Lagana exited the car and quickly thrust his fist in the air as a sign of triumph.
“That run was unbelievable,” an elated Lagana said. “There’s no one sick on this team, but when you look at the adversity we went through this season to get to where we are at now – you’ll see how important this run was. This is a testament to the spirit Evan Knoll has instilled in us both as a friend and a car owner.”
As positive as Lagana tries to be, he’ll readily admit he didn’t expect from the first run.
“I fully expected the car to shake or smoke the tires because this is a completely new combination,” admitted Lagana.
Lagana is tuned this weekend by the tandem of Johnny West and Lance Larsen. He’s quick to point out they’re the difference between success and failure.
“They’re not fooling around,” Lagana said. “They are here to race and not play around. We were real before, but now we’re really for real.”
Did Lagana forget he was running 660-feet?
“Kinda,” Lagana answered. “I ran it to about 900-feet because the Lance Larsen tune-up usually kicks in at half-track. I thought for a moment and said, nah, I gotta run it a little further.”
