2014 Year in Review

TAN Original Content


The stars of NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car didn't disappoint in 2014, with record-breaking numbers, dominating performances, a cast of diverse characters new and old, and exciting storylines throughout the Lucas Oil Series season. In no particular order, here are a few of the notable headlines and stories from 2014.


5x TAD National Champion Reichert Retires as Driver/Owner
During the 60th running of the U.S. Nationals, a race he won three times, Bill Reichert announced he would retire as a driver following the NHRA Nationals at Reading. The Michigan driver was winless on the national level this year, but won two North Central Region races and posted a 5th place finish in national points. Reichert's legendary driving career spans two decades, in which he won 28 national events, 54 regional/divisional events, five national championships, and nine divisional championships. His retirement announcement hinted that he might serve as a crew chief in 2015 should the right opportunity arise.

Bill Reichert - Nate Van Wagnen photo

Rookie drivers debut with winning performances
The alcohol categories had a standout rookie class in 2014. Corey Michalek, brother of 2013 TAD rookie Kyle Michalek, made his A/Fuel debut at the 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. Cutting .02 lights in three of four eliminations rounds, Michalek beat Matt Cummings, Randy Meyer, Bill Reichert, and Brandon Booher to win his first-ever TAD national event. High profile bracket racer Mia Tedesco stepped up to TAD in 2014 with Hirata Motorsports, eventually winning the Bowling Green regional and reaching the semifinals at the U.S. Nationals. Young Nostalgia Funny Car driver Cameron Ferre made another step up, driving Larry Miersch's A/Fueler to runner-up finishes at the Mission regional and the Finals at Pomona. Mike Doushgounian won his debut regional race and reached the semis at two national events, driving a Bob Miner-powered, ex-Frank Manzo TAFC. Matt Gill, son of noted east coast TAFC racer Paul Gill, runnered-up at two regionals and won the Gainesville regional.

Mia Tedesco - Nate Van Wagnen photo

Demke, Harker Dominate Maple Grove Weekend
The eventual national champions in both TAD and TAFC, Chris Demke and Steve Harker, displayed their might at the NHRA Nationals held at rural Pennsylvania's Maple Grove Raceway in October. They entered the race knowing three trophies were on the line: the rain-delayed Carolina Nationals Wally, the NHRA Nationals Wally, and the Lucas Oil Series national championship Wally. The national titles were decided on Friday, with Demke beating Bill Reichert and Harker defeating contender Dale Brand in the Carolina Nationals semifinals. The two champs went on to beat Randy Meyer and D.J. Cox, respectively, to win the Charlotte race on Saturday. They completed the sweep on Sunday when Demke beat Duane Shields in the NHRA Nationals TAD final and Harker unleashed a mean 5.429 on John Lombardo Jr. Demke (5.217/277.94 MPH) and Harker (5.429/267.91 MPH) also left with low ET and top speed of the event.

A/Fuel Rule Changes Spark Parity Debate
2014 looked to be an interesting year for Top Alcohol Dragster teams after rule changes for the A/Fuel cars were announced before the 2013 PRI show last December. The nitro-burners would be allowed an extra percent, ten degrees cooler fuel, and an insulated main fuel line. The insulated fuel line was added to the blower car rules later into the season. Drivers and crew chiefs shared their thoughts on the InsideTopAlcohol forums, in the pits, and in this Drag Illustrated round table discussion. Presented without comment, here are a few basic stats from the 2014 season:

A/Fuel: 7 national event wins (Randy Meyer/Shayne Lawson 4, Duane Shields 2, Corey Michalek 1), 16 regional event wins (Rich McPhillips, Jackie Fricke, Bill Reichert, Meyer/Lawson, Shields and Garrett Bateman 2, Jeff Veale, Jared Dreher, Mia Tedesco, and Mike Manners 1), highest national points finish - 3rd (Meyer), Top 10 points finishers - 5, 2 regional championships (Fricke - East and Meyer - Central), quickest run - 5.202 (Johnny Ahten at Seattle and Karl Brounkowski at Houston).

Blown: 9 national event wins (Chris Demke 5, Joey Severance 3, Mike Strasburg 1), 9 regional event wins (Demke 4, Severance 3, Strasburg and Brandon Booher 1), highest national points finish - 1st (Demke), Top 10 points finishers - 5, 2 regional championships (Marty Thacker - North Central and Demke - West), quickest run - 5.217 (Demke at Reading).

Randy Meyer - Megan Meyer photo

Brand New Camaro TAFC Bodies Make Their Debut
The eagerly awaited 2014 Chevrolet Camaro body was released midseason when Jay Blake's Permatex/Follow A Dream team debuted the very first edition with driver Todd Veney at the Maple Grove regional. Jay Payne won the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in his Peak Camaro's debut. Dale Brand was the third Camaro driver, adding a new look to his championship chase at the Carolina Nationals. Impressing in both the looks and performance categories, look for more Camaro bodies to pop up in 2015.

Jay Payne - Nate Van Wagnen photo

First-Time Winners Add to History Books
While not as many 2013 first-time winners (9), 2014 was a good year for new national event champs. Corey Michalek kicked off his TAD career with a win at the Four-Wides. Mike Strasburg made the most of his opportunity to drive the 2013 championship-winning YNot Racing blown alcohol dragster, scoring his first national event Wally at Norwalk. Randy Meyer Racing driver Shayne Lawson won both of his 2014 national events, first winning Topeka then Dallas. In TAFC, former sand racer Nick Januik won his home race, the SummitRacing.com Nationals in Vegas, in just his fifth national event appearance. Former IHRA AFC standout Dale Brand notched his first and only national event win of 2014 at Topeka. Lucas Oil Nationals winner Scott McVey had to wait until the Earlville regional to finish off the job, but his first national event win was followed up with the regional event win the next day.

Corey Michalek - David Smith photo

Taliaferro Walks Away from Gnarly Collision
Top Alcohol Dragster pilot Mark Taliaferro suffered a horrific collision with the retaining wall while racing at the Northwest Nationals near Seattle. Taliaferro went into tire smoke during the second round of eliminations and was unable to recover, ending up in the opposite wall. Opponent Garrett Bateman watched the accident occur in front of him, as he red-lit, smoked the tires and aborted the run. Fortunately Mark walked away without serious injury and returned to competition at the Las Vegas fall race, eventually finishing 9th in national points.

NHRA Footage

 

On-board video from Taliaferro's crash

Driver Blog - Johnny Ahten - TAD

Ahten and family at Disneyland

I can’t believe it’s already the end of 2014! As I write this blog it’s after Christmas and New Year’s is right around the corner. I hope everyone was able to enjoy Christmas and the Holiday Season with family and friends. My wife and I usually host Christmas Eve at our house but this year I was scheduled to be at work, so Monica and the boys came to visit and eat dinner at the fire station. Having grown up in the Fire Department myself, I really don’t know much different. On Christmas morning I came home and was able to have a great day playing with my boys and building Legos.

I have often said that on the West Coast we don’t have much of an offseason. We run the last race and the first race at Pomona. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to sit around. Right now I’m focusing on servicing our Freightliner, the trailer, and of course grinding a mountain of floaters from the last three races of the year. That itself will keep me plenty busy. I always like to strip the car down to the bare chassis and then put it all back together. This is the only way to thoroughly inspect all the wiring, air lines and welds for cracks. My dad is busy freshening the heads and motors. I have plans of replacing most of the aging fuel system with new Aeromotive fittings and hoses. 

I had a lot of people ask me what the heck happened in Pomona with a DNQ. Let me tell you, we ran pretty well in Las Vegas and when we got to Pomona we were trying to put the car into the Golf Course at the top end on Q1. The track had other plans for us and we shook pretty hard at around .6 seconds. This was really early in the run and it kind of surprised us all. It was a little too early in the run so I aborted. We looked at the data and decided to back it down for Q2 to go A to B and that’s what it did. Super lazy and was just too slow. That put us in the corner. We hopped it back up and it ran better but shook at 1.3 seconds. I gave it a slap and the car marched but the motor wasn’t exactly happy. We ran a 5.49 on a 5.47 bump. It just wasn’t our weekend. It was tough to not be able to defend our Finals title, but I was proud of my friend, Larry Miersch, and Cameron Ferre making career numbers and a runner-up finish. Look out for those guys next year.

Ok, I need everyone to watch the 2015 Rose Parade. A few years back my Engine Company crew was awarded The Medal of Valor for our actions on the “Station Fire". As a recipient of this award I was selected to be able to walk in the parade. So keep your eyes peeled!

The next few weeks I’ll hopefully be catching up on the clutch maintenance and will make some cool announcements for 2015. 

Happy New Year Everyone!

Johnny

Johnny Ahten is the driver of the Island Renovations/Combust Filters A/Fuel Dragster. Away from the track, Ahten spends time with his family and serves as a Los Angeles County fire captain. Follow the 2013 NHRA Finals champion on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Australian Steve Ham to Race NHRA TAFC in 2015

Courtesy of Bennie Bishop

Reigning Australian Top Alcohol Champion, Steve Ham has sacrificed the chance to defend his
Australian Top Alcohol title by taking his racing to the United States in 2015.

“It all started after we were going to race selected rounds here and have a holiday in the USA. After seeing John Evanchuk’s package for sale, a few ideas were thrown around. I got in touch with one of our suppliers, Ken at Motorsports Unlimited, about how to base the car etc, and Ken was so keen to help, that now we have struck a partnership in the race operation.”

“Ken is fantastic and we feel very comfortable knowing he can help us with all the unknowns that come with being in another country. We’ve purchased the whole deal from Canadian John Evanchuk in Edmonton, Alberta. The car is a really nice Hadman with a Monte Carlo body in which John won an NHRA event in Seattle in 2012, plus pretty much the whole transporter and inventory and of course the golf cart!”

Ham is entering into the deal one step at a time, beginning his American campaign in bite sizes.

“We’ll leave Australia mid-June to prepare the car in time for the first of three full NHRA meetings at Norwalk on July 2 and then Chicago the next week, and then we go onto Columbus a fortnight later as part of the North-Central NHRA Division series as well.”

“We’re not going over with any stars in our eyes, but really just want to start by ticking off a massive bucket list item and get to see the country a little at the same time. We’ll do some testing as well which we’re really looking forward to.”

“All the boys are very keen but it’s a big deal to take a few months off work just to go racing, so we’re making it as easy as possible for them to come, but not applying any pressure. Ideally we’d love to have them all over but that may not be feasible for some of them. James (Rowland) is the most likely starter, as he will have finished his studies, as well as the reality that we have a great driver/tuner relationship that I think is one of the main reasons behind this year’s success.”

Ham conceded that it had been a tough decision to sacrifice his Australian Top Alcohol championship defense to head overseas, but he believes that the trip could teach them things that may give them an edge in the future when they return.

“It seems stupid to finally get the Australian championship and then run away but we want to be doing this for a long time and this opportunity is just too good to refuse. It just ticks all the boxes and we’re already very excited. I’ve already got my NHRA license after they gave us the nod based on our Australian timing cards and all the other requirements like medicals and the like, so we’re already counting down the days.”

Crowning the 2014 Champions

TAN Original Content
Photos courtesy of David Smith


TAD National Champion - Chris Demke
Three times a runner-up in the last four seasons, Chris Demke was determined to lock down his first NHRA Lucas Oil Series National Championship with team owner Jerry Maddern and the Peen Rite team. A "rollercoaster season" as the California driver described it, started with a powerful win at the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona then fell into a rough patch with early losses and hurt parts. The team regrouped and returned with a vengeance in late spring, picking up a win at the Billings regional. Regional wins at Columbus, Topeka, and Seattle followed, as well as victories at the Route 66 Nationals and 60th U.S. Nationals. Demke's highlight of the year was a rare three-win weekend at the NHRA Nationals in Reading, PA, where Maddern Racing locked up the national championship on Friday, the delayed Carolina Nationals event win on Saturday, and the actual event title on Sunday. Another notable 2014 accomplishment - Demke clocked the fastest blown alcohol speed at Reading, 277.94 MPH.

TAFC National Champion - Steve Harker
All eyes were on the Top Alcohol Funny Car class in 2014, watching to see who would replace 17-time champ Frank Manzo as the class champion at the end of the year. Australian Steve Harker filled the role fittingly, running a season that rivaled the dominating ways of "The Ace". Harker displayed deadly consistency, starting with consecutive wins at the Norwalk national and St. Louis and Bowling Green regionals. He fell in the second round at the U.S. Nationals, but won his next five national events - Charlotte, Dallas, Reading, Las Vegas, and Pomona. As if those wins weren't impressive enough, Harker ran seven 5.4s during late-season eliminations, including a 5.429 in the Reading final. The first non-North American driver to win an NHRA national championship, Harker also swept the potential three-win weekend at Maple Grove.

TAD East Region Champion - Jackie Fricke
Driving the JC Auto Glass/Accelerated Travel A/Fuel dragster, Jackie scored a runner-up at Virginia and regional event wins at Lebanon Valley and Epping to clinch her first TAD regional championship. Fricke's pedalfest win in the Epping final gave her the tie-breaker win over Rich McPhillips, who finished the season with an equal amount of points.

TAFC East Region Champion - Mickey Ferro
The Ryco driver bowed out in the second round of his first four regional events before winning Epping and claiming runner-up at Atco. Ferro clinched the championship by just one point over rookie Matt Gill.

TAD North Central Region Champion - Marty Thacker
While the now four-time regional/divisional champion didn't reach the winner's circle in 2014, Thacker consistently reached the final round, doing so at the Norwalk, Chicago, St. Louis, and Bowling Green regional races.

TAFC North Central Region Champion - Steve Harker

Speed City photo

TAD Central Region Champion - Randy Meyer
Meyer had his hands full this season, between racing his own car, tuning it to two national event wins with driver Shayne Lawson, and fielding a second Randy Meyer Racing entry with Chase Copeland driving. Meyer runnered-up at the Topeka event and won the Earlville regional, resetting the track record in the process. The accomplished driver/tuner/owner also fared well in national competition, winning the Spring Nationals at Houston and the Lucas Oil Nationals completed at the U.S. Nationals for a third place finish in national points.

Megan Meyer photo

TAFC Central Regional Champion - Dale Brand
A favorite to win the national championship for most of the season, Brand locked up the Central Region title with an impressive lead of over 100 points. The former IHRA Alcohol Funny Car standout won three of his five regional events, taking runner-up at the other two. Dale finished No. 2 in national standings with one win, a runner-up and five semifinal appearances.

TAN photo

TAD West Region Champion - Chris Demke

TAFC West Region Champion - Jay Payne
The PEAK-sponsored driver was victorious at the Houston and Billings regional events, also adding a runner-up at Phoenix. On the national level, Payne debuted the second Camaro TAFC body at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals with a win and finished the season third in points.

Shields Looks Back on 2014 Season

Courtesy of Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo courtesy of David Smith/PSA

You know you've had a good career when you win four times and it's almost an off year.

Duane Shields went winless over a dozen mid-season races in 2014 – a full season for most people – but still ended up sixth in the Top Alcohol Dragster national standings with what turned out to be another solid season: five final-round appearances and four wins – two at national events and two at regionals.

"The beginning of the year and the end were good, but the middle took me right out of the championship," says Shields, who topped the national standings at times this season and is in title contention year after year. "We ran out of clutch discs, had to replace them with a different kind, and went into smoke-the-tires mode. We kept backing the car down, thinking we were overpowering the track, and in the end, smoking the tires had nothing to do with the tune-up – it was the discs all along. That's why we went to so many extra races this year – to figure out what the problem was."

No TAD or TAFC team ran more races in 2014 than Shields' 20. He doubled up at Gainesville in in March, taking the rain-delayed Houston regional that was completed Saturday during Gainesville qualifying and the Gatornationals on Sunday. He then went seven months and 12 straight races without getting to a final, low-lighted by a dismal stretch of just two round-wins in eight races, and completely turned it around with four semifinal appearances in the next five races, including back-to-back finals and a third Gainesville win at the East Region closer.

"Drag racing is all about highs and lows, and if the lows weren't so low, the highs wouldn't be so high," says Shields, a former sand-drag racer who's pretty much seen it all in 17 years on the quarter-mile. "I've been humbled a few times over the years, believe me. I went from winning the championship [in 2011] to not hitting my ass the next year or the year after that. I kinda got used to winning at least a couple of races every year, but the problem with winning is that it just makes you want to win more."

For such an up-and-down season, Shields' overall win-loss mark was a more than respectable 26-14. "[Crew chief] Dana [Hopewell] has a tune-up that's easy on parts, and we have a tight maintenance schedule and not much parts destruction," says Shields, who finished in the Top 10 for the eighth time in the past nine years. "You have to have the right parts and the right people or you're never going to get anywhere. It's a team sport, and it takes time to develop a great group of people like this that can win races and give you a car that's always put together right and safe to drive. They're supportive, and you really need that during the down times, which there were plenty of this year. I didn't have any luck at all until I got to Pomona."

At the season-ending NHRA Finals, Shields had, as he puts it, "nothing but luck." He qualified in the bottom half of the field and drew the second-ranked driver in the country, Joey Severance, who had just swept both the regional and national events at Las Vegas, in the first round. "It wasn't looking too good, and you always know Joey's probably going to cut a light on you, but he red-lighted that time [barely, a with -.004 reaction time]," says Shields, who won all four rounds without ever having lane choice.

"The only thing we did at Pomona was go down the track, but sometimes just doing that every time is more important than anything, and when you win that last race of the year, it stays with you and really keeps you going," says Shields, who lives in Las Vegas but regularly competes thousands of miles from home in the East Region. "Drag racing really takes a lot weeks out of your year. Time just goes flying by. Sometimes, I wonder why I ever even got into it in the first place – I'd have tons more money, that's for sure, if I hadn't. I used to go to the lake, go ATVing, do all kinds of stuff. You start racing ... that's over. Sometimes, you sit back and ask yourself, 'I'm spending how much money to run 5.3 seconds?' It's hard to justify the expense, but in racing, running my convenience stores – anything I do, really – I want to win. I'm competitive. I won my first national event [Sonoma in 1999] pretty early in my career, but it took me years to win another one, and every time you win you wonder if it'll ever happen again."

Shields typically doesn't have to wait too long. He was the only driver to win a national event every year from 2002 to 2012, including multiple titles in 2002, when he was runner-up for the national championship, and 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011. And he's won big both ways: in both blown-alcohol and A/Fuel dragsters. He set the national record at 5.26 more than a dozen years ago with a blown alcohol car, but won Indy and a championship on nitro.

"The blown-alcohol car was way more fun to drive, but the expense factor was getting out of control, even 10 years ago," he says. "I was looking at if I was going to even continue racing or not. The A/Fuel combination was out there, but I didn't know much about it. We'd already run 5.20s on alcohol, but everybody kept telling me how much cheaper A/Fuel is once you got it figured out, and they were right. I'd never go back."

So how many years does he have left? "I don't know," Shields says. "It's still fun. I know I'm out here for at least a couple more years with Peak. I keep thinking I'm getting toward the end, but I'm still out here. I know one thing: I wouldn't go to a race if I didn't think I could win. Never have, never will."

Meyer Reviews 2014 Season, 5th Lucas Oil Series Central Region Championship

Courtesy of Randy Meyer Racing

Randy Meyer (RMR photo)

Dec. 3rd, 2014 - The Randy Meyer Racing Team had an eventful season this year with driver Chase Copeland joining the team to pilot their new second A/Fuel Dragster in the Top Alcohol Dragster class to claim first and second in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series (LODRS) Central Region points championship.

Randy Meyer, Shayne Lawson, and Chase teamed up and defeated many tough players in NHRA’s Top Alcohol Dragster ranks, to earn the Randy Meyer Racing Team’s fifth LODRS Central Region championship. The team also earned their seventh NHRA National points series top 10 finish, and the Best Appearing Crew award at their second race of the year in Gainesville, Florida with their Smart Chicken team uniforms. The team now has a total of 13 national event wins, and 20 LODRS event wins.

Randy, who finished third in the nation, won national event races in Houston, Texas for the NHRA Spring Nationals, Brainerd, Minnesota for the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals, and a runner-up finish at the NHRA Carolina Nationals in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also was winner of the Jegs AllStars race in Joliet, Illinois, and won the LODRS race at Earlville, Iowa and runner-up at the Central Regional event at his home track in Topeka, Kansas.

Shayne had his share of the victory lane this year, as he won his first NHRA National event at the Kansas Nationals in Topeka, Kansas and the Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas. Shayne also won the LODRS race at Tulsa, Oklahoma, and set a new personal record as he ran his quickest pass in a Top Alcohol Dragster at 5.25 seconds. Shayne finished 25th in the nation, and 8th in the Central Region.

Chase took on the driving duties, as well as co-crew-chief and co-tuner duties, for the team’s new 2006 Hadman Injected Nitromethane dragster. With struggles along the way, he was able to pilot the car to earn a very close second place in the Central Region behind Randy, and 12th in the nation, with a semifinal finish at the Central Regional race in Topeka, Kansas and runner-up finishes at the LODRS races in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Noble, Oklahoma.

Randy’s two daughters, Megan and Rachel Meyer, who currently compete in the Super Comp class of NHRA, took strides towards their own Top Alcohol Dragster licenses this year. With testing provided at their home track, Heartland Park Topeka, the girls trained to get comfortable with the cars. This year marked Rachel’s first time in an A/Fueler, as she piloted the second dragster, and was able to confidently make the first steps to becoming a licensed NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver.

Megan, piloting Randy’s dragster, completed her first full quarter-mile pass this year with a competitive 5.35 elapsed time at 265 mph. She plans to continue training next year, and will earn her license to take on the possibility of competing in her first Top Alcohol Dragster race as she graduates from college at Pittsburg State University, before taking over the drivers seat for a full-time position beginning in 2016. She is currently looking for potential marketing partners to help her chase her dreams and become the next second generation driver in the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster ranks.

With successes also comes failures and hard times, but Randy will not let the low times get him down. He confidently completed his 35th year of drag racing while building a massively competitive team. Earning the LODRS Central Region Championship, setting track records, and becoming nominated for the 2014 Pro Sportsman Driver and Mechanic of the year are the icing on the cake for him as he travels with his family and dedicated team to each NHRA race, while gaining incredibly supportive and enduring partners along the way.

“2014 was a very good year for the whole Randy Meyer Racing Team, we had a great team effort with adding a second A/Fuel car and new crew members,” said Randy. “It was challenging and rewarding to run both cars and win rounds with the different drivers. I look forward to a great year in 2015 where we can start where we left off. I want to thank all of our sponsors and partners that helped us out this year, as well as all of our crew guys, without them this would not be possible.”

Chase Copeland (RMR photo)

“It was also very exciting and worthwhile to see Megan make her first full pass at Topeka, and to help guide and watch Rachel making her first steps in the other car. The girls are working together well with helping each other become better and more comfortable in the cars, and I know they will have a bright future in the field,” Randy added.

For pictures and videos of the team’s season, visit our Facebook page and find us on YouTube.

 

The RMR Team would like to thank all of their 2014 sponsors and partners:

Lucas Oil, Smart Chicken, NGK Spark Plugs, MOTOR MEDIC, Quik-Latch Products, Copeland Race Cars, Boninfante, Taylor Cable, Belzona Industrial Solutions, Rezner trailers, ARP, MAHLE Clevite, Hedman Hedders, Moroso, Aeroquip, JEGS, Jiffy-Tite, Price Chopper, Reasor's, Schnucks, Brookshire's, John Haley #1 Roofer LLC, and Aeromotive Fuel Systems