I’ve never really hid the fact that I am a Lagana family fan-boy to the core. I get to see Bobby Lagana Jr quite frequently out on the NHRA tour as he works with Steve Torrance’s team assisting Richard Hogan in tuning that car for best performance. His brother Dom can be found at select events in the car you’ll see here, the aptly named Nitro Ninja top fuel dragster or driving for people like the Aussie based Rapisarda operation. Both of these guys are nitro soaked maniacs that have spent their lives at the race track around these cars. They know nothing else and that’s why when we see a video like this, made by the exceptionally talented Les Mayhew, it means all that much more. The guys were up at US 131 Dragway in Martin, Michigan recently for a match race and uncorked a career best 4.59/325mph quarter mile blast during the event. This video documents that run and captures the emotional reaction of the whole gang after the scoreboards lit up.

I’m not one of the guys who believes that people in top line drag racing have lost the passion that guys of 20+ years ago had. That is still 100% present and accounted for but I do think that more emotion, more personality, and more grit would certainly help reconnect the sport to lots of people. If the drive, determination, and overall balls of the Lagana brothers could be bottled and sold as some sort of an elixir, the drag racing world would be better off. Listen, these guys are at a match race which has nothing for them other than a paycheck. They could have gone out and made some 4.70 passes, waved to the crowd and left but they didn’t. For their own entertainment, to put on a great show, and to see just what kind of suds their cars has, they tuned the dragster up to eat and eat it did!

We love the shot of Dom coming back up the return road to the cheers of the crowd and his genuine smile and wave. That short clip of this video really tells the tale in an amazing way. US 131 has been good to the Lagana brothers over the years. I saw them taste success there in my IHRA days and they have run some of (now the best) runs of their careers since their pop passed away.

If you are wondering what grizzled, hard nosed, never-say die, race with no money, hard thrashing, nitro soaked racers look like kicking ass, this is the video for you. Congrats boys!

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THE NITRO NINJA STREAK DOWN THE US131 QUARTER MILE AND INTO THE TRACK’S RECORD BOOKS –