The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is positioned a showgirl’s feather away from the heart of Sin City, where players are leaning on luck to win big. Two drivers in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown tapped into skill and drew on good fortune this past weekend at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, with third-generation racer Ricky Hord scoring his first title in the class and Stephen Bell adding another trophy to the case.
For the first time in the history of the class, the Las Vegas Factory Stock Showdown took place in the same four-wide format as the pro drivers, and Hord took an unintimidated stance in qualifying as he drove his Maximum Effort VI Chevrolet COPO Camaro to a best time of 7.939-second at 172.54 mph to knock off provisional low qualifier David Janac (7.964) and his COPO and rake in the first No. 1 of his career. Dodge Challenger Drag Pak campaigner Mark Pawuk was No. 2 on a 7.958.
Hord followed his first pole with a hard-fought win on Sunday, which included an opening-round bye followed by a victory over Tony Scott’s 8.115 with a stout 7.911 that was low of the round and just ahead of Scott Libersher, who advanced to the next round as runner-up on a clean 7.925.
The final quad set up a tough challenge for Hord, as he faced a charging Janac, two-time class runner-up Libersher, and Gainesville winner Mark Pawuk. Hord didn’t need any luck, though, as he clocked a stellar 7.890, 174.03 to properly earn the coveted Las Vegas trophy. Janac was runner-up on a 7.986, 172.67, while Libersher and Pawuk, who left Las Vegas as the points leader, both had problems and finished as semifinalists.
“This win means everything,” said Hord, whose father, Rick Hord, was racing in Factory X at the event. “We’ve worked three years to get this, and it’s been a long road. It feels amazing to finally come out here and win, and it’s satisfying to win the four-wide. It adds a little bit of stress because of the complexity of having to look around and make sure everyone is staged, but I think the four-wide is actually an awesome race.”
Hord went on to explain that luck did, indeed, come into play at The Strip as a downed plug wire had him running on seven cylinders in his first-round bye.
“After that, the adrenaline took over,” he said. “I’ve gone rounds before, but it felt good to keep on going, take it to the final, and win.”
The rain-delayed conclusion to the Winternationals took place during qualifying, and after taking a bye run in the semifinals, he squared off with David Davies II in the money round. Davies had lane choice, but Bell had the starting line advantage to claim the win, 7.984, 172.41 to an unfortunate tire-rattling 12.098.
“These past two weeks, there has just always been something on my mind,” said Bell. “Half the time, I couldn’t remember what it was. We’ve always been able to complete races, whether it was Monday or whatever, so this was bothering me. I finally realized it was the race I still needed to finish.
“It was way cool to win the Winternationals in Las Vegas. It’s just an absolute dream come true to come out here, race with your friends, and be competitive. Man, outside of marrying my wife and having my three beautiful children, winning a Wally is right up there as one of the greatest days of my life.”
The Factory Stock Showdown series is complemented by the Flexjet Bounty program, which places a $1,000 bounty on the winner of the previous event. In winning the season-opener, Pawuk collected the bounty that had been on Bell, the winner of the Norwalk race in 2023. Davies then defeated Pawuk for the big bucks in Las Vegas, and Pawuk defeated Winternationals winner Bell to add a stack of cash to the pile. Hord will be the target at the next Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown event, which will take place at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago, May 17-19.
Flexjet Bounty Program
Gatornationals (Gainesville, FL)
$1,000 bounty collected by Mark Pawuk, defeated Stephen Bell (Norwalk winner)
Winternationals (Pomona, CA)
$1,000 bounty collected by David Davies II, defeated Mark Pawuk (Gatornationals winner)
Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals (Las Vegas, NV)
$1,000 bounty collected by Mark Pawuk, defeated Stephen Bell (Winternationals winner)
2024 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Results
Gainesville – Mark Pawuk, winner; Stephen Bell, runner-up
Pomona – Stephen Bell, winner; David Davies II, runner-up
Las Vegas1 – Ricky Hord, winner; David Janac, runner-up
Races Remaining in the 2024 Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown
May 17-19 24th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals, Chicago
June 7-9 23rd annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol, Tenn.
June 27-30 18th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, Norwalk, Ohio
Aug. 15-18 42nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Brainerd, Minn.
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
Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Point Standings
1. Mark Pawuk 271
2. Stephen Bell 260
3. David Janac 229
4. Ricky Hord 183
5. David Davies III 179
6. Scott Libersher 167
7. Doug Hamp 159
8. Anthony Troyer 121
9. Tony Scott Jr. 117
10. Lee Hartman 97
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