Demke Locks Up TAD Title, Battle Now is for 2nd Place

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

Like 2014 Top Alcohol Funny Car world champ Steve Harker, Top Alcohol Dragster champion Chris Demke was a multi-time championship runner-up who finally won it all with an unbelievable second-half run. Like Harker, he swept Charlotte and Reading in one unforgettable weekend, walking away with three Wallys and turning the 2014 points race into a race for second place.

Demke, who finished second to Bill Reichert in the 2010 standings and to nemesis Jim Whiteley in 2012 and 2013, won a career-high nine races in 2014 – five national events and four regionals. He began the season with a barrage of 5.20s in a Winternationals rout, was gone by the second round at the next five in a row, then raced just once in a three-month span from March to June as rival Joey Severance took control of the class.

Everything changed June 22 at the West regional at Yellowstone Dragstrip in Acton, Mont., when Demke outran Severance, who had lane choice, in the final. Over the next 11 races, Demke's Adam Rhoades-tuned dragster reached nine finals, won eight (including the big one, the U.S. Nationals), and went four-for-four in regional competition, scoring at Acton, Columbus, Seattle, and Topeka to win the West Region championship in a landslide. He won 35 of 38 rounds aboard Jerry Maddern's Peen Rite dragster and his overall season win-loss record was 43-8 after the Reading double, which included the quickest run of his career (5.217) and the fastest run of any blown-alcohol driver's career (277.94 mph).

Severance, son of '70s Pro Comp great Joe Severance, enjoyed an otherwise outstanding season, winning two regional events in three finals and two national events in three finals, including one over Demke at Seattle that seemed crucial at the time. He took the early season lead and was the midseason title favorite after scoring back to back to back at the Phoenix regional, Las Vegas regional, and Las Vegas national.

Severance's championship hopes were dashed by two disastrous DNQs – one at Norwalk, a race Demke skipped, and another at the Topeka regional that Demke eventually won. His focus now turns to locking down second place and fighting off a determined group of challengers led by Kansas veteran Randy Meyer, the top-ranked A/Fuel driver of 2014.

Meyer's team has excelled with three different drivers at the controls this year. Meyer himself has won three times in five finals, including twice at the national level – Houston and Brainerd. In four starts in Meyer's car, Shayne Lawson won three of them, including two national events (Topeka and Dallas) and the Tulsa regional, where he topped teammate Chase Copeland in an all-Randy Meyer Racing final.

Fourth-ranked Rich McPhillips is on pace to tie his highest finish ever in the national standings and a lock for his third Top 10 in a row. The Gatornationals and U.S. Nationals runner-up scored twice on the regional level (at his home tracks, Maple Grove and Atco) and narrowly missed a second East Region championship in three years when he came out on the wrong end of a tiebreaker with Jackie Fricke.

If Reichert hangs onto fifth place, and he probably will, it'll be his 11th Top 5 in a row, unprecedented in Top Alcohol Dragster history. The retiring five-time national champ didn't claim a national event win for the first time in a decade but did rack up a pair of North Central regional victories (Indy and Chicago) and winds up his distinguished career tied with Rick Santos (1997-2001) for the most championships in class history.

2011 national champ Duane Shields emerged victorious three times this year – all in Gainesville, despite the fact that that track hosts only two races, the Gatornationals and an East Regional. He won the rain-delayed Houston regional that was completed at Gainesville, swept that weekend by doubling up at the Gatornationals, and completed his points-earning season earlier this month with a win at the regularly scheduled Gainesville regional. Seventh in the standings with no more races to claim, he'll finish in the Top 10 for the eighth time in nine years.

Fricke, currently ranked number 7, truly had a breakout year in 2014. Runner-up at the East Region opener in Richmond, she drove Joe Cantrell's Tom Conway-tuned A/Fueler to her first NHRA title at the Lebanon Valley regional and scored again at the very next East Region race, at New England Dragway, to open a sizable lead in the East standings that she never relinquished. The many-time IHRA Super Comp national event winner also earned her first semifinal finish in national competition at the 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte.

Without attracting much attention, transplanted Englishman and former World Finals winner Michael Manners quietly holds down eighth place. For him, it's been all or nothing all year. Manners opened his 2014 campaign with seven first-round losses in a row and nine in the first 10 races, but went all the way to the final at the other two, finishing second to Demke at the Route 66 Nationals in Chicago and winning two weeks ago at Noble, Okla.

Mike Strasburg and Mark Taliaferro are still in the Top 10 despite running just seven races this year and being sidelined for months. In an odd twist, neither will compete again in the cars that carried them to Top 10 status. Strasburg, who now is Top Alcohol Funny Car star Annie Whiteley's crew chief, hasn't competed since earning his first national event win at Norwalk in Jim Whiteley's 2013 championship car that has since been sold. Taliaferro, who reached three finals in seven starts with crew chief Norm Grimes, has been out of action since a violent crash in the second round of the Northwest Nationals in Seattle.

Canadian Jeff Veale, rookie Mia Tedesco, and veteran Shawn Cowie sit just outside the current Top 10. Veale, 11th in the standings, completed the finest season of his nine-year driving career in 2014, running in excess of 280 mph numerous times, winning his first NHRA title at Richmond, and becoming the last driver ever to race his friend, Reichert. Tedesco, a heavy hitter in the Super classes completing her first year in an A/Fueler, collected her first alcohol win at the Bowling Green regional at the wheel of Dave Hirata's car and backed it up a week later with a strong semifinal showing at the U.S. Nationals. Cowie, always at his best at Las Vegas, where he's earned three of his career four national event victories, will crack the Top 10 if he qualifies at either Las Vegas or Pomona and will overtake Strasburg for ninth place if he wins a round at either one.

Severance a Slight Favorite for TAD Title at Midseason

Courtesy of Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association

Joey Severance is the leader at the clubhouse in Top Alcohol Dragster this year, the top-ranked driver halfway through the season. Severance, who was in the title hunt right down to the final day of the 2011 season, has three wins in just six starts – back to back to back at the Phoenix regional, Las Vegas regional, and Las Vegas national. The three times he has lost – at the Winternationals, Kansas Nationals, and last week's Acton, Montana regional – he was off the starting line first, twice with reaction times in the teens.

With his nemesis, 2012 and 2013 world champ Jim Whiteley, now retired, this might finally be the year for Chris Demke, who has finished second in the standings in three of the past four seasons. Demke grabbed the early points lead with perhaps the best performance of his career at the Winternationals, where he dominated with a barrage of 5.20s. He stumbled to a first-round loss and four second-round losses in his next five starts but rebounded with a final-round win over Severance last weekend in a battle of the class' top two drivers this year.

Chris Demke - TAN/NVW photo

Right behind them in third place is Duane Shields, who led the standings until last weekend, when Severance appeared in his fourth final of the season and took over the top spot. Shields, who has finished in the Top 5 six times, including 2011, when he won the championship, has two wins but also six first-and second-round losses that could come back to haunt him. He won the rain-delayed Houston regional final and the Gatornationals on the same weekend, but he's been out after the second round in his last four races.

Hovering in fourth place is Bill Reichert, who has finished not just in the Top 10 but in the Top 5 for 10 years in a row and almost certainly will again in 2014. By his lofty standards, it's been a quiet season so far (no national event victories yet), but he's amassed an enviable 11-4 record, back-to-back national event semifinals to open the season, and a pair of regional wins. He reached the semifinals at the Gatornationals and 4-Wide Nationals and won the regionals at Indianapolis and Chicago.

Without attracting much attention, Mike Strasburg has put together a solid season, his first in an alcohol car in more than a dozen years. Driving the dragster Whiteley wheeled to the championship last year, the part-time Top Fuel racer has put up a 9-4 win-loss mark, reached two regional event finals, and won one, two weeks ago in Denver. He's yet to be beaten in the first round and despite not running as many races as other title contenders, still has a solid shot at the title.

Back east, Jackie Fricke is having the finest season of her career. She's a career-high sixth in the national rankings, has two final-round appearances to her credit, and broke through at Lebanon Valley Dragway for her first NHRA win.

Jackie Fricke - David Smith/PSA photo

Seventh-place Mark Taliaferro surprisingly has yet to win a race with championship-winning crew chief Norm Grimes, but it's hardly been a disaster. In just five starts so far in 2014, he's been to the final round three times – at the Las Vegas regional, where he fell to Severance; at the Houston national, where he lost to Randy Meyer; and at the Denver regional, where he lost a close one to Strasburg.

Meyer is in eighth place, but his car is in first. If you add the points from Shayne Lawson's back-to-back wins at the wheel of Meyer's A/Fueler at the Kansas Nationals and the Tulsa regional to Meyer's total of 265, it comes to 435, enough for what would be a 32-point "lead" over Severance. The car is on a three-race win streak, including Meyer's Spring Nationals victory, and Lawson's recent Tulsa win came in an all-Randy Meyer Racing final over Chase Copeland.

Tied for ninth and rounding out the Top 10 are Brandon Booher and Canadian Jeff Veale, who each have a win in five starts this year. Booher, who won four races and the North Central Region championship in his breakout 2013 season, took the Norwalk regional this year and was runner-up at the 4-Wide Nationals. Veale earned his first career NHRA title at the Richmond regional and was runner-up to Fricke at Lebanon Valley.

 

Brandon Booher - TAN/NVW photo

 

2014 Top Alcohol Season Preview

Courtesy of Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association

When 2013 world champs Jim Whiteley and Frank Manzo peeled off their firesuits for the last time late last year at Pomona, the clouds parted for other Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car racers. Whiteley walked away from Top Alcohol Dragster racing after winning back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013, and Manzo retired from Top Alcohol Funny Car competition as the hands-down greatest driver in class history with eight straight championships and 17 in all, a record for any driver in any category.

So who'll win it all in 2014, the most wide-open season in years? The consensus picks are Chris Demke in Top Alcohol Dragster and Annie Whiteley in Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Demke, who finished second in both of Whiteley's championship years, likely would have been the favorite regardless of what happened at the 2014 season opener, but he dominated the Winternationals as much as anyone ever dominated any event, pounding out one 5.2 after another for a wire-to-wire victory and the early points lead. Demke, who earned his first Top 10 finish in 2004, has carried the number 2 in three of the past four years and has won at least one national event every year since his long overdue breakthrough at the 2010 Winternationals – two or more every year until last year, when only Whiteley scored more than once.

It's been four years since Bill Reichert, tied with Rick Santos for the most championships in Top Alcohol Dragster history (five), last won a title, but the class' most prolific active driver can never be counted out – especially now that NHRA decreed that A/Fuel teams are allowed an extra percent of nitro. He's been a Top 5 driver for 10 straight years and put up multiple national event victories every year from 2005 to 2012, so nothing he accomplishes this year could come as a surprise.

Joey Severance, who had a shot at what would have been his first championship right down to the final day of the 2011 season, is poised to have the best season of his career this year. Long established as one of the top leavers in the country, now he and father Joe Sr. have power from Whiteley's YNot Racing stable.

Mark Taliaferro has retained the services of master crew chief Norm Grimes, who led both Santos and Whiteley to multiple titles. The 1997 Mile-High Nationals champ, who has been competitive with both A/Fuel and blown-alcohol combinations since his return to racing in 2010, earned a pair of final-round appearances in 2011, and everything is in place for a career year in 2014.

Also expected to mix it up with the top cars in the country this year are Shawn Cowie, who came back from devastating injuries in a 2011 motorcycle accident to take storybook wins at Woodburn and Seattle, perennial contender Randy Meyer, and the converter car of third-ranked Brandon Booher, by far the class' most improved driver in 2013.

Top Alcohol Funny Car is even more wide-open than Top Alcohol Dragster. Just one active driver – Tony Bartone – has ever won the championship. Every other champion in the class' 34-year history has retired since winning the title: Manzo (1981, 1986, 1997-2003, 2006-2013), Bob Gottschalk (1982), Fred Mandoline (1983), Brad Anderson (1984-85, 1989), Pat Austin (1987-88, 1990-91), Bob Newberry (1992, 2005), Randy Anderson (1993-94), Joe Penland (1995), and Cy Chesterman (2004). Bartone, who won it in 1996, when he famously won 37 rounds in a row, since has finished second four times (1997, 1999, 2011, and 2012). He and crew chief Steve Boggs will miss the first few races of the season and start this spring with a new Murf McKinney-built Monte Carlo that will be replaced by a Camaro body as soon as one becomes available.

Another top contender does have championship experience – just not in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Jay Payne, the 1995 Top Alcohol Dragster champ, has made the Top 10 in each of the past 14 years – every year since he switched from dragsters to Funny Cars in 1999. He's come closer to a championship than anyone who hasn't won it, with second-place finishes in 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2007.

Annie Whiteley and crew chief Roger Bateman are considered by many – including Manzo himself – to be the title favorites for 2014. The wife of outgoing TA/D champ Jim Whiteley has put up back-to-back Top 5 finishes in her only two years in the class, claimed her first national event title last summer in Chicago, appeared in multiple national event finals in both 2012 and 2013, and in just 13 career starts in regional competition has made eight final-round appearances and won all eight.

Second-generation driver John Lombardo finished a career-high second last season and topped the standings as late as September. Now teamed with Rick Jackson, whose car, with Bartone at the wheel, finished second to Manzo the previous two years, Lombardo will be a factor right down to the end. Lombardo's crew chief, Jeff Lirones, recently joined forces with Steve Gasparrelli, a Top 10 player year after year and another who has finished as high as second in the national standings.

With five of 2013's top 12 drivers now tuned by a new crew chief, and now that Manzo has finally, mercifully, abdicated the throne, it could be Top Alcohol Funny Car's most interesting season in years.

2013 Year in Review

2013 was one of the most exciting years of alcohol racing in recent history for a variety of reasons. Presenting some of the top stories from 2013.


Shawn Cowie Returns with Dominating Wins
Returning to the seat after a two-year recovery from a life-threatening motorcycle accident, Shawn Cowie completed the most impressive comeback in drag racing, possibly any sport. Shawn drove his Bill Moore-tuned blown alcohol dragster to the No. 1 qualifying position at the first Woodburn regional, going on to win the race with a final round victory over friendly rival Chris Demke, 5.41 to 5.43. Cowie did it again at the Northwest Nationals, where he qualified No. 4 and defeated Garrett Bateman in the finals.

First-Time Winners
Of the sixteen national event TAD winners, four were first time winners - Gord Gingles, Brandon Booher, Robin Samsel, and Johnny Ahten. Five TAFC drivers received their first big Wallys in 2013 - Dan Pomponio, Jirka Kaplan, Annie Whiteley, Shane Westerfield, and Paul Noakes.

Troy Case photo

 



Rule Changes
Torque converter-equipped cars started the season with a 50-lb weight break, new for 2013. That break was rescinded earlier this month. Also announced earlier this month was an adjustment to the fuel-related limits for A/Fuel cars. The new rules will allow nitro-injected entries to run 95% nitromethane (up 1%), chilled to 40 degrees F (down 10 degrees), through an insulated main fuel line.

Parity Achieved
The Top Alcohol Dragster class saw extremely close competition in 2013, with the blown alcohol and injected nitro cars claiming eight national event wins each. The two combinations are also equal in national Top 10 finishers and regional championships. Season-best performances are also very close - 5.215/275.9 for blown and 5.227/276.58 for A/Fuel. For a complete look at the 2013 parity in TAD, check out Brad Littlefield's comparison for National Dragster.

Manzo and Whiteley go out on top
Eventual national champions Jim Whiteley and Frank Manzo both announced their retirement from Top Alcohol driving late in the season. Whiteley won an outstanding eight of twelve final rounds in 2013, locking up the national title at the Toyota Nationals and the West Region title a week later at the Vegas regional. Manzo started a midseason charge with a win at Brainerd, going on to win Indy, Charlotte2, Las Vegas2, and the Finals at Pomona. He finished the season with a 151-point lead over John Lombardo in the national standings.

New Crop of TAD Drivers
Several new faces joined TAD in 2013 - Rishi Kanick, a Top Dragster driver from Trinidad and Tobago, Jeff Ashwell, who previously drove TAFC, Ashley Sanford, a young sand dragster standout, Kyle Michalek, winner of Champion's Search for a Champion contest, JP Gutierrez, a Top Dragster driver and former nitro crew guy, and Jonathan Pickett, driving his family's blown car. Corey Michalek, Megan Meyer, Sadie Floyd, and Jake Sanders also started or completed the licensing process during the season.

Severance's Save
A broken oil line sent Joey Severance's blown alcohol dragster towards the centerline during eliminations at the AAA Texas Fall Nationals, close to barrel-rolling. The clip of Joey's near miss went viral and made ESPN2 highlight reels for the balance of the season.

Booher, Anderika Win Regional Titles with Converters
Brandon Booher (TAD) and John Anderika (TAFC) continued to show the potential of torque converters in 2013. Booher qualified No. 1 at five regional events, winning three of them. He broke through to win his first national event at the Carolina Nationals at Charlotte, also running one of the fastest blown alcohol speeds in history (275.39). Brandon secured the North Central region TAD title and finished No. 3 in national points. Anderika won two of five finals to win the East Region TAFC title. Jirka Kaplan also experienced success with his automatic TAFC, winning the Topeka national event.

Bartone, Jackson split
National championship contenders Tony Bartone and team owner Rick Jackson decided to go their separate ways towards the middle of the season, leaving Bartone looking for a new ride and Jackson looking for a new driver. Tony and longtime tuner Steve Boggs were back at the Topeka regional with Mickey Ferro's car. Bartone and Ferro shared the driving duties at the remaining races. Jackson finished the season with Von Smith driving at the Vegas and Pomona races.

Lombardo, Jackson Form Alliance
Top 5 driver/team owner John Lombardo Jr. announced an alliance with Rick Jackson Racing during the fall Las Vegas national event. The Jackson-Lombardo Racing team will debut a new Hadman-built Mustang at the 2014 Winternationals, with Lombardo behind the wheel, Jackson making the tuning calls, and primary support coming from NAPA Auto Parts and Lucas Oil. John's 2013 Central Region championship-winning car will be used for displays and appearances in national and regional event markets.

Westerfield Wins First, Whiteley Continues Roll

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

At the AAA Texas FallNationals in Dallas, Shane Westerfield handed Frank Manzo his first final-round loss in nearly eight years to earn his first major Top Alcohol Funny Car victory and Jim Whiteley put the Top Alcohol Dragster championship almost out of reach with his sixth overall win this season.

With increasingly quicker reaction times, Westerfield left on everybody he faced and reeled off one low-5.50 after another, highlighted by a 5.55 to 5.58 final-round decision over Manzo, whose last runner-up was 43 finals ago at the 2006 Winternationals. "That's about the best weekend anybody could have – not because I won but because I ended his streak," Westerfield said. "That's all anybody wanted to talk about."

Manzo had a solid .059 reaction time, but Westerfield, who is getting married next weekend, was even quicker with a .051 and fought his car off the centerline in low gear. "It went right almost immediately," he said. "I thought, 'I might end up hitting something, but no way am I lifting or short-shifting this one.' Just as I was getting really close to the centerline, the shift light finally came on, and I got it back in the groove. I actually thought I lost – I never saw my win-light come on. He wasn't too happy. He was loaded up and out of there in no time."

With the victory, Westerfield, who broke into the Top 10 for the first time last year, is up to second in the national standings, one point ahead of John Lombardo. He qualified his CP-Carrillo entry No. 3 behind Manzo and Annie Whiteley with a 5.54 and ran a career-best 5.52 in the first round to take out Texan Steve Burck, who slowed to a 5.93. From there, it was nothing but Top 5 drivers and side-by-side 5.50s the rest of the way: Lombardo fell in the second round, 5.53 to 5.56; Whiteley lost on a slight holeshot in the semi's, 5.54 to 5.52; and Manzo slipped to a 5.58 to fall short of his 5.55 in the final.

Racing at Dallas for the first time since the 1990s and just the fourth time in his career, Manzo ruled until the semifinals, where he lost lane choice for the final in a 5.55 win over Jay Payne. After qualifying No. 1 with a 5.50 that held up all weekend for low e.t., his 5.60 in the first round took out Ro Yale, who cut a .004 light and anchored the field with a career-best 6-flat – quicker than surprise non-qualifiers Tony Bartone and Brian Hough ran. Manzo then ran a 5.51 in a second-round win over Bryan Brown's engine-blowing 5.98 and edged Payne in a great semifinal race, 5.55 to 5.58.

The rare final-round loss may have ended Manzo's streak, but in just a month he's rocketed from the lower rungs of the Top 10 to a huge lead. With 15 consecutive round-wins and victories at Brainerd, Indy, and Charlotte, he now tops the standings by 85 points and almost certainly will close his incredible career with yet another championship

Jim Whiteley, like Manzo, is the defending national champ, just won Indy, recently announced that this will be his final season, has a commanding points lead, has won an overwhelming percentage of his career finals, and was part of a side-by-side final in Dallas. Unlike Manzo, he won.

Whiteley and Bill Reichert, who have combined to win six of the past seven Top Alcohol Dragster championships, both ran 5.32s in the final. Whiteley got off the mark first, .075 to .089, and ran slightly quicker, 5.322 to 5.327, to persevere by 19-thousandths of a second.

"I can always hear those A/Fuel cars, so I knew he was there somewhere, but I had no idea it was that close," Whiteley said. "We had to take it easy on the motor. The number two main cap was broken completely in two, and we're real fortunate that it survived the run. The crank probably should have come out of it."

Whiteley qualified his YNot Racing Dragster No. 1 with a 5.24 at 274.50 mph (top speed) and made his best run of the season, a 5.23 (low e.t.) in a first-round win over Michael Manners, who was unable to appear. A steady 5.28 took out Monroe Guest in the second round and the first of back-to-back 5.32s was enough against Joey Severance in a semifinal match both were lucky to survive.

Severance got into his own oil, veered into Whiteley's lane, corrected, and slid down the centerline for hundreds of feet on the left tires before miraculously steering back into his lane unscathed. "I saw him coming at me and wondered what was going to happen," Whiteley said. "Then I saw him turn and knew I was OK, but somebody was definitely watching out for him that time."

Running conservatively in the final, Whiteley managed another 5.32 to all but lock up his second straight championship. "I heard some rumors that I need to just qualify in Las Vegas to clinch this, but I'm not sure," he said. "I've been told that if I quit right now, [Chris] Demke would have to win every race for the rest of the year to pass me. [Brandon] Booher has come on here lately, and if he does well at Reading, Vegas, and Pomona, maybe he could take us, so we'll just have to wait and see. I'll miss racing this car next year, but I've done what I wanted to do. We set out to win a championship, and it looks like we might get two."

Severance, Bartone Continue Vegas Dominance

Courtesy of Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association

Top Alcohol Dragster veteran Joey Severance, appearing in his sixth final in eight years at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Tony Bartone, who was in his fifth Top Alcohol Funny Car final in a row there, scored again at the desert supertrack. Severance edged Chris Demke by about a foot, 5.45 to 5.44, for the SummitRacing.com Nationals title, and Bartone nipped emerging star Shane Westerfield, 5.66 to 5.69, for his 37^th career win.

"I don't know what it is about this place, but it's my second-favorite track in the world," said Severance, who is a co-owner of Woodburn Dragstrip. He and Demke actually made their worst runs of eliminations in a final decided by just three-thousandths of a second. Severance, who has countless .00 lights to his credit, got off the mark first with a .057 reaction time and ran a 5.45, and Demke cut a .070 and clocked a 5.44. Demke's Operational Solutions/Peen Rite/801 entry broke a lifter three seconds into the run and eventually kicked a rod.

Demke defeated Jegs Allstars West Region leader Ray Martin in one semifinal matchup, and Severance won the other over Megan McKernan, who had upset Jim Whiteley in round two. Whiteley went up in smoke after qualifying No. 1 for the 15^th time in his career.

Severance and father Joe Severance, a two-time national event winner in the late '70s, qualified No. 3 and took out Johnny Ahten in round one and Garrett Bateman in the HipLink A/Fueler in the quarterfinals. Demke qualified No. 5 on his only attempt and eliminated Ashley Sanford, who made her debut at this event, in round one and Aaron Olivarez in an odd second-round race in which both drivers were affected by Demke's flickering stage light.

Demke now has runner-ups in both national event starts this season, including one to nemesis Whiteley at the Winternationals, and until the final appeared to have his recent parts-attrition problems behind him. "We've blown up some stuff, trying to get better down the road," he said. "If we don't change something, we'll do no better than second place in the points like we did last year."

For the second time in three years, Top Alcohol Funny Car came down to Bartone versus Westerfield, who was in the third final of his young career – all against Bartone. "I'm getting a little tired of it," joked Westerfield, the new national points leader, who now stands 0-5 against Bartone overall.

Bartone, who swept both national events in Las Vegas in each of the past two years, qualified No. 1 and set low e.t. and top speed with a 5.58, 261.47 in the third and final session. He was on the bump until then. "I love this track," he said. "Why don't we run all the races here?" In eliminations, he dropped Hannes Wernhart and Winternationals runner-up Jason Rupert with consistent times of 5.65 and 5.64.

He was vulnerable in the semifinals with a .306 reaction time against Jirka Kaplan, who would have been long gone with a .009, but Kaplan's Bearspaw Petroleum car smoked the tires at the hit. "I haven't done that in years," Bartone said of his double-step. "That guy leaves off of a button [with a trans-brake] and I was trying to cut a light and got caught up in the heat of the moment. But I got the car down the track and we won – that's the important thing."

TAN

McKernan, Lombardo Win Phoenix Regional

Courtesy of Pro Sportsman Association

With a 5.37 in the final round against 2011 championship contender Joey Severance, Megan McKernan earned the first Top Alcohol Dragster victory of her young career at the Lucas Oil Series West Region opener at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix. In Top Alcohol Funny Car, reigning Division 7 champion John Lombardo edged Jay Payne, the driver he battled for the division title all last season, in a close final, 5.64 to 5.68.

"I was a little nervous, but I knew we had a car that could win," said McKernan, driver of Jerry Darien's Truck-Lite/Davco A/Fuel Dragster. "We've had a car capable of winning since the end of last year, and I just wanted to make sure I didn't mess anything up. Jerry told me not to think of it as a final, to think of it as the fifth qualifying session, and it worked."

Severance, known for .00 lights (including two at the Winternationals), got off the mark first, but McKernan took over in the last eighth mile, 5.37, 265 to 5.48, 261. "I noticed him moving out ahead of me somewhere around half-track, but then I blasted past him," she said. "This is a huge relief. Jerry knows I put a lot of pressure on myself and I tend to over-think things. He has confidence in me and says I need to have more confidence in myself, and after this, I do."

Severance reached the final after qualifying on the bump and taking out No. 1 qualifier Chris Demke, who had back-to-back 5.33s in qualifying, in a close race in round one, 5.43 to 5.44. McKernan eliminated Johnny Ahten in round one and singled in the semifinals when Canadian Don St. Arnaud was unable to return.

McKernan, 32, a market-research project manager for SEMA, joins a list of future Top Fuel and Funny Car national event winners who first won races driving Darien's cars: Gary Scelzi, Brandon Bernstein, Morgan Lucas, Frank Pedregon, and Melanie Troxel.

In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Lombardo's NAPA/Lucas Oil Monte Carlo and Payne's Fire Ice Mustang were locked together from the outset, tying for the qualifying lead with identical 5.615s in the opening session. Payne got the No. 1 spot on the basis of his faster speed (260.11 mph to Lombardo's 250.09) and reset low e.t. to 5.612 in a first-round win over Steve Griboski. Payne also had a slightly quicker e.t. (5.64) in his semifinal win over 2003, 2004, and 2008 Phoenix winner Doug Gordon than Lombardo did (5.65) in taking out many-time national event champ Brian Hough in that round, but Lombardo had the edge in the final.

Both drivers had their best reaction times and slowest runs of the event, and Lombardo prevailed, 5.71, 257 to 5.80, 252. It was the second year in a row that Payne was runner-up here. Last year, he qualified in one shot and put together a string of 5.50s before losing in the final to Sean O'Bannon, who drove the same car and had the same crew chief, Jeff Lirones, that Lombardo had this year.

"To me, getting to race somebody like Jay Payne in a final round is what the class is all about," said Lombardo, who won for the fifth time in his three-year career, including the 2009 national event in Dallas. "You've got Doug Gordon and Shane Westerfield and Steve Gasparrelli and Brian Hough -- some of the best racers in the country -- out here in the west. The depth of talent is unbelievable. But Payne, he's up there with Frank Manzo, Mickey Ferro, and Tony Bartone -- the guys who are in the top five in the country year after year after year. To beat somebody like him was a real thrill."

TAN Reader's Choice Awards-TAD Divisional Champion

The Reader's Choice for Crew Chief of the Year is Jerry Maddern, tuner of the Chris Demke-driven Peen-Rite Top Alcohol Dragster.

This is the third week in the Top Alcohol News Reader's Choice Awards. To vote, place your vote on our Facebook wall or tweet it to us on Twitter. If you are not on these social networks, send your vote to us in an email. Another way to vote is the poll on the right side of this website. This week's category is....

2011 Top Alcohol Dragster Divisional Champion of the Year
This award recognizes the reader's choice for the Divisional champion of the year in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. The nominees are below:

Division 1-Karen Stalba
Driving a former Morgan Lucas car, Karen Stalba secured the Division 1 championship with a win at the Epping race, along with back-to-back runner-up finishes at Atco and zMax Dragway. Stalba's only first round loss came at her first race of the season. 33 point lead over #2 Mike Kosky

Division 2-Duane Shields
Also the 2011 National champion, Duane Shields experienced one of his best seasons yet. His first win of the season came at his second race, at Cecil. Other highlights include 3 more wins and a runner-up finish. Shields' performance was not as consistent, with 3 first round losses. 190 point lead over #2 Rich McPhillips

Division 3-Bill Reichert
5-time National champion Bill Reichert secured another Division 3 championship, thanks to 4 wins and a pair of runner-up finishes. Like Stalba, Reichert fell short in round one once. Though he didn't take the National title again, he impressed in D3. 148 point lead over #2 Marty Thacker

Division 4-Mike Manners
Known for his sleek, Spitzer-built "The Shredder" A/Fueler, Mike Manners had a successful season in Division 4 competition. He secured the title with a pair of runner-up finishes, sandwiched in between a set of wins. Manners also won the IHRA Pro Fuel Dragster championship. 64 point lead over #2 James Thompson Jr.

Division 5-Randy Meyer
National Championship tuner Randy Meyer resumed his winning ways in 2011. Acting as team owner, crew chief and driver, Meyer multitasked his way to the championship. Starting off the season with a runner-up finish at Cecil, he went on to win the Great Bend and Cordova races. 32 point lead over #2 Richard Putz

Division 6-Joey Severance
One of the two Blown Alcohol drivers to win a divisional championship this year, Joey Severance used his supercharged bullet to reach the finals of every divisional that he entered. He lost in only two of those final round appearances, out of seven finals. This propelled Joey to a potential National championship, but Duane Shields ultimately took that honor. 105 point lead over #2 Ray Martin

Division 7-Jim Whiteley
The other Blown Alcohol pilot to win a division title, Jim Whiteley began his 2011 campaign for the championship with a runner-up finish at Chandler, Arizona. His performance picked up later in the season, where he won three races along with another runner-up. Whiteley's YNot Racing team will also continue to field an Alcohol Funny Car in 2012 with Annie Whiteley behind the wheel. 42 point lead over #2 Chris Demke

Big O Tires Nationals-Las Vegas Preview

Previous Winners
2010-Jim Whiteley/Mickey Ferro
2009-Shawn Cowie/Daniel Oliver

Car Counts (As of 10-24-11)
TAD-18
TAFC-16

Drivers to Watch

Joey Severance (TAD)- The most potent blown alcohol dragster in 2011, Joey Severance is a good pick to win both the race and the overall national championship. After winning 5 of the 6 division races that he's attended (runner-up at the other) and a win and two runner-up finishes on the national event tour, Severance still has three national events and two divisions that he can claim, while #1 and #2 in points are out of races to claim. A semifinal finish here would secure the championship for Joey.

Roger Bateman (TAFC)- Team driver for Jim Whiteley's Ynot Racing team, Roger Bateman is on a roll heading in to Vegas. Coming off a runner-up at the Dallas national and a win at the Noble divisional, Bateman has potential to win this race. Though he didn't impress in his appearances at this track earlier in the year, he made up for it through 3 overall divisional wins, 2 runner-up finishes, and a national event runner-up later in the year.

Kosky Earns Reading Win, Manzo Takes the Event Win and Locks 2011 Championship

Division 1 Top Alcohol legends Mike Kosky and Frank Manzo ended up on top after a rain-delayed final round at Maple Grove Raceway. Kosky's win was his first at the Pennsylvania track since 1999, while Manzo has won this event every year since 1999, aside from John Bojec winning it last year.

Mike Kosky's path to the Winner's Circle was rather unusual. His first round opponent, Tom Pickett, couldn't get the car into reverse, letting Kosky motor down the 1320 for the round win. Second round opponent Robin Samsel had to get back to Indiana for work before the delayed second round, so Mike got a bye run into the semi finals. Kosky ran 5.33 in the semifinals, against a tire-smoking Duane Shields. In the finals, Kosky would meet up with west coast competitor Joey Severance, who defeated Jared Dreher, John Finke, and Bill Reichert on his way to the money round. Severance's .017 light was enough to give him the holeshot over Kosky's .052, but Mike ran him down, 5.28 to Joey's 5.32.

Frank Manzo is perhaps the most storied racer at the Auto Plus Nationals (formerly Keystone Nationals), having competed at all 27. He continued his winning ways at the cool eastern Pennsylvania track, starting off with a tire smoking battle against Wayne Morris, which "Uncle Frank" won. He then moved on to Round 2, where he got the win when Lou Sgro left the starting line too early. Todd Veney was the next driver to fall victim to The Ace, with Frank's stellar 5.411 topping Veney's tire shaking 11.53. Division 3 standout Andy Bohl would run for the money against Frank, after previous round wins over Dan Roman, D.J. Cox, and John Anderika. Andy would be denied his first national event win, as Manzo backed up his world record pass with another 5.41 rip down the track, over Bohl's still competitve 5.52.

When he defeated Todd Veney in the semi-finals, Frank Manzo locked up the 2011 TAFC National championship. This is the 15th time that Frank will finish in the #1 spot, meaning he'll be tied with John Force for the most NHRA championships. So when The Ace pulls through the waterbox for the first time in 2012, you can bet that (#1 TAFC) will be on the side of his Al-Anabi flopper.

TAD pilot Brandon Booher continued his record-breaking season with his family-owned blown alcohol dragster. His 5.39 pass against Duane Shields in the quarterfinals made him the first driver with a converter-driven race car to break the 5.3x range. Booher's pass reset the record that he already had from Indy, a run where Duane was also in the other lane. Running in the 5.3x range has been a goal of Brandon's since the beginning of last season. Congratulations to Brandon and his dad Aaron on their record-breaking performance!