Robertson and Eaton TA/FC Team Score First NHRA North Central Region Championship

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

 

HARRISON TWP, Mich. (November 25, 2015) – Todd Robertson and his Eaton Corporation team had little experience with flip-top Funny Cars when they entered NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car competition in 2012. The former Outlaw Pro Mod standout admits he still has a lot to learn, but Robertson has progressed significantly in four years of competition. He kicked off the 2015 season with his first TA/FC win and went on to win the season championship in the NHRA North Central Region.

Robertson started the year with high expectations after reaching the final round at the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in 2014. The Michigan native picked up his first-ever NHRA Wally when he drove his Eaton Monte Carlo to the winner's circle at the season-opening Lucas Oil Series North Central regional event in Indy.

“We left everything pretty much untouched from the year before since we did well at the U.S. Nationals in the fall. That strategy worked out for us. It was a crazy weekend because the parachutes kept going underneath the car, then I had no brakes or parachutes in the final so I ended up in the gravel. The winner's circle photos were taken after we towed the car back and dusted off the body,” Robertson remembers of the exciting weekend.

The Eaton/Aeroquip team continued their success at the next race at Norwalk. Racing in front of a sold-out Summit Motorsports Park crowd, Robertson again raced to the final round, this time falling to west coast sensation Doug Gordon because of an engine failure. Robertson struggled with early round losses at the next three races, but maintained his lead.

“We had the regional points lead all season long,” Robertson said. “After Columbus we shared the points lead with Paul Noakes until we passed him at the next race at St. Louis, where we passed him by only whatever points we received for going through tech inspection. We had issues with the car and didn't qualify.”

Robertson's season picked back up at the Bowling Green event, though. Despite the fact that the Beech Bend Raceway track was new to Todd and his team, led by crew chief Dennis Kolomyjec, the Eaton Top Alcohol Funny Car went on to another final round. Robertson clinched the championship at the Earlville race, where he qualified number two, a career-best qualifying position.

The 2015 NHRA Lucas Oil Series North Central Region championship is a coveted title for Robertson, not just because of the ultra-competitive nature of the class, but also because his team is so new to the class.

“This was our fourth year doing this. We came here with no prior background in alcohol Funny Car. Nobody knew us. We did it with no hired leadership. It's been a great learning experience. To go on and win the regional championship...I don't even dream that big.

“There are a lot of big racers that we race against, a lot of second-generation drivers. I had never even touched an alcohol Funny Car before I bought one four years ago. It's been a whole lot of learning. That's the challenge that I love, learning how to make everything work together. We pretty much do everything from one end of the car to the other; that's the only way to understand and successfully race these things. A lot of time and a lot of energy from a great bunch of people go into this.”

Todd Robertson and the Eaton Corporation/Aeroquip Top Alcohol Funny Car team will celebrate their first championship title at the NHRA North Central awards banquet, December 12, in Indianapolis.

ProPower Motorsports is a NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car team owned by driver Todd Robertson. Based in Harrison Township, Michigan, the team competes in NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series national events and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series regional events throughout the Midwest. The Eaton Corporation-backed driver also receives support from Aeroquip, DMPE, Lucas Oil Products, PAC Springs, Total Seal, CV Products, Safety Kleen, Clevite Bearings, Mike Nabor Fabrication, Line to Line Coatings, and Jax Wax.

Booher Claims First North Central Region TAD Championship

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
Photos courtesy of David Smith

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (November 26) – Racing in just his third full season in the NHRA's quickest and fastest sportsman class, 31-year old Brandon Booher drove his torque converter-equipped Top Alcohol Dragster to three regional event wins to claim his first NHRA North Central Regional championship. Booher's regional title is just one of many high points in a season that included several firsts and accomplishments for the father-son Booher Racing team.

Though Booher won three regional events – Joliet, Cordova, and Columbus – in the middle of summer, he didn't officially clinch the North Central region title until qualifying was complete at the final Lucas Oil series race of the year in Las Vegas earlier this month. Challenger Bill Reichert would’ve taken the points lead with a win at the race.

“If you look at any of the other regions, if you had three wins and two semis you would have such a points lead that it's laughable, and we didn't. That's how tough this region is. We had a few missteps at the two races early in the season, odd parts broke at the last two regionals, and those hurt our chances. Bill Reichert would've gone around us if he won the Noble or Las Vegas races. We were on pins and needles waiting to see how it would shake out,” said Brandon, a former Pro Top Outlaw dragster champion.

Booher's championship season was a result of hard work, a combination of quality parts and pieces, and a strong support system. Brandon knew that a regional championship was possible with this combination, but he didn't expect it to come so early in his TAD career.

“I have always believed in the capabilities of our car, our crew, and the manufacturers who work with us. We didn't perform as well in our previous two seasons mainly because the converter technology hadn't progressed enough. With a few new items added to the car over the offseason, we were able to make the car reach its potential. It's not as simple as changing the converter or camshaft; it did take a lot of time and hard work. It's nice to see it all come to fruition.”

The AB Construction team's success wasn't limited to regional competition. Brandon won his first national event at the NHRA Carlyle Tools Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway in September. Another final round appearance followed at the NHRA Auto-Plus Nationals a month later, running two 5.307s during the course of the event. Booher ultimately finished third in LODRS national points standings.

Considering the season that included so many firsts, career-bests, and accomplishments, Brandon's proudest accomplishment might be surprising – his 275 MPH speed in the second round at the Carolina Nationals. The run ranks in the top five fastest blown alcohol passes. The Booher Racing dragster is now the second-fastest blown alcohol dragster and fastest ever torque converter-equipped car.

“The most impressive thing to me was the 275 MPH with a torque converter. I would even go so far as to say that was the best run of the year in alcohol racing. Big mile per hour like that is an indication of horsepower and a reflection of what my dad and I have been working on. To anyone who thought I was silly for wanting to make this combination work, it was a wake-up call – this is for real,” Brandon said.

As for next year, Brandon is expecting even better performance out of his car.

“I'm just getting started. It's only going to get better from here because I have gobs of data and manufacturers who are excited to work with us. It was a dream year, but I have no intentions of settling. Next year needs to be better; more consistency and better performance. I think that's doable with what we learned this year.”

The driver/tuner is very grateful to the people and companies who made the 2013 season possible.

“You can't have performance without people there to work on it. All of the crew guys, whether they were full-time or just a race or two – Pete, Drew, John, Nate, Ed, and of course my dad, Aaron. 2014 will be our twentieth season racing together. My wife Shannon and my mom also came out and supported us at a lot of races this year.

“On the manufacturer side, I want to thank Ken Juszczyk at Motorsports Unlimited Performance Parts Distributors. Ken always has parts on-hand at the races, which is extremely helpful for a team like ours. Mike Spitzer and everyone at Spitzer Enterprises have been great to work with, ever since I started racing a Spitzer Junior Dragster almost twenty years ago. Goodson Tools and Bell Helmets also provided support.”

Brandon Booher and the AB Construction/Torque Management team expect to run a full schedule in 2014, with the goals of reaching the 5.2s, defending their North Central region championship, and contending for the Lucas Oil Series national championship.

Booher Racing is a Champaign, Illinois-based Top Alcohol Dragster team, competing in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Former Junior Dragster driver Brandon Booher pilots the family-owned AB Construction blown alcohol dragster. The team owns the record for quickest and fastest torque converter-equipped TAD. Booher Racing receives support from Motorsports Unlimited, Spitzer Race Cars, Goodson Tools, Bell Helmets, and Torque Management.

For news and results from Booher Racing, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/booherracing) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/booherracing).

Page Wins East Title in Just Third Season in TAD

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

 

In just his third year in Top Alcohol Dragster, Dan Page topped the wide-open East Region, where six different drivers have won the championship in the past six years (including the Division 1 era) and everybody was in it to the end again.

"People race for years and never win a championship, and we got one," said Page, who built the chassis, the same A/Fueler team owner Arthur Gallant drove to the national championship in 2002. "A lot of people would love to drive this car. Arthur knows what he's doing, and the potential is there to win any race you go to. It's unbelievable to get into something that's run this good for this long with a team that's this good at what they're doing."

Page, whose previous best was in the 5.80s in a blown dragster in New England Dragway's Pro Comp series, got up to speed immediately as an A/Fuel driver, winning the New England Dragway divisional in 2011, his rookie season. He's remained one of the top drivers on the East Coast throughout his three-year career, especially this year, when he emerged from a yearlong battle with John Finke, Rich McPhillips, and Richard Bourke that in the end came down to a single one round.

"The whole year was a blur," Page said of the rugged East Region, where enough cars to fill two Top Alcohol Dragster fields regularly show up for events. "After a while, the races all start to run together. I have to think about it to remember which one we won [Maple Grove] and which one we didn't qualify at [Lebanon Valley]."

Page won Maple Grove on Memorial Day weekend, missed the cut at Lebanon Valley, then rallied for back-to-back final-round appearances at the last two Eastern events, at New England and Cecil County. "We're there to win – that's what it's all about – but any time you get to the final it's a good thing, and we got to three," Page said. "We just struggled with consistency."

Everybody did. A different driver won each of the first four races, and each of them also had at least one DNQ somewhere among those first four. By the end of the year, in what has to be a first, the top nine drivers in the standings all failed to qualify at least once.

"It bounced back and forth so much that we really weren't thinking about winning the championship – at least I wasn't – until the end of the year," said Page, who qualified No. 1 in Richmond but got beat first round, then went to the final at New England despite starting from the bottom half of the field. "Everybody loves to be No. 1 and it's cool to say you did it, but how often does the No. 1 qualifier actually end up winning? We were No. 1 in Virginia this year. Last year, we didn't even qualify there, but when you've got this many cars showing up every time, some really good ones are going to be on the way home before first round. Since they went to the regional format, this is a way tougher deal. I wasn't that surprised that we DNQed once – it could have happened more."

Finke did it twice (Gainesville and Maple Grove) but also won twice (Lebanon Valley and New England) to finish in second place. Seventy points back, in third, fourth, fifth, and six place, respectively, Jackie Fricke, McPhillips, Bourke, and Karen Stalba all were within one point of one another.

Bourke won the Gainesville opener over McPhillips, and Randy Meyer won Richmond over Dan Mercier. At Maple Grove, Page set low e.t. of eliminations (5.32) in the semi's and ran about as quick, 5.34, in the final against Bill Reichert, who had dominated that track for years. Page set low e.t. by a tenth with a 5.42 in the first round at New England Dragway but dropped the final when Finke retook it with a 5.41. At the pivotal Cecil County closer, where Nos. 1 and 2 qualifiers Finke and McPhillips both went out first round, Page took command with his third final-round appearance of the year, setting low e.t. of eliminations (5.43) but slipping to a 5.70 in the final to lose to the No. 8 qualifier, Stalba.

Still eligible for one more regional start, Page and the Gallant team headed to Bowling Green, where they set top speed during qualifying but went out in the first round. The title went back to Massachusetts with Gallant and Page when Finke, racing the same weekend in Topeka, lost in the semi's, but Page isn't sure if he'll be back in the seat next year.

"Somebody else is supposed to be driving," said Page, who's not at liberty to divulge her name. "Either way, I hope it works out for Arthur because he funds this thing himself. Anybody could've driven that car this year. It's not like I saved all these runs, and when it goes down the track all by itself like that, the guy turning the screws is the one who's really making it all happen."

If Page isn't driving next year, he'll be tuning a Pro Mod, possibly one on the NHRA circuit. "One way or another, I'll be out there," he said. "To me, tuning and driving are just as satisfying. I'm not done – just maybe for now. I'm never going away."

 

Williams Wins Central TAFC Title By One Point

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

Running on a fraction of some teams' budgets, Kirk and Chris Williams won the Central Region Top Alcohol Funny Car championship over Kris Hool, 299 to 298. "You never think you're having a good year while you're going through it," Williams said. "Then you look up at the end, and you won the championship."

Williams got it by a single point, so a different outcome in any round anywhere all year, and Hool would have won the title. Both scored twice – Hool at Gainesville in February and late in the year at the rain-delayed Topeka event that was completed in Earlville. Williams won his first regional start of the season, in Denver, and at Earlville for what he considers the biggest win of his long career. Williams' season ended one race later with a semifinal loss in Noble, but Hool, who's been touring the country the past two years, had one race left, the Las Vegas event on the penultimate weekend of the season, where he needed to win one round to take the title.

Williams couldn't bear to watch streaming video of the first round – he thought. "It drives you crazy when your destiny is in someone else's hands," said Williams, who won Division 5 championships in 2010, when he swept all five events, and also in 2002. "I told myself I wasn't going to pay any attention to what was going on out in Vegas because watching it wasn't going to change anything. Then Justin [Jacobsen] texted me that they were about to run first round and I headed for the computer. I had to watch."

While Williams looked on helplessly, the championship was decided in his favor when John Lombardo beat Hool, 5.70 to 5.71. "What a relief," Williams said. "It was a trying year. There are times when you question what you're doing and why you even do this, but in the end it's a lot of fun and it's worth it. When you're out here competing against Bartone and Whiteley and people like that, you know you're not going to beat them a whole lot, but sometimes you can still be a pain. Every once in a while, you can still get 'em."

It may not have seemed that way to Williams, but he was a tough all year, reaching the semifinals five times, never falling in the first round, and winning both of his final-round appearances. The only bobble came at Topeka, where qualifying was slashed to one session. The abbreviated format cost Williams, who had to get off the throttle early on his only attempt and missed the cut at one of the toughest races of the year, with superstars Jay Payne and Tony Bartone, who were on their way to Indy for the U.S. Nationals, in attendance.

That race was postponed a week and completed in Earlville on the same weekend as the U.S. Nationals. Hool won, upsetting Bartone in the final, but Williams was right back in it a couple days later with a holeshot victory over Dale Brand in the final round of the regularly scheduled Earlville race.

"That was the highlight of the year," said Williams, who thanked Lucas Oil for their support all season. "We never could have won the race if not for so many people coming together to loan us parts. I'm talking about outsiders with no vested interest, and there was no, 'You'd better replace it if you hurt it.' It was just, 'Here you go. Take it.' They didn't have to, and they asked for nothing in return. One of the guys, we didn't even know. It was amazing. I mean, how many engines out there can you pull a main cap off of and have it fit right in yours?"

Crew chief Chris Williams and the team, including Terry Brees, Martin Brees, Dan Murphey, and Justin Jacobson, got the car to run low e.t. to that point, 5.75, in a first-round win, and Williams edged Brand on a holeshot in the final, 5.79 to 5.75. In the end, it was enough to take the Central crown by a single point.

Veteran Lance Van Hauen finished third with several late-round finishes, including a runner-up to Lombardo at Tulsa. Mike Bell finished fourth in Vern Moats' car, and Brand made the top five with two runner-ups and a semifinal finish in his only three starts all year.

"The car drove Chris and me nuts at times," Williams said. "It was one of those years, and the motor was never happy. One minute the car would haul ass, and the next it couldn't get out of its own way, and we never really did figure out why during the season. I guess we did just enough, but if everybody hadn't banded together to help us in Earlville, we never would have won this championship."

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Permatex/Follow A Dream Team Wins Historic TAFC East Region Title

Courtesy of Follow A Dream

Marstons Mills, MA –November 16, 2012-Jay Blake's Permatex/Follow A Dream team swept its last two races to win the 2012 East Region Top Alcohol Funny Car championship, overcoming a midseason slump that made the title seem out of reach. Driver Todd Veney qualified No. 1 and set low e.t and top speed en route to victory in Richmond, Va., in April, and closed the regional season with back-to-back wins in Cecil County, Md., and Bowling Green, Ky., both over perennial championship contender Mickey Ferro in the final.

"We weren't even following the points anymore at one point, but there was no chance if we didn't beat leader John Anderika in the semi's at Cecil County," Veney said. "That one and the final against Mickey took us from fourth to first, and winning Bowling Green just about locked it up. It was a total team deal – both times, the crew came up with our best run all weekend in the final."

"This is a perfect example of the power of positive thinking, determination, and teamwork – the things I talk about every day at Follow A Dream," Blake said. "For a long time, it looked like we were out of it, and we end up with three wins, the most we've ever had in a season. To think that we're the first team other than Frank Manzo's and Bob Newberry's in the 32-year history of Top Alcohol Funny Car to win this championship...it's still hard to believe."

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TAFC Rookie Annie Whiteley Dominates the West With Five Wins

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

Shocking everybody, especially herself, rookie Annie Whiteley put together a perfect five-win/425-point season to dominate the West Region, home to the two most prolific Top Alcohol Funny Car drivers other than Frank Manzo – Tony Bartone and Jay Payne – and multiple national event winners Clint Thompson, John Lombardo Jr., Doug Gordon, Steve Gasparrelli, and Brian Hough.

"I don't know how to put words to it," Whiteley said. "Our goals this year were to win a national and a regional race, and we almost got one of them and more than accomplished the other."

Whiteley, whose husband, Jim, won both the national and regional championships this year in Top Alcohol Dragster, was runner-up to Manzo at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd and to Bartone at the Big O Tires Nationals in Las Vegas. In regional competition, she scored five times in a year when no other Alcohol Funny Car driver in any region won more than three.

"The whole thing has just gone so much better than I thought it would," said Whiteley, who won the Tulsa final over Mike Bell, Sonoma over Lombardo, Woodburn over Brian Hough, and both Vegas races over Bartone. "I didn't plan on winning the regional championship my first year out, and I sure didn't think we'd win five races."

Whiteley had yet to win a round as she staged for round one at the first Vegas regional, and by the end of the day she'd stunned Payne in the semifinals and Bartone, who dominates Vegas like no driver in any pro or sportsman class, in the final for her first win. She fell in the semifinals in Denver after qualifying No. 1, then won the last four in a row – Tulsa, Sonoma, Woodburn, and the Vegas closer, setting low e.t. at three of them.

At Tulsa, on the first night run of her young career, Whiteley ran low e.t. in the final to beat Bell, who had just taken over behind the wheel for 15-time Division 5 champ Vern Moats, 5.67 to 5.75. A career-best, track-record 5.508 against Gasparrelli in the Sonoma semi's made her one of the quickest drivers in Alcohol Funny Car history, and a 5.53 in the final took care of Lombardo, who went up in smoke off the line. Whiteley edged Hough, the many-time Division 6 champion, in the Woodburn final in a tight race, 5.60 to 5.63, and set low e.t. of all three rounds. She took down Bartone in the Vegas finale in a rematch of both the spring regional and fall national event finals there with her best run all weekend, 5.57.

Coached by crew chief Roger Bateman, who finished fourth in the country last year driving the same car, Whiteley had one of the great rookie seasons in the history of not just Alcohol Funny Car but any class. She went 16-2 at the regional level and 10-9 at national events for a 26-11 overall record (.703) and scored 582 points to tie Lombardo for fourth in the national standings.

"We were just hoping to maybe make the Top 10 this year," she said. "And here we are in the top five. This whole season was amazing, and I really have to thank Jim and Roger for their coaching and Roger and the Strasburgs for the great work they did all year."

Straight to the Top: Gingles Wins Central Region TAD Title

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

Gord Gingles was as surprised as anyone when he came out of nowhere to win the Central Region championship this year. "It's still hard to believe we finished on top," said Gingles, an unknown from Winnipeg, Man., who had run just a handful of races in Top Alcohol Dragster before 2012.

Randy Meyer was supposed to win. "He had the better car at so many races," Gingles said.

"That car went A to B all the time," Meyer said of Gingles' ride, "The Bull" A/Fuel Dragster owned and tuned by Clif Bakx. "I didn't really know those guys, didn't even know what the driver looked like, but you really have to hand it to them. They did a good job this year."

"Last year, we were in training, just learning the car and procedures. Even qualifying was amazing," Gingles said, though he had no trouble winning rounds, even in the beginning, going to the semifinals at the very first race he entered, the 2011 Division 4 meet at Dallas, and at his other two divisionals last year, Topeka and Earlville. "This year, we wanted to take a run at the top three or four in the region."

He ended up number 1. Running no national events and focusing entirely on the new Lucas Oil regional series, the Canadian team, led by Bakx, crisscrossed the continent on a grueling schedule. Average trip: about 1,000 miles each way.

Gingles put up an 8-5 win-loss mark for the year, flying under the radar until a clutch semifinal win over Meyer at the penultimate race of the season, in Earlville, put him in command for good. Gingles then won the Earlville final over former national event champ Chase Copeland and essentially claimed the championship right there because both he and Meyer bowed out early at their only remaining regional, in Noble, Okla.

Gingles, a 53-year-old former drag bike racer, came to Top Alcohol racing just last year after a single season in Top Dragster. He began his racing career 24 years ago, competing on snowmobiles on ice, and took to the quarter-mile in 2000 with a street bike, followed by a nine-second bike, a Super Comp dragster in 2006 and the Top Dragster in 2010.

After advancing to the semifinals in all three of his divisional starts in 2011, Gingles made it a perfect five for five starting this year at tracks thousands of miles apart – rain-soaked Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis in April and Mission Raceway Park in Mission, B.C., in May. After suffering the first first-round loss of his alcohol career, to James Thompson at Tulsa, Gingles went all the way at Cordova, running 5.30s in every round after qualifying No. 2 and eventually stopping Dennis Drath in the under-the-lights final. From there, it was all or nothing – first round at Topeka, winner at Earlville, first round at Noble – but his two wins and the back-to-back semifinal appearances to open the year added up to 288 points, enough to hold off Meyer by 31.

Meyer, a former AHRA world champion driver and NHRA world champ tuner, had six runner-ups this year, including regional events, national events, and the Jegs Allstars race. He reached at least the semifinals in six of his seven regional starts. Mark Taliaferro won the first race of the regional era at Gainesville in February and finished third in the region despite running just three events. He was runner-up at one of the other two, last month in Noble, Okla. Copeland finished fourth, and Denver runner-up Edwin Schmeeckle was fifth.

"We never really dwelled on the thought of possibly winning the championship," said Gingles, who credited veterans Les Davenport, Larry Miersch, Ken Murray, and Doug Doucette for the team's overnight rise from beginners to regional champions. "When Clif took on this project, he was driven to learn as much as he could, and this year has been an amazing ride. Doing what he did without 10 or 20 years' experience was remarkable."

TAN

Reichert Wins Fourth Straight North Central TAD Title

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

In what would be a career year for most, Bill Reichert clinched a fourth straight North Central championship and at least third place in the national standings. If he stays second, it will be for a Greg Anderson-like seven years in a row, but when you're easily the driver of the decade and still not far removed from five consecutive national championships, nothing less than another one is ever enough.

"Not winning it is definitely a disappointment, but we really wanted this regional championship too," said Reichert, who now has 10 in 20 years driving a Top Alcohol Dragster. "There was a time when this one wasn't looking too likely."

With back-to-back losses in his first two regional starts, Indianapolis and Norwalk, the season got off to a wobbly start. Already out of mulligans under the new points format – best three of five regionals for national points, best five of seven for regional points – Reichert then swept the next three regionals, Maple Grove, Chicago, and Columbus, defeating Duane Shields at Maple Grove, 5.45 to 5.45, upstart Dave Heitzman at Chicago, and veteran Robin Samsel at Columbus.

"The third one, Columbus, was the one we had to have," Reichert said. "That can be a tough place to figure out, but we knew what we had to do." Comfortably ahead in the regional standings and out of races to claim nationally, Reichert's Rislone Engine Treatment team headed to Bowling Green the week before Indy for one reason: to lock up another title. For the first time in five years he didn't win, but a runner-up to East Region champ Rich McPhillips clinched the championship.

"That was one time losing the final wasn't too bad," he said. "You'd look at the track and the weather and know that you should be running .40s, but we were having a hard time running .50s. We were lucky to get out of there with a runner-up."

With 351 points – more than any Top Alcohol Dragster driver in any region – Reichert outscored Norwalk winner Ken Perry by nearly 100. Jared Dreher, who won the Indianapolis event, was third, and many-time Division 3 champs Marty Thacker and Mike Kosky finished fourth and fifth, each surprisingly without an event win.

For Reichert, who won the first divisional he ever entered, the 1992 Division 3 meet at Union Grove, this North Central crown is his first in the regional era, sixth in seven years, and 10^th overall. He also won division titles in 1994, 1998, 2001, and 2004. The only thing better would have been a record sixth national championship. "You have to be realistic about things," he said. "It seems like I'm always getting compared to Frank Manzo, but it's not even close. If we're able to hold off Chris Demke for second, that'll be five firsts and three seconds since 2004, and that's not too bad."

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Mickey Ferro Wins North Central TAFC Championship

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

He's still looking for that elusive first Top Alcohol Funny Car national championship, but Mickey Ferro is number 1 in one of the toughest regions in the country, the North Central, where there are enough 5.50 cars to fill up entire eight-car fields. In five regional starts this year, Ferro reached the final every time, winning two – both on holeshots – and taking runner-up at the other three.

The Stamford, Conn., veteran opened the season with a final-round loss to Kris Hool in February at Gainesville, then won Chicago over yearlong rival Chris Foster and Columbus over upstart Tony Bogolo and wrapped up the title with back-to-back runner-ups on consecutive weekends in August.

"Don't ask me how we did it because the car didn't run as well as it should have a couple of times," Ferro said. "Plus, I had to miss a two races – one because my daughter graduated from college and one because it conflicted with a sponsor's race in Houston – but in the end, we got the job done. Chris is a fierce competitor, and we were fortunate to win it. It came right down to the end, to the last race in Bowling Green, where he qualified first and we qualified last. We had to run each other first round, and if we won it we'd win the championship, and if he won, he probably would have won the championship."

The highlight of Ferro's regional season had to be Chicago, if only because of the strength of the field. The bump was a 5.66, making it one of the fastest fields in regional/divisional history. In addition to the usual Murderer's Row of North Central talent – Foster, Fred Hagen Jr., Andy Bohl, Cassie Simonton, and Ray Drew – Frank Manzo himself was in town. Ferro outran Hagen in the opening round but had to resort to holeshots to win the semifinals over Drew and the final over Foster.

“I was lucky to have good lights that day because both Drew and Foster were running better than we were," said Ferro, whose Columbus win also was a direct result of his great driving – that time after the clutch came out. "Foster overpowered the track in the first round," Ferro said. "He had everybody covered in qualifying. We struggled all weekend, and I was shaking, short-shifting, and way over by the wall a few times." He coasted to a 6.35 at just 187 mph in the final but still got the win on a holeshot when Bogolo, who had upset Foster in the first round, outran him with a 6.23.

Now Ferro, who also has a pair of Division 2 championships on his résumé, turns his attention to the national title. "We still have a shot," he said. "I haven't been thinking about it too much, to be honest, because Frank's going to be awfully hard to catch. I'm more focused on passing Tony Bartone for second, but, mathematically, we still have a chance to do it. Frank has to really screw up, and Bartone does, too, but at least we have a shot."

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