Eastern TAD Championship Caps McPhillips' Career Year

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

With a national event victory, four final-round appearances in regional competition, and his first regional/divisional championship in 20 years, Rich McPhillips had the best season of his career in 2012. "I don't even want to think how many times I came in second – a half-dozen, at least," said McPhillips, who won the East Region Top Alcohol Dragster title over Dan Mercier, Duane Shields, Richard Bourke, and John Finke after a yearlong battle in which each driver won just once. McPhillips was runner-up at three of his first four regionals – Gainesville, Richmond, and Lebanon Valley – and pulled ahead with a win in his final regional start of the season, in Bowling Green, Ky., where he hadn't raced since 1991.

"We were pretty confident that if we rolled out of there with a win, we could close the door on a lot of people," he said. "The semifinals against the Canadian [Mercier] was crucial. He had us covered early, and that was probably the whole championship right there."

McPhillips prevailed when Mercier's chute popped out before half-track, then stopped Bill Reichert, who had won the event four years in a row, in a close final, 5.53 to 5.54. When Finke, who bypassed Bowling Green to compete in Topeka, missed the final there and again the following weekend in Earlville, the title was McPhillips'. It's his first since he won the Division 1 Top Alcohol Dragster championship way back in 1992.

"It almost would have taken a miracle for someone to come around us after Bowling Green," McPhillips said, "but I didn't want to jinx it or even talk about it until it was mathematically impossible to lose because in this game you never know. I just about had the division championship wrapped up in 1991 – until Bowling Green. I think all I had to do was qualify. I was No. 6 a week later at Indy, but I DNQed at Bowling Green and Ron Still came around me. That's the last time I ran there, so it crossed my mind when we pulled in there this year."

McPhillips also won the Summer Nationals in Topeka and has a great shot at a top five finish in the national standings. He's currently fourth. "The last time I had a year like this, we were still running a Funny Car," said McPhillips, who with his partner at the time, current AA/FC star Peter Gallen, driving, was a fixture in the Alcohol Funny Car Top 10 in the late 1980s. "This is even more rewarding. To drive the car and be a part of the tune-up is really satisfying. We tune this thing by committee. I'm not one of those guys who shuts the computer off when people walk in the trailer."

McPhillips has been among the top drivers in the country for years, but this tops everything – even 1992, when he won the division championship and finished sixth in the national standings, and 2005, when he won his first national event. "I bought a new car a couple years ago, and it's really made a difference," he said. "The original chassis I started with was front-halved a couple times and back-halved a couple times, but it was my same blown-alcohol car from way back in 1990. Now, I have a chassis purpose-built for this class, the Hadman car Bucky Austin bought before he decided not to go A/Fuel racing. I always had good motor pieces and did fairly well at divisionals, but I'd struggle to step up at national events, and I just got a lot more aggressive this year, right from the beginning. This championship is a real accomplishment, and I take my hat off to guys who've won a bunch of them, because I know how hard this was to do."



McPhillips, Veney Add to Eastern Regional Leads

Courtesy of Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photos courtesy of Steve Fuhrman

 

At Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky., incoming East Region points leader Rich McPhillips won Top Alcohol Dragster at the final North Central regional of 2012, and Todd Veney did likewise in Top Alcohol Funny Car.

McPhillips, who had three runner-up finishes but no wins in regional competition this season, got the best of a classic final against North Central points leader and five-time world champ Bill Reichert, 5.53 to 5.54. McPhillips got the jump at the starting line with a .056 reaction time and had it all the way.

"This still doesn't guarantee anything," said McPhillips, who also won the Summer Nationals at Topeka this year. "We did everything we could by winning this race, but [John] Finke is running good out in Topeka [at the Central Region event that eventually was postponed by rain], and [Duane] Shields and [Richard] Bourke still have multiple races left that they can claim."

McPhillips took a crucial semifinal victory over Lebanon Valley winner Dan Mercier, who climbed to second place in the East Region this weekend, when Mercier's chutes deployed before half-track. McPhillips advanced to his fourth regional final of the season and fifth overall with his worst run all weekend, 5.64, while Mercier dragged the laundry to a 6.70 at 111 mph. Reichert, who had won his previous three regional starts this season and had won this event in each of the past four years, took the other semi over Mike Kosky, who qualified on one shot and ran low e.t. of the first round, 5.38.

Veney won Alcohol Funny Car over a short field, edging Mickey Ferro in a rematch of the previous week's Cecil County final, 5.67 to 5.74. "I'd never beat Mickey until last weekend, so to do it twice in the final was unbelievable," he said. "I really want to thank Jay Blake and Tom Howell for making the car run this well and all the guys who made the sacrifice to fill in for our regular crew when we decided to come here at the last minute."

Veney got around Ray Drew in the opening round in a close race, 5.76 to 5.74. Ferro fought to maintain control en route to a 5.74 in the same round against two-time Division 3 champ Chris Foster in a monumental matchup with major points implications. Foster, who had the North Central lead coming into the event, and Ferro both have two regional victories this season, but Ferro has runner-ups in his other three regional starts and now leads Foster by 52 points.

Top Alcohol Teams Headed for Late-Season Showdown

Courtesy of Will Hanna & Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photos courtesy of David Smith

As the first year of regional competition for Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car teams winds down, championship battles in most regions are only intensifying. The West and Central divisions still have multiple events remaining, but in the East, which wrapped up competition last weekend in Cecil County, Md., and the North Central, which concludes this weekend in Bowling Green, Ky., the situation is growing clearer.

Top Alcohol Dragster in the North Central Region remains the domain of five-time world champ Bill Reichert, who has won his last three regional starts – Maple Grove, Chicago, and Columbus. The only driver with even a remote chance to break his stranglehold is Ken Perry, who won the Norwalk event and has been to just four regionals this year. Odds dictate otherwise, but with a three-race win skein like the one Reichert put together this summer, the Canadian driver could end the season with four wins and a runner-up.

In Top Alcohol Funny Car, perennial contender Mickey Ferro, who has reached the final in all four regional starts this year, winning Chicago and Columbus and finishing second in Gainesville and Cecil County, will clinch the championship with a win this weekend in Bowling Green. Even if current North Central points leader Chris Foster is in the final makes against Ferro and goes on to win an out-of-region event, he'll lose on a tie-breaker (most in-region points).

If Foster wins Bowling Green and Ferro is runner-up, they'll be tied, but Foster will win the tie-breaker. Any scenario in which Foster goes one more round than Ferro this weekend will result in a tie. Ferro has been to just two races in his home region, so he'll have to count whatever points he earns this weekend because drivers must take points from three events in their home region. 

          

Ray Drew, Brian Harvanek, Cassie Simonton, and Paul Noakes still have a mathematical chance at the North Central Alcohol Funny Car title, but each would have to win-out to do it. If Foster makes the final or Ferro the semifinal in Kentucky, all four will be mathematically eliminated.

In the East, which ran its last of five races last weekend, the top five drivers in Top Alcohol Dragster are separated by just 32 points. Rich McPhillips leads second-place Dan Mercier by 11 points, Duane Shields by 22, and both Richard Bourke and John Finke by 32.

Perhaps the most accurate measure of the competitiveness in the East this season is the fact that McPhillips is the only one of those five who hasn't won a regional. Duane Shields took the Eastern opener in Richmond, Va., in April; Reichert scored at Maple Grove Raceway in May; Mercier won at Lebanon Valley Dragway in June; Finke at New England Dragway in July; and Bourke won at Cecil County Dragway last weekend. McPhillips has three runner-ups.

With at least a semifinal appearance in all four of his regional starts, Bourke, the only driver in the top five who hasn't run at least five regionals, has had the best season overall. By just qualifying for one more regional event, he'd tie McPhillips for the points lead even if he lost in the first round.

In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Frank Manzo would be adding to his record for all-time divisional/regional championships if he'd only gone to three events in the Eastern Region. He won both events that he entered, Maple Grove and New England, but drivers are not eligible for title contention unless they run at least three events in the region that they claimed at the start of the season.

Manzo's absence left the door open for other contenders, and Todd Veney, who was fourth entering last weekend's event at Cecil County, passed John Anderika and Eric Lourie for the lead by winning that race. Anderika is second, Paul Gill and D.J. Cox now are tied for fourth, 84 points out of first, and Dan Pomponio, 95 points out of the lead, still has an outside shot.

TAN Fan Blog - Billy Anderson

Photos courtesy of Billy Anderson



Back in June and July, I was able to attend the most recent Eastern Regional events at Lebanon Valley Dragway and New England Dragway.

For the Lebanon Valley event, it was a return to that venue for me.  I had not been since 2004, but after the announcement of the regional system, I vowed that I would go to as many events as I possibly could to support the Alcohol classes.  The change in date this year also helped in my ability to be able to attend the event.

Lebanon Valley (LVD) was awarded a divisional event for the first time in 1994.  It was also the year New England Dragway (NED) returned to the NHRA after a two-year stint with the IHRA.  I believe at the time not returning a divisional to NED was a way of NHRA to “punish” NED for those 2 years under IHRA.  Regardless, in 1995 I attended the event for the first time and was delightfully pleased with the level of competition.

Competitors came from all over the U.S., including the late Darrell Russell from Texas, as well as Michigan powerhouse Bill Reichert.  The racing was close and exciting every year, and the Top Alcohol Funny Car class provided numerous memorable events, from Bob Newberry’s shocking DNQ in 1996, to Craig Gleason’s and Paul Gill’s first divisional event wins.  Throughout the years, LVD played host to a competitive event worthy of any national event, and 2012 was no exception.

While Friday qualifying was under torturous, humid conditions, DJ Cox surprised the TAFC class by claiming the #1 qualifying position with a 5.76, that Gill’s last ditch 5.77 was not able to overcome.  Even more shocking was the inability of Fred Tigges to qualify in the tricky conditions.  The Indy runner-up was sent packing early.  In Top Alcohol Dragster, it was an exciting battle amongst the A/FD’s that was eventually won by Rich McPhillips (5.39) leading a trio of close competitors in Dan Mercier (5.47), Dan Page (5.47) and Richard Bourke (5.54).  Closing out the field was Richard St. Pierre who recorded a breathless 6.54 in the final session after the car headed to the centerline and when St. Pierre corrected, headed towards the wall.  Early parachutes straightened out the car, and he was able to coast into the field.

Saturday eliminations dawned much more manageable weather, though with an 11:30 am round one start time, figuring out the track under direct sunlight would still be a handful. The first pair of TAD round one was the best pair, as Bourke edged hometown favorite John Finke by .002, 5.43 to 5.43.  The only upset of round one was Page, who smoked the tires to allow defending Division One champ Karen Stalba to collect her first round win of a thus far disastrous year.

Paul Gill established himself as the favorite in round one of TAFC with a Low E.T. 5.70, with Eric Lourie second best in a close 5.77-5.80 victory over higher-qualified Todd Veney.

The semi-finals of TAD were relatively one-sided, as McPhillips and Mercier traded blows to advance to the final, lane choice going to Mercier, 5.49 to 5.51. Lourie stayed consistent with a 5.79 defeat of #1 qualifier Cox’s 5.94, while Gill had to pedal after heading towards the wall, allowing Wayne Morris to advance to the final, 5.93-6.00.

The first final was TAD, and unfortunately McPhillips, who was always good for low E.T. in the late ‘90s at this event, redlit and handed the win to Mercier, who legged it through to a 5.51, 258.61.

Lourie continued to improve with a 5.73, 251.35 win over Morris’ 6.04. It was certainly exciting to be back at LVD for their regional, and I hope to be able to fit it into my schedule if possible next year.  The crowd was light both days, but not empty, and the stands on Saturday were scattered about with people from starting line to mid-track.

Going to New England Dragway is always a homecoming for me, and especially after the announcement that the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series would be there in 2013.  I have been to numerous divisionals at NED throughout the ‘80s, but remember best the ones from 1986-1991, so it was very exciting in 2011 when the divisional series returned there twenty years later.

Unlike the prior year when scorching hot temperatures made it virtually unbearable, this year the weather was comfortable, and the racing reflected it. On a very exciting Friday of qualifying, Bourke set the track record to qualify number one with a phenomenal 5.255, 270.48.  Veteran Ken Winward recorded a career best 5.432, 263.67 on the opening pass of qualifying as well.  In TAFC, local favorite Gill took the track record at 5.558 over Frank Manzo’s 5.581.  Unfortunately, defending event champion Stalba’s nightmare year continue when she failed to qualify, smoking the tires on both qualifying attempts, which were ironically separated by .002 seconds, 11.347 and 11.345.

Prior to Saturday evening’s eliminations, which were run in front of a virtually capacity crowd, the track was dragged but not sprayed.  Not sure if that led to any issues, but 3 of the local teams (Lourie, Tigges who fouled, and Veney) were gone after round one.  The only one to survive was Gill, who was lucky.  After a crowd pleasing burnout where he was under power until the 400 foot mark, Gill shook and launched into a wheelstand and had to pedal.  Luckily for him, opponent Morris hit the center 660-foot cube and was disqualified.

In round one of TAD, Bourke backed up his qualifying run with a blistering 5.277, 266.00 as Page, Finke and Bourke also advanced.  Finke beat defending Lucas Oil champion Duane Shields in his matchup.

For the semi-finals, John Anderika advanced past Paul Gill by .0063 on a holeshot, 5.716 to 5.709.  This, despite the fact that Gill shook and had to pedal the throttle.  On the other side of the ladder, Manzo advanced past Dan Pomponio easily with 5.571, 261.52, which was a new track speed record.

In TAD, Finke and McPhillips put on a great race where Finke edged ahead, 5.337 to 5.361.  Meanwhile Bourke came back to the pack with a 5.405 to 5.475 win over Page, who blasted to a thundering 270.10 speed.

In the finals, Manzo had to drive around Anderika’s holeshot by .0076 seconds, 5.601, 259.11 to 5.695, 251.81.  This not only defended his win from the year before, but also his win at the last event before that in 1991.Finke, meanwhile, returned to the winner’s circle with a 5.360 win over Bourke’s 5.485.

All in all, a fantastic race at New England Dragyway that has everyone chomping at the bit to see what the Full Throttle cars will do next year.

Reichert, Manzo Continue Maple Grove Dominance

Courtesy of the Pro Sportsman Association/Todd Veney

Many-time world champions Bill Reichert and Frank Manzo won the Eastern regional event at Maple Grove Raceway, each for the fourth time in five years. Reichert edged reigning event and world champ Duane Shields in a photo-finish final in Top Alcohol Dragster, 5.452 to 5.457, and Manzo stopped old rival Paul Gill in a trouble-plagued Top Alcohol Funny Car final, 5.83 to 6.07.

Reichert, who also won this race in 2008, 2009, and 2010, edged Shields in perhaps the best round of any race in any class all year. Shields moved first by a thousandth of a second, .050 to .051, and Reichert was quicker by five-thousandths, 5.452 to 5.457, for a four-thousandths margin of victory.

Reichert qualified just sixth in the field and drew the hottest driver in the country, Topeka winner Rich McPhillips, in the first round but advanced with a 5.49 when McPhillips launched into a wheelstand, smoked the tires upon his return to earth, and shut off. In the semifinals, Reichert took out former Division 1 champ John Finke, 5.42 to 5.57.

Shields, who defeated Dan Mercier in last year's final, won a close one over Dan Page in the first round, 5.42 to 5.45, and topped surprise No.1 qualifier Richard Bourke, who qualified on top for the first time in seven years, in the semi's, 5.40 to 5.55.

In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Manzo made the two quickest runs of the event in qualifying, back-to-back 5.61s, but, like everyone else, struggled with the conditions in eliminations. Following a consistent 5.65 in the first round against Fred Tigges, Manzo shut down to a 9-second time in the semifinals but advanced when recent Norwalk runner-up John Anderika's car refused to go into reverse after the burnout.

"There was nothing wrong with the track," said Manzo, who has won the Maple Grove event 19 times - more than any driver in any class at any race in Lucas Oil Series history. "Right now, I just have no window with the clutch, period. If I leave 50 rpm different from the run before, it doesn't go. I don't know what the problem is. It was fine in testing and stable in the first round, but whatever's been wrong with this car all year is still wrong."

Gill had the most consistent car all weekend. He was the only driver other than Manzo to run in the 5.60s, with a 5.64 and a 5.67 in qualifying and another 5.64 and another 5.67 in eliminations. His 5.67 in the opening round took out 2012 Jegs Allstars rep Eric Lourie, who shut off, and a 5.64 (low e.t. of eliminations) in the semi's dropped Dan Pomponio's 5.90.

In the final, anything close to what he'd been running would have been enough to take out the vulnerable Manzo, but Gill had even bigger problems and slipped to a 6.07 at just 206 mph.

"I was lucky," Manzo admitted. "I had to pedal it twice. As soon as the car started shaking, I thought I was done because Paul hadn't made a bad run all weekend. I figured he'd run a 5.62 or another .64, but he never came around me."

Photos by David Smith