The stars of NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car didn't disappoint in 2014, with record-breaking numbers, dominating performances, a cast of diverse characters new and old, and exciting storylines throughout the Lucas Oil Series season. In no particular order, here are a few of the notable headlines and stories from 2014.
5x TAD National Champion Reichert Retires as Driver/Owner
During the 60th running of the U.S. Nationals, a race he won three times, Bill Reichert announced he would retire as a driver following the NHRA Nationals at Reading. The Michigan driver was winless on the national level this year, but won two North Central Region races and posted a 5th place finish in national points. Reichert's legendary driving career spans two decades, in which he won 28 national events, 54 regional/divisional events, five national championships, and nine divisional championships. His retirement announcement hinted that he might serve as a crew chief in 2015 should the right opportunity arise.
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| Bill Reichert - Nate Van Wagnen photo |
Rookie drivers debut with winning performances
The alcohol categories had a standout rookie class in 2014. Corey Michalek, brother of 2013 TAD rookie Kyle Michalek, made his A/Fuel debut at the 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. Cutting .02 lights in three of four eliminations rounds, Michalek beat Matt Cummings, Randy Meyer, Bill Reichert, and Brandon Booher to win his first-ever TAD national event. High profile bracket racer Mia Tedesco stepped up to TAD in 2014 with Hirata Motorsports, eventually winning the Bowling Green regional and reaching the semifinals at the U.S. Nationals. Young Nostalgia Funny Car driver Cameron Ferre made another step up, driving Larry Miersch's A/Fueler to runner-up finishes at the Mission regional and the Finals at Pomona. Mike Doushgounian won his debut regional race and reached the semis at two national events, driving a Bob Miner-powered, ex-Frank Manzo TAFC. Matt Gill, son of noted east coast TAFC racer Paul Gill, runnered-up at two regionals and won the Gainesville regional.
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| Mia Tedesco - Nate Van Wagnen photo |
Demke, Harker Dominate Maple Grove Weekend
The eventual national champions in both TAD and TAFC, Chris Demke and Steve Harker, displayed their might at the NHRA Nationals held at rural Pennsylvania's Maple Grove Raceway in October. They entered the race knowing three trophies were on the line: the rain-delayed Carolina Nationals Wally, the NHRA Nationals Wally, and the Lucas Oil Series national championship Wally. The national titles were decided on Friday, with Demke beating Bill Reichert and Harker defeating contender Dale Brand in the Carolina Nationals semifinals. The two champs went on to beat Randy Meyer and D.J. Cox, respectively, to win the Charlotte race on Saturday. They completed the sweep on Sunday when Demke beat Duane Shields in the NHRA Nationals TAD final and Harker unleashed a mean 5.429 on John Lombardo Jr. Demke (5.217/277.94 MPH) and Harker (5.429/267.91 MPH) also left with low ET and top speed of the event.
A/Fuel Rule Changes Spark Parity Debate
2014 looked to be an interesting year for Top Alcohol Dragster teams after rule changes for the A/Fuel cars were announced before the 2013 PRI show last December. The nitro-burners would be allowed an extra percent, ten degrees cooler fuel, and an insulated main fuel line. The insulated fuel line was added to the blower car rules later into the season. Drivers and crew chiefs shared their thoughts on the InsideTopAlcohol forums, in the pits, and in this Drag Illustrated round table discussion. Presented without comment, here are a few basic stats from the 2014 season:
A/Fuel: 7 national event wins (Randy Meyer/Shayne Lawson 4, Duane Shields 2, Corey Michalek 1), 16 regional event wins (Rich McPhillips, Jackie Fricke, Bill Reichert, Meyer/Lawson, Shields and Garrett Bateman 2, Jeff Veale, Jared Dreher, Mia Tedesco, and Mike Manners 1), highest national points finish - 3rd (Meyer), Top 10 points finishers - 5, 2 regional championships (Fricke - East and Meyer - Central), quickest run - 5.202 (Johnny Ahten at Seattle and Karl Brounkowski at Houston).
Blown: 9 national event wins (Chris Demke 5, Joey Severance 3, Mike Strasburg 1), 9 regional event wins (Demke 4, Severance 3, Strasburg and Brandon Booher 1), highest national points finish - 1st (Demke), Top 10 points finishers - 5, 2 regional championships (Marty Thacker - North Central and Demke - West), quickest run - 5.217 (Demke at Reading).
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| Randy Meyer - Megan Meyer photo |
Brand New Camaro TAFC Bodies Make Their Debut
The eagerly awaited 2014 Chevrolet Camaro body was released midseason when Jay Blake's Permatex/Follow A Dream team debuted the very first edition with driver Todd Veney at the Maple Grove regional. Jay Payne won the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in his Peak Camaro's debut. Dale Brand was the third Camaro driver, adding a new look to his championship chase at the Carolina Nationals. Impressing in both the looks and performance categories, look for more Camaro bodies to pop up in 2015.
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| Jay Payne - Nate Van Wagnen photo |
First-Time Winners Add to History Books
While not as many 2013 first-time winners (9), 2014 was a good year for new national event champs. Corey Michalek kicked off his TAD career with a win at the Four-Wides. Mike Strasburg made the most of his opportunity to drive the 2013 championship-winning YNot Racing blown alcohol dragster, scoring his first national event Wally at Norwalk. Randy Meyer Racing driver Shayne Lawson won both of his 2014 national events, first winning Topeka then Dallas. In TAFC, former sand racer Nick Januik won his home race, the SummitRacing.com Nationals in Vegas, in just his fifth national event appearance. Former IHRA AFC standout Dale Brand notched his first and only national event win of 2014 at Topeka. Lucas Oil Nationals winner Scott McVey had to wait until the Earlville regional to finish off the job, but his first national event win was followed up with the regional event win the next day.
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| Corey Michalek - David Smith photo |
Taliaferro Walks Away from Gnarly Collision
Top Alcohol Dragster pilot Mark Taliaferro suffered a horrific collision with the retaining wall while racing at the Northwest Nationals near Seattle. Taliaferro went into tire smoke during the second round of eliminations and was unable to recover, ending up in the opposite wall. Opponent Garrett Bateman watched the accident occur in front of him, as he red-lit, smoked the tires and aborted the run. Fortunately Mark walked away without serious injury and returned to competition at the Las Vegas fall race, eventually finishing 9th in national points.
NHRA Footage
On-board video from Taliaferro's crash
