Lenny Lottig drove his Chevrolet Camaro to the No.1 qualifier spot at the biggest drag race of the year, the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. The veteran driver from Meyersdale, Pa., posted the quickest time of over 20 factory stock showdown cars competing in the ultra-competitive Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series.
Lottig’s best time came in the third qualifying session on Saturday when he blasted down the track at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in 7.688 seconds at 177.67 mph. The three-time Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series national event winner is bullish on his chances to win his first U.S. Nationals title.
“We’re in the yellow hat, and that always makes you have a little bit better feeling going into race day than when you don’t have it,” said Lottig, who has won twice from the No. 1 spot. “Anything can happen. We’ll just take it one at a time. When you come to Indy, you’re typically with the best of the best in the country, and there’s 20 cars here in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series. The showdown is what got me back into drag racing five years ago.”
Lottig will be racing No. 22 qualifier Richard Ingram in the first round. It will be a Camaro-on-Camaro match-up that Lottig is eagerly anticipating. The multi-class racer enjoys the high level of competition and the serious level of skill it takes to turn on win lights.
“This is grassroots racing,” said Lottig. “It doesn’t get any better. It’s heads up. It’s what originally came from the factory. These are real cars. So that’s what intrigues me about them. If they would have had a clutch and a stick three pedals in them, they would be the ultimate car.”
Right behind Lottig sit the two drivers battling for the 2025 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown world championship. Jason Dietsch, a two-time winner in 2025, sits No. 2 with a 7.725 second run in his Ford Mustang Cobra Jet, right in front of No. 3 qualifier and reigning world champion Mark Pawuk whose best time of 7.733 seconds positions him as the quickest Dodge Challenger on the property.
“The U.S. Nationals is the biggest race you’re ever going to win,” said Dietsch, whose son Taylor is also in competition. “We’re here to win. Something happened in my car in the last qualifying session. We’re trying to figure it out and we’ll get it fixed. No matter what, we’ll be here tomorrow to win this thing. Running the U.S. Nationals with my son Taylor, is awesome. It’s an all-run field, so we have double the chance to get one of us in the Winner’s Circle. I hope we don’t meet ’til the finals. I want to win, but if he wins that’s just as good.”
For Pawuk, the last major racing accomplishment is winning the NHRA U.S. Nationals. He has a two-race winning streak coming into Indianapolis. The $2,000 Flexjet Factory Stock bounty will be riding with the Bristol and Norwalk winner, who will face No. 20 qualifier Ted Pelech in the first round. Pawuk won most recently at his home track Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, and is ready to win the biggest race of the year.
“I don’t really think about the bounty,” said Pawuk. “Everybody is going to be gunning after me, especially the guys right behind me in the points. I just have to do the best job that I can. My car has been really good. I’ve been driving pretty good, and we’ve gotten a few breaks when we needed them. Let’s just hope this cowboy has a good rest of the weekend.”
“Winning Indy would be unbelievable,” added Pawuk. “I’ve been in this final so many times, and thought I had a shot last year, but I couldn’t find the finish line. This one is on my bucket list. There’s a lot of tough competition out here, a lot of cars are running good, and anything can happen.”
At the end of the first day of qualifying, Lenny Lottig and his COPO Camaro sat atop the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown field. His 7.707 second pass at 177.32 mph was top of the over 20 Camaros, Dodges and Fords in competition. Right behind him was reigning Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown world champion Pawuk in his Empaco Dodge Challenger Drag Pak running 7.733 seconds at 178.12 mph. Jonathan Allegrucci was sitting fourth with the quickest Ford Mustang Cobra Jet in the class, with a quick pass of 7.780 seconds at 177.42 mph.
Final eliminations for the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals will feature an all-run field of over 20 Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Mustang Cobra Jets and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks. The first round will be contested tomorrow at approximately 11 a.m. ET.
First Round Match-ups
- No. 1 Lenny Lottig vs. No. 22 Richard Ingram
- No. 2 Jason Dietsch vs. No. 21 Mike Lloyd
- No. 3 Mark Pawuk vs. No. 20 Ted Pelech
- No. 4 Lee Hartman vs. No. 19 Kim Shirley
- No. 5 Taylor Dietsch vs. No. 18 David Davies
- No. 6 Raymond Nash vs. No. 17 James Betz
- No. 7 Jonathan Allegrucci vs. No. 16 Josh Hart
- No. 8 Jesse Alexandra vs. No. 15 Rouven Dawson
- No. 9 Scott Libersher vs. No. 14 Tony Scott
- No. 10 Anthony Berge vs. No. 13 David Janac
- No. 11 Doug Hamp vs. No. 12 Richard Hord
2025 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Schedule
Sept. 11-14 Reading NHRA Nationals, Reading, Pa.
Sept. 26-29 NHRA Midwest Nationals, St. Louis, Mo.
This story was originally published on August 31, 2025. 
The post Lenny Lottig Grabs Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown No. 1 Qualifier at NHRA U.S. Nationals first appeared on Drag Illustrated.