Foster wins second Division 3 Championship

Courtesy of Will Hanna/Pro Race Communications

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- While there were definitely some up's and down's along the way, Chris Foster and the Foster Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team were able to score their second NHRA Division 3 Championship in 2011. A strong scorecard of three wins and two runner-ups were able to place the team 9th in national points standings, their second top-ten finish in NHRA competition.

In contrast to their 2009 Championship where they won by winning their last race of the year in late October to clinch the championship, Foster and his Will Hanna led team wrapped up the title in August this season.

The team debuted a new 2011 Mustang body on their Brad Hadman chassis and started the year with a win at the Division 4 event in Houston. After their strong debut, the team struggled to find traction at the Division 3 opener in Indianapolis, smoking the tires on each run in qualifying and failing to make the show. The team bounced back by reaching the final of their next three Division 3 events. They posted a runner-up finish at the Joliet event, won the Norwalk event, and another runner-up at the Columbus event. The team clinched the championship with a semifinal finish in Bowling Green, but traveled to the final Division 4 event in Houston due to sponsor commitment, and book-ended the year with another win.

"This year really was a team effort," said Foster, the Davenport, Iowa, native. "There were a couple of races where Will had to be in Europe and was tuning the car over the phone. I normally focus on servicing the car between rounds and Will concentrates on the tune-up. We had to shuffle some responsibilities around so I could be his eyes and ears, going over computer data, reading plugs, bearings and things. We all stepped up and got the job done again.

"Needless to say this was a great year for the team," Foster continued. "We finished second in Division 4 last year. While that's not a terrible year, once you win the Championship; you're not satisfied with anything else. We bounced back big time this year. We figured out our problems last year towards the end of the year and started going in the right direction. We started the year out with a win in Houston. Just like in a football game, we scored first and put the pressure on the rest of the field."

As good as the year was Hanna feels changes made at the final race of the season will give Foster a more consisten race car in 2012.

"We had the car going in the right direction towards the end of last season," stated Hanna. "As we developed the combination, it was just more and more of an animal early in the run. If we hit it right and got it hooked up or got on a good starting line, it would fly down low. As the tracks got warmer, we struggled at times to find the right set up to get it off the line without smoking the tires.

"Once we had the championship clinched, we tried a few new things at the last race of the year," explained Hanna. "Without going into great detail, we are very excited about hitting the track again next year."

Foster and team will be displaying the car in the Goodridge Hoses & Fittings booth at the upcoming International Motorsports Industry Show in Indianapolis, Dec. 8-10. The NHRA Division 3 Awards Banquet will cap off the weekend that Saturday night.

"We're honored that Goodridge invited us to display our car at such a big event," said Foster. "It's a nice way to end a great season. I'm really proud of what we achieved as a team this year; I had a great crew behind me all year. My dad John, my step-dad Dwight Baxter, Will, David McDermott, JB Hudson, Kevin Newburgh, Chad Baker, Rick Hanna and Bruce Meyer all performed flawlessly, no matter what the situation was. I also had a great group of sponsors behind us this season in Goodridge Hose and Fittings, DragRaceHose.com, Motorsports Unlimited, Noonan Race Engineering X-1 Cylinder Heads, RBS Superchargers, Morel Lifters, Manton Rockerarms, Red Line Oil, Victory Valves, Ace Clutch Discs, Flatout Gaskets, InsideTopAlcohol.com, GRP Connecting Rods, Hoosier Racing Tires and Track Tamer Engines. Racing at this level wouldn't be possible without their support."

While it's been over a month since their last race and there is still a couple of months left before their first outing, Foster is quick to point out the word 'offseason' is a misnomer.

"We have been very busy since the last race," cited Foster. "Between getting parts on the car recertified and getting the car shined up for the show, it's been a busy few weeks. Once we're done with the show and we can tear the car down to a bare chassis, there will be plenty more work to do. There's never much of a break over the winter. Usually you work until late on the night before you're heading out for the first race.

Find out more about Foster Racing's group of marketing partners at these website below:

Goodridge.net - Push the Limits with Goodridge Hoses & Fittings
DragRaceHose.com - Sportsman drag racer Will Hanna's DragRaceHose.com is your one stop shop for all your hose and fittings needs "Crimpin' ain't Easy"

NoonanRaceEngineering.com.au - Find out more about the cylinder head champions like Chris Foster and Frankie Taylor use - the X-1.

RBSSuperchargers.com - Check out RBS' complete line of new and used supercharger, fuel injection and blower drive accessories.

MantonRockerarms.com - Stiffer valve train and improved geometry equals more horsepower.

RedLineOil.com - Champions like Chris Foster rely on Red Line Oil. Find out more about their complete line of synthetic lubricants for your racing and street applications.

TitaniumValve.com - Performance and reliability in the valvetrain are a must to win championships, that's why Chris Foster relies on Victory Valves.

GRPConRods.com Find out more about GRP's complete line of high-quality aluminum rods.

Ace-Mfg.com - For performance and consistency, turn to Ace Clutch Discs.

HoosierRacingTire.com - Champions like Chris Foster trust Hoosier Racing Tires to get their horsepower to the ground!

Flatoutgroup.com - Foster Racing trust Flatout Gaskets for all of their engine sealing needs!

TrackTamerEngines.com - Foster Racing trusts "The Professor" Larry Goldbeck of Track Tamer Engines for all of their automotive machining needs.

Courtesy of Robert Grice, Extreme Photography



TAN Driver Blog-Marie Ferriolo-TAFC

First off I would like to extend my congratulations to all of the Top Alcohol and A-Fuel winners in each division and at the national level, especially Frank Manzo and Karen Stalba (go Division 1 woo!!). I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and ate every piece of pumpkin pie because wasting tasty dessert should be a felony. I'm a huge fan of jellied cranberry sauce -- if it doesn't look like an aluminum can when served it shouldn't be on the table, that's my opinion. I would also like to give a shout out to Brad Littlefield and thank him for the opportunity to write something for National Dragster --I was totally honored!

2011 was a season of firsts for me -- lots of things learned for the first time, lots of things put on the car for the first time, and it was the first season we didn't cause severe damage to a motor (YAAAAY!!). There are a few things I'd like to repeat next year: qualifying, good burnouts, and having fun with friends. My performance at the Maple Grove national can willingly go unrepeated, thank you very much. The only cones I wish to see that closely next summer will be topped with two scoops of ice cream haha. Ah the learning continues!

I'm gearing up for the winter holidays at work -- lots of Christmas and Hanukkah themes to get my patients ready which includes holiday scrub top and matching festive footwear!! It's interesting to see how children evolve during the holidays, with everything from the songs they want to sing to the books they want to read, to what motivates them in conversation and what foods they want to eat. My patients continue to amaze me every day and I can't help but love going to work just to be inspired by them...even when they are repeating what their parents have said the night before -- sometimes the message is jumbled or they'll use jargon language, but you still get the, may it be embarrassing, point (Santa is not the only one with a red nose then haha!!).

I did a small photoshoot a few weekends ago and when I put on my firesuit it smelled like sweaty feet, probably because it was stuffed in a bag with my driving shoes. I aired it out and now it's safely stored away with my helmet and other driving equipment. I spent so much time this season mentally preparing myself for the next race there's a part of my brain which, I'm assuming, has gone into off-season hibernation.

The only things I'm focusing on right now are keeping up with an exercise routine, not going overboard on the holiday sales and catching up on gossip. There have certainly been a lot of rumors flying around about the changes in Top Fuel and some of them have actually come true.

Along with that, and more importantly I might add ;-) are the changes in Alcohol. It's hard to accept some of these changes and imagine what life in Alcohol will be, but part of that is due to the fact that I still call the national event at Maple Grove "The Keystones". Regionals vs. Divisionals...everyone has expressed their opinion and I'm not going to lie -- I'll probably always state "I'm in Division 1" first because it's a habit. I'll adapt I guess.

I'm very grateful to still be racing out of New Jersey because our team is still centrally located for most of our regions races. It was shocking for me to see Atco and Englishtown had withdrawn from our schedule in 2012. I'm sure the track owners had a justifiable reason to exclude our classes from the regionals and national next year but I can't help but wonder....in 2012, where's this New Jersey girl to call a home (track)?


Marie Ferriolo is the driver of the Division 1-based Ferriolo Motorsports Top Alcohol Funny Car. You can follow her on Twitter at @MarieFerriolo.