more confidence and the car is really storming. I honestly thought we had a realistic chance of winning this and everyone is full of optimism about our next race for Las Vegas.”
The team’s next scheduled event is for the SummitRacing.com Nationals at LVMS (April 5-7th).
Photo and Posting by: Bruce Biegler
For more information on Todd Lesenko visit his official racing website : www.NitroFCCanada.com
