Litton, Manners and Gallen sweep at ‘The Rock'

5/2/10 - IHRA.com

It was a great day for three individuals on Sunday as the stars of Nitro Jam's three professional classes swept the weekend at Rockingham Dragway.

Despite vastly different track conditions from one day to the next Bruce Litton in Top Fuel, Peter Gallen in Prostalgia Nitro Funny car and Michael Manners in Pro Fuel were able to overcome the odds and put together a winning package as the trio swept the pro categories Saturday and Sunday at the Spring Nitro Jam at “The Rock.”

In the 39th edition of the Spring Nitro Jam event hot, sticky weather greeted fans and plagued drivers on both days as the extreme heat added an extra dimension to figuring out the tricky track surface. On Saturday the cooler evening temperatures helped calm the storm, but Sunday's heat left teams scrambling.

Still, many of the teams were able to find a happy medium and get down the track with little trouble.

During the pro rounds it was clear that the three winners had the perfect combination for Rockingham's tricky surface lead by five-time Rockingham winner Litton.

Litton (Indianapolis, Ind.) claimed his third win of the season and 18th career victory Sunday, edging Bobby Lagana Jr. in the final. Litton ran a 5.561/181.96 after losing the blower belt just before the finish line, staying just ahead of Lagana who had his own issues.

“We have been blessed. Every win was with a different track temperature and different track conditions so I have to give the credit to Mike Wolfarth who is doing an awesome job in his first year as crew chief,” Litton said. “The whole crew, from Mike Sipple our assistant crew chief to Phil Stewart who is in charge of the car, all of the guys work so hard and it is because of them I am lucky enough to be here today.”

With the win Litton has now won three straight Nitro Jam events as he closes in on point leader Lagana.

“What can I say about Lucas Oil and United Trailers. United is now the official trailer of IHRA and that is a win for them and of course Lucas supports me over here in everything I do with the IHRA,” Litton said. “It has just been a lot of fun. Last night there were a lot of people in the stands and we were able to put on a great show which is what we are really here to do.

“I was also able to get a win for the Sean Watts Memorial Scholarship Fund which I am happy to help out here this weekend.”

In the consolation round Spencer Massey, who ran alongside Litton in Saturday's final, defeated teammate Del Cox Jr.

Litton reached his third final in a row with a first round victory over Cox. After a tremendous race between the two on Day 1 the pair repeated that feat on Sunday with Litton edging Cox at the finish line by just three feet.

Litton ran a solid 4.847/303.50 to Cox's 4.881/292.65. In the other first round pairing Lagana moved on with a win over Massey.