NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

When it comes to NHRa’s next first time professional winner, Pro Stock driver Eric Latino says, “Why not me?”

The 2025 season has been a banner year for first time winners with  Tony Stewart, Shawn Reed, Paul Lee, Cory Reed, and Richard Gadson adding their names to the roster of NHRA winners and the way Eric Latino sees it, there is plenty of room and plenty of time to add a sixth driver to that list.

“Yeah, I don’t see any reason why I can’t win a race,” says Latino. “We’ve certainly got the car to do it and we’ve got all the resources we need here [at KB Titan Racing. We just need to put all the pieces together.”

Latino, a part of the ownership group at KB Titan, is enjoying the best season of his career, although there have been numerous challenges along the way. On the plus side, he’s qualified solidly for every race he’s attended with his GESi Camaro, and he reached the final quad at the Spring four wide event at zMax Dragway. More recently, Latino reached the semifinals last weekend in Reading, a result that has allowed him to maintain the No. 5 spot in the standings.

“Initially, we struggled with this new car,” said Latino. “I had a new car that I put on the roof last year in Dallas so this is the car that Kyle Koretsky drove. It’s taken me most of the season to get used to it. We’ve also had a lot of runs where we’ve struggled with the clutch. At Indy, I had a new engine which is a bad-ass piece and I though we could qualify No. 1. We ran right through the clutch.

Given the strength of his GESi Camaro, it’s entirely possible that Latino could have already won a race this year, but a medical issue has derailed those plans. This Spring, he had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Latino missed the events in Epping, Bristol, Seattle and Sonoma, and also missed Norwalk, although his son, Matt, drove the car and earned points under NHRA’s driver replacement policy.

“Dr. Surface [NHRA’s chief physician] performed the surgery and he told me that in six to eight weeks I would be able to walk pain free but he also said that if I was a Major League baseball player, it would take six to eight months before I could run the bases so you’ve got to take that into account when it comes to driving a race car.”

Latino has been diligent about physical therapy and after several months, he feels that it’s no longer an issue when it comes to driving.

Latino also isn’t afraid to address the elephant in the room, taking full responsibility for three holeshot losses this season, including one in Phoenix where he lost to son, Matt, in their first father-son battle. To that end, Latino has enlisted the help of two-time Funny Car champ and Drag Racing School instructor Frank Hawley, who is on site in zMax to offer guidance and advice.

“Look, I want to be a better driver and I know I can be better,” Latino said. “That’s why I reached out to Frank to work with me. He’s already opened my eyes to a few things and showed me what I need to work on.”

On Hawley’s advice, Latino has changed his driving style, using the heel of his left foot to release the clutch pedal rather than the arch or the crown. It’s a technique used by many of the class’ top drivers including Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Erica Enders.

“When Frank explains it to you, it makes all the sense in the world just because of the way your body is structured and the way your muscles contract and release. It might take a few runs to get used to it, but I certainly believe it’s going to help in the long run.”

Latino is coming off another semifinal showing at last week’s 40th annual Reading Nationals, where he qualified No. 5, and then defeated world champions Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Aaron Stanfield before shaking the tires against Cody Coughlin. With that result, he is solidly in the No. 5 spot in the Mission Foods NHRA championship standings.

But, he wants more.

Winning a championship might be a stretch since Latino is currently 126 points behind leader Glenn, but he trials third place Hartford by just three points entering the Charlotte race so that is a very attainable goal.

“Last year, my goal was to finish in the Top 10 and I finished tenth, and this season, I felt like we had a car that as good enough to be Top 5. The holeshot losses hurt, and obviously the deal with my knee but here we are. We’re in the Countdown and I’m fifth and I feel like I could be third if everything goes just right.”

So far at the Charlotte 4-Wide event, Latino is qualified No. 5 after Friday’s two sessions. He expects to stay in the top half of the field which means he’ll almost certainly have lane choice on Sunday.

“I like the four wide races, especially after we had so much success this spring,” he said. “That really helps with confidence. It’s taken a while, but I do feel like our program is coming together, and I like the direction we’re headed.”