Guest from the West « DragRaceCanada.com

Guest from the West

by editor on Oct.31, 2021, under ACE MFG Northern Exposure

One of Canada’s most prolific names in Pro Mod racing did have a re-emergence during 2021….

Racing a Pro Mod class car with Winnipeg Manitoba being your home base – presents some inherent challenges right out of the box.

But beyond the realities of long distance factors and a shorter racing season overall in Canada – the pandemic imposed restrictions over the last two seasons — presented Kenny Lang with even more obstacles to his initial racing objectives.

The timing of the pandemic probably couldn’t have been worse – as it’s consequences and measures did kick in fully not very long after he had acquired his newest entry Pro Mod Camaro – forcing his team to draw up a “deferred plan B”.

“This Camaro is a former NAS Team light weight (P/X car) that Al Billes worked on and was very familiar with,” Kenny revealed. “It is Jerry Bickel-built – and it had only a few runs on it. Our initial plans was to convert it for NHRA legal Pro Mod class racing. We got it right near the end of 2019 — and ran it at a couple of races in Florida — just before all this mess (COVID) hit.”

Kenny Lang’s new Camaro — shown in action during the 2021 IHRA Canadian Nationals at GBM.

“Then it (2020) was a frustrating period for us,” he affirmed. “We really couldn’t even leave the province — the health circumstances wouldn’t allow that. We simply couldn’t plan anything for sure. But in retrospect — we used the forced time out as best as we could. We went thought the car – literally everywhere and everything. We also did a lot of work to our truck and trailer.”

So after sitting out all of last year – Kenny Lang’s team was a refreshing sight last mid summer for race fans in both Ontario and Quebec – entering some Pro Mod races at Grand Bend Motorplex and Napierville.

With his long time association with Al Billes continuing, Kenny took advantage of those opportunities to test his car and run it hard on some well prepped and fast surfaces in anticipation for the future. And the math his team did achieve indicates that future – could be very bright.

Kenny Lang has enjoyed and benefited from a long association with Al Billes.

Using the latest supercharged engine tech from Al Billes – Kenny collected numerous consistent 3.8 secs time slips and was also rewarded with a career quick 3.699 secs – while placing R/UP to Spencer Hyde at Napierville Dragway’s FuelTech Pro Mod Series finale last September.

“It was so great for us to get out again and see all of our friends in Ontario and Quebec,” Kenny emphasized. “And we were able to learn a lot and did a lot of refinements.”

The season experience (although still abbreviated) has caused Kenny’s team to do some pondering however about racing future direction.

“Originally I had been looking at NHRA E3 Spark Plugs PM Series (only) for 2022,” he surmised. “I think that still remains our objective — but their rules keep going up and down – and that’s a factor. So if NHRA doesn’t suit our needs – I’d like to do more 1/8th mile stuff and major Outlaw event racing. That’s something we’ll decide on this winter.”

For Kenny Lang, a 2X IHRA World Champ and member of the Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame, this Camaro is his 4th career Pro Mod car – preceded by a Pontiac Firebird, a ’53 Corvette and a previous model ’69 Camaro.