Story By: ELON WERNER / FLEXJET FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN – BRAINERD, MN – Jason Dietsch has been working towards this goal since 2021 and today at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals the driver from Edgerton, Ohio, ran to his first No. 1 qualifier in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series.
Dietsch drove his Ford Mustang to the provisional pole position yesterday and improved on his quick elapsed time today to run to the top of the qualifying order in front and over a dozen Chevrolet Camaros and Dodge Drag Paks.
“It’s been pretty special getting to this point,” said Dietsch from his pit area at Brainerd International Raceway. “We went through a lot of lot of stuff to get to this point. We wrecked the car earlier this season. I just appreciate that we get the opportunity to race and have a fast hot rod.”
On Friday Dietsch posted a 7.802 second run at 175.59 mph on Friday afternoon in front of COPO Camaro’s driven by Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals winner Ricky Hord and Anthony Troyer. The fastest Dodge Drag Pak on Friday was driven by Gatornationals winner Mark Pawuk’s 7.888 seconds. Dietsch’s Ford Mustang with a new look silver livery rolled into Saturday looking to hold on to the top spot on Saturday’s final day of qualifying.
“I tell you what, we’ve had a lot of work this year,” said Dietsch. “We went to Chicago, and we were 10th and 11th qualifiers. We went to Norwalk, and we were sixth and seventh. We just kept working and working on the motor. We have a whole different combination, and we’re really happy with how we are running right now.”
Today Dietsch improved to hold onto the top spot with an even stronger 7.781 second, 175.84 mph run. The biggest move in the second round of eliminations was made by point leader Stephen Bell who jumped up to No. 4 from No. 8 in the order with a 7.869 second run. Bell will head into eliminations with the $1,000 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series bounty. No. 11 qualifier David Janac, the Bristol winner, will have the first shot of winning the bounty when he squares off with No. 4 qualifier Bell in the first round. Dietsch will face Joe Welch in the first round with the chance to advance to the semifinals with a first round win, due to a bye round on the ladder in the quarterfinals.
The competitive nature of the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series is obvious in the head-to-head battles between the manufacturers. For the competitors in the class, they enjoy representing their respective brands, but they also enjoy the camaraderie of the class amongst some of the toughest racers in the country.
“I just like all the guys in the camaraderie, and it’s fun, you know,” said Dietsch. “We get on each other kidding each other about brand they race, and all that stuff. It’s just a lot of fun to come out and race. It will be business as usual when eliminations start. We gotta go out there, because the last place guy can take you out, that’s how it is, you know. There are so many ways you can lose the race so nothing’s a sure shot.”
Eliminations will continue at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals with the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series tomorrow.
First Round Match-ups
No. 1 Jason Dietsch vs. No. 14 Joe Welch
No. 2 Ricky Hord vs. No. 13 Kim Shirley
No. 3 Anthony Troyer vs. No. 12 Raymond Nash
No. 4 Stephen Bell vs. No. 11 David Janac
No. 5 Jonathan Allegrucci vs. No. 10 Doug Hamp
No. 6 Mark Pawuk vs. No. 9 Tony Scott Jr.
No. 7 Lee Hartman vs. No. 8 Scott Libersher
2024 FLEXJET NHRA FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN SCHEDULE
Aug. 28-Sept. 2 70th annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals, Indianapolis
Sept. 12-15 39th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, Reading, Pa.
Sept. 27-29 13th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals, St. Louis