Photo: Contributed

Jordan Lazic shows off his winning

It was quite a whirlwind weekend for Kelowna drag racer Jordan Lazic.

The 32-year-old owner of Gen 3 Speed found himself in Madison, Ill over the weekend competing with the big boys of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).

Competing in the Pro Mod class, Lazic got the better of 17 other racers to win in his debut competition.

He joins Kenny Lang and Eric Dillard as the only drivers to win their maiden event.

"I've been doing some testing for Justin Bond the last year or so," Lazic told Castanet News.

"I went to Florida and Darlington a couple of time and tested cars for them when they weren't able to make the test sessions and it went from there."

He said Bond spoke with him and a few other drivers about competing this weekend.

"I just got the call to see if I was able to do it and make it work with my schedule.

"I got lucky."

Lucky indeed.

Lazic was seeded second following three rounds of qualifying. He won his first elimination race in 5.757 seconds and his second in 5.781 seconds, sending him into the semi-final.

That's when the racing gods smiled down on the Kelowna driver.

His semi-final opponent was disqualified after jumping the start while his opponent in the final was unable to fix his car in time after blowing his engine in his semi final.

Now, he's waiting to hear if there may be more opportunities down the road.

"That's for the powers above," says Lazic.

Lazic received his NHRA licence when he was 16, but has spent most of his time in small tire racing.

He competed full-time in the West Coast Pro Mod circuit through B.C. and Alberta for the first time and says it looks like he has locked up that championship.

Lazic explains Pro Mod or pro modified as "door car racing."

It uses vehicles with natural bodies such as a Camaro or Mustang that resemble a street car. They have to have two working doors.

He says the Pro Mod class is run all over the world but says the NHRA is the cream of the crop.