Story by Phil Hutchison and courtesy of Maple Grove Dragway

Photos by Hutchison and Kubicke

The NHRA Northeast division Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event presented by Penske arrives at Maple Grove Raceway Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 24, 25 and 26. The event, second in the NED for racers to gain valuable Lucas Oil points, will feature Comp Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street. In addition the division’s MXI/Magnaflux Top Sportsman and Top Dragster Series’ presented by Select Performance will make their second stop of the season after the opener at Virginia Motorsports Park in April.

Also on tap for this weekend are the Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car drivers competing at their third stop in the Eastern Region.

Dan Mercier is in #1 coming into Maple Grove

Currently leading in the Top Alcohol Dragster class is Canadian racer and former D1 champ Daniel Mercier followed by Gainesville Regional winner Richard Bourke. This event is historically filled with the best racers in the Top Alcohol class and expect to see over a dozen cars vying for the elite 8 to be run during Saturday’s eliminations.

Pomponio (right lane)  has had his way in 2013

Joining the T/AD will be their fiberglass brethren, the Top Alcohol Funny Cars. Just like the dragsters, this class also features the best of the best with NJ racer Dan Pomponio on a roll winning the NHRA National event in Gainesville and Charlotte along with the Regional events in Gainesville and Richmond VA. Richmond R/U John Anderika is second in the points battle but it is a long season and defending NHRA Lucas champ Frank Manzo has not made the best of the events he has entered.  Expect the Morganville NJ racer along with Todd Veney and Anderika  to give Pomponio a race at the Grove this weekend.

Maple Grove puts on one of the best fireworks show on the East Coast at the Lucas Divisional

And if this was not enough racing action, Maple Grove will once again feature their famous fireworks show after the last pair of cars goes thru the traps Saturday night. And also returning for 2013 is Maple Grove’s $25 a car load admission for Saturday which brings the fans in,well, by  the carload!

Jim Blake and former D1 photographer Dave Bishop

Track manager Lex Dudas (right)  and long time racer Roy Hill share a moment at the Grove

Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from some of the Grove’s Lucas Oil events.

Story and Photos by Phil Hutchison

For more photos of the NED Richmond Lucas Oil Divisional go to: http://division1photos.smugmug.com/2013VirginiaMotorsportsPark

After a rain delay Friday morning, the weather at VMP was nothing but sunshine the rest of the weekend

In a weekend that was only dampened by the rain on Friday, the lid lifting Lucas Oil Series for the NHRA Northeast Division went off without a hitch. Sunny skies were the norm for both Saturday and Sunday with great air and perfect track conditions for the racers. And the place was packed for Saturday’s eliminations as a Virginia National Guard promotion allowed the fans free admission to check out the racing action.

Best Engineered went to Bobby Tag’s new Top Sportsman Pontiac

Best Appearing Car: DJ Cox’s Funny Car

Joe joins the Double Double club at Richmond

Joe Santangelo, known for driving just about anything, took two eliminators at VMP winning Super Stock and Stock Eliminator. Santangelo, no stranger to the winner’s circle, wheeled the Phil Monteith owned Hatari GT/DA ’96 Firebird to a win over James Antonette’s SS/CS ’98 Grand Am in the finals of Super Stock. Santangelo got the better light with a 0.039 to James’ 0.042 and ran right on the 9.65 dial with a 9.654 to Antonette’s breaking out 9.617 (9.63 dial). Low qualifier in Super Stock was the SS/AAA Mustang of Bo Kenney from Manassas VA, as Bo ran a -1.075 under 8.325 for the #1 spot.

Low Qualifier in Super Stock

A few minutes after his Super Stock win, Joe was back to the starting line with the Bud Rowe owned C/SA ’95 Camaro to face David Ficacci from Whippany, N.J in his B/SA ’69 Camaro. Ficacci got a little too antsy on the starting line and left with a -0.024 light giving Santangelo the rare double. Joe still legged it out running a 10.45 on his 10.41 dial.

Two Red Camaros and two great drivers in the finals of Stock and someone had to lose

Winning Competition Eliminator was long time Virginia racer Kevin Houghtaling driving the ’98 Grand Am F/SM of Bobby Duerden. Houghtaling faced the #10 qualifier Pat Ross in the money round and although Ross had a much better light in his F/A Pontiac (a 0.025 to Houghtaling’s later 0.096) Kevin had the power to hold the charging Ohio racer taking the win at VMP.

The finals of Comp had Houghtaling out first and he held on for the win at VMP

Low qualifier in Comp was Lincoln Morehead from Marlboro NY driving Charlie Greco’s D/EA Chevy. Lincoln sped to a 0.798 under 8.022 but during his round 1 race with Kyle Cultrera, rolled the beams ending his weekend early.

After qualifying #1 in Comp, Lincoln Morehead brought up the R’s and the next thing he knew, the car had rolled the lights and it was over.

In Super Comp it was first time/long time racer Randy Midgett from Virginia Beach taking the win over Lucas Oil World Champ Alan Kenny from Kutztown PA. Kenny ran the number with an 8.903 but Midgett had the better light winning with a 8.919.

Randy Midgett took his first every NHRA win in Super Comp at the D1 opener.

The finals of Super Comp

Super Gas went to former Lucas World Champ Ray Sawyer’s Camaro as the veteran defeated former Gatornationals champ Jim Perry in the finals as Perry went to quick in his S-10 truck running a breaking out 9.885 to the Massachusetts racer’s 9.901.

The finals of Super Gas came down to two of the best racers on the East Coast

Eddie Brooks, racing out of the PC Richard and Sons stable, took the Super Street win back to Deer Park New York defeating fellow NY racer Tim Markoglu in the finals as Markoglu left too soon handing the win to Brooks. Brooks would have been hard to beat running a dead on 10.900 with a 0.023 light.

Eddie took his Camaro to the the winner’s circle beating Tim Markoglu in the finals of Super Street

Former D1 Divisional Champ Ryan Onderjko from Roslindale Massachusetts won the MXI/Magnaflux Top Sportsman Presented by Select Performance title in Virginia in his 2012 Camaro defeating the ’68 Camaro of Todd Fontana in the finals. In a battle of the # 1 and 2 qualifiers, Onderjko ran a 6.633 on a 6.60 dial coupled with a great 0.013 light as Fontana didn’t catch the RT he needed losing with a 6.729 on a 6.72 dial but a 0.042 light cost him the win.

The two quickest cars in the field met in the finals of Top Sportsman with Ryan beating Todd for the trophy

Ryan wants to take back the D1 Top Sportsman title in 2013

Best Appearing Crew: The Turner Top Fuel Harley

Winning the MXI/ Magnaflux Top Dragster Presented by Select Performance title was Tommy Cable from Hughesville Md. Tommy, driving the Anthony Bertozzi owned dragster, ran a 0.005 RT aided 7.232 on a 7.22 dial to defeat NJ racer Joe DiPasquale who trailed with a breaking out 6.978 on his 6.98 dial. The win was not Cable’s first at VMP as he won Super Comp in 2012.

Story and Photos by Phil Hutchison

One Big Crowd was on hand to check out the D1 action

After a picture perfect day, the season opening Northeast Divisional ran out of time on Saturday night forcing the event to be completed Sunday April 14. Before the race was stopped for the night, two complete rounds of Sportsman were completed along with the Alcohol Funny Car and Dragster classes being finished along with the Harley series and the Sleds.

Dan over John in the finals of TA/FC

Winning Top Alcohol Funny Car was Dan Pomponio from Berlin NJ as Dan, recent winner the Gatornationals in March, defeated John Anderika from Wyoming PA in the final. Pomponio ran a low ET 5.572 @ 260.06 (Top Speed of the Event) as Anderika popped a blower in a losing effort of 5.802. In addition to winning the event Pomponio got his ticket stamped to be the Jeg’s All-Star rep for D1 at the upcoming event in June at Chicago.

Anderika got the bye to the finals

This makes two in a row for the Pomponio team

Top Alcohol Dragster was a torrid affair with 15 cars on hand attempting to squeeze into the 8-car show. Not making the field were recent Gators winner Rich McPhillips, and D1 hitters Richard Bourke, and Karen Stalba.

The semis of T/AD had Meyer over Page in the first pair

Morris (near lane) had the only blown car in the field and he went to the semis losing to Mercier

But making the elite 8 were:

Rishi Kanick, from of all places, Trinidad and Tobago, recently bought the former A/FD of Sidnei Frigo, after Sidnei decided to go Top Fuel racing. Kanick enlisted the support of Anthony Dicero to get the car from A to B and it has already shown results with a qualifying spot at Richmond. Kanick went out the first round but not without a fight as his run against #1 Qualifier Dan Page featured not one, but two massive wheelstands in a losing effort running a career best 5.568 249.44 to Page’s winning 5.389.

Wheelstand 1

Wheelstand 2

Page lost in the semis to D5 racer Randy Meyer while recent Funny Car switching to dragster driver Wayne Morris lost to Dan Mercier setting up an all A/FD final.

And what a final it was. Under a beautiful Virginia night, Meyer and Mercier left as one with identical reaction times and as header flames cut the evening sky, Meyer pulled ahead for the win running a 5.321 to the Canadian’s close 5.330.

The Richmond D1 race featured for the first time, the Harley Davidson series. Winning the Top Fuel portion was Doug Horne over Chris Streeter in a great side by side final as Horne ran a 6.253 @ 220.76 to Streeter’s close 6.286 222.73.

Top Fuel winner Doug Horne

 John Vickers won the Pro Dragster Harley title with a 7.189 167.88 over a troubled 7.961 162.31 from runner up Dale Niles.

 John Vickers’ team in the winner’s circle at VMP

Ultimax Pro Stock Snowmobile went to the all conquering sled of Brian Pretzel as Pretzel set low ET, was low Qualifier, and ran the table with a 8.225 155.24 as the rest of the field was two tenths behind Pretzel’s sled. Losing in the final to Pretzel was #3 qualifier Gary Schweikert, running a game 8.564 152.35 in the loss.

Eliminations continue Sunday

Sorry for the delay, these are a few images from last months Gators. They are pretty much self explanatory so I will not bore you with captions.

Steve Szupka is going rounds in Stock Eliminator making it to Round 3 for Saturday’s action

Photos and story by Phil Hutchison with thanks to NHRA Communications

It was cold when the alarm clock went off at 6:30 as temperatures in Central Florida dropped into the 30′s overnight. This made for some wild racing on the cold track as more than one driver had to “drive” to keep their car going toward the finish line and not the wall.

Bob Bagley lost to Biondo in Round 1 of Super Stock after getting a terrible light. Peter lost in the next round ending his day in Super Stock

Temperatures started rise before the first Pro session of the day and finally ended up in the low 70′ with  Saturday’s forecast look great with more of the same.

Samantha along with her brother Jason Kenny lost in round 1 of Super Comp

NHRA World Champ Al Kenny won round 1 but went out in the next round

A red light in round 1 ended Josh Eastburn’s weekend

Gary Richard got the front end up a little too much in his Mustang losing in round 1

Brian Martel got thru round 1 but lost in the second round (is there a pattern here?)

Doug Kalitta is #1 in T/F

In the Pro classes, Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders in their categories at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville.

Cruz put the Snap On Toyota in the #1 spot in F/C

In Pro Stock, Mike Edwards (far lane) is pacing the field with a NHRA record 6.473 at a track record 214.31 MPH. Jason Line is currently #3 with a 6.483

Danny Rowe raced to the qualifying lead Friday in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals with a 5.852 second blast at 248.98 mph in the Agave Underground Tequila ’68 Camaro.

Danny Rowe

In the Alcohol classes, D1 racer Dan Page driving Arthur Gallant’s A/FD is #1 with a 5.267 @ 274.55 with D3′s Bill Reichert right behind with a 5.286.

D1′s Dan Page

Bill Reichert’s A/FD

Mike Burns is currently in the #13 spot in T/AD

Karen Stalba improved during Saturday’s second session banging out a 5.443 for 9th position in T/AD

In TA/FC, John Lombardo (near lane) is in the #3 spot with a 5.51 while Todd Veney is in 12th with a 5.732

Nobody buying anything on Thursday, but wait until tomorrow when the fans turn out

Story and Photos by Phil Hutchison

NHRA Division One Starter Carl B looks good in the new Mellow Yellow colors

Thursday Day One of the 44th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville FL.  Drove up from a few days in Clearwater to check out some Grapefruit League action featuring the Phillies and if all bodes well, this weekends NHRA action at the Gators should be one great race. The weather forecast is for sun and temperatures rising into the 70′s by Sunday’s finals.

Yes it is a Super Comp car and no, the car is far from dialed in

Today’s action featured the Sportsman with Super Stock and Stock class eliminations along with the 0.90 classes and Competition Eliminator making up the bulk of the day. In Comp 33 cars reported for duty with the 23 T AA/AM roadster of Rodney Rosenstiel from Pace Florida setting the pace (no pun intended) with a 0.814 under 6.196 to grab the #1 spot.

The run of the day!

Right behind Rodney in the #2 spot was the Vinnie Barone owned D/EA Cavalier with Denver PA driver Kevin Robb behind the wheel. Kevin put the Chevy into the show with a 0.782 under 8.038.

Kevin Robb has Barone’s Chevy in the #2 spot

The weather is going to be chilly for Friday’s am qualifying but the temperatures will rise during the weekend making for one great time in G Ville.. Stay tuned

The finals of  Combo Super Stock featured the tortoise and the hare with the GG/SA Mopar of Art Leong getting a huge advantage against the GT/BA Chevy S-10 of Matt Hoover. Matt ran nearly a second under the index but to no avail as Leong’s 1.225 under 12.595 gave him the Combo win.

Ain’t gonna happen dude

Bubba Linke, in a effort to save gas, pushed his Stocker all the way from the pits to the staging lanes.. it was a fruitless gesture as Bubba lost the C/SA title to Jim Marshall when according to Linke, the motor was too cold and stuttered off the line

Mello Yellow was doing an ad featuring NHRA champ Antron Brown and I happened to stop by for a quick photo op

If the Phillies are going to go anywhere in 2013, Spring Training did not look good

Tommy and Chris D, Josh E and D2 racer Lauren Freer get ready for some action

NED’s Larry W also looks good in the Mello Yellow

Miss Mia from Pittsburgh PA running in Super Comp

Phil Szupka gets his son Steve, ready for his Comp qualifying pass

Don’t ask..strangest apartment complex I ever saw..somewhere in Clearwater

Photos by Phil Hutchison      Story by Phil Hutchison and courtesy of Rob Gibson

The 2013 March Meet at Auto Club Famosa is complete with the finals of the Sportsman classes run on Monday after a weekend of wet and cold weather forced the event to go an additional day. Sunday saw winners crowned in the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories but the late hour and cold temperatures brought the race to a close for the day.

The finals of T/F had Jim Young (near lane) over veteran driver Denver Shutz in close race

Jim Young took home the Top Fuel trophy after beating Denver Schutz in the final on Sunday night. Both cars ran hard in the under the lights as the header flames cut into the sky, but Young reached the stripe in 5.651 @ 269.08 mph to beat Schutz’s losing 5.703 @ 242.15. This is back-to-back wins for the Cropduster team from Salem Wisconsin. Young put the team dragster on the pole with a 5.687  @ 245.18 and ran consistent 5.60’s during eliminations to capture his second in a row at the California track.

The Funny Car final paired off Mark Sanders and Tim Boychuck. Sanders car had been running strong all day, beating veteran big show driver Ron Capps on his way to the finals. Tim didn’t have an easy time getting to the finals either, having to get past the #1 qualifier Jason Rupert in round 2. When the green light came on, both cars took off side by side, but the “Mr. Explosive” car piloted by Sanders broke and his race was over. Tim went 5.81 @ 249 mph while Mark limped through the lights at 15.39.

Funny Car champ Tim Boychuck

Former NHRA Funny Car drivers Tommy Johnson Jr and Cory Lee

Recently restored Chevy Funny Car of John Force was on display

The famed Famoso 1320 looks a little wet after two days of rain

A major storm system going thru the Southern California area has put the 55^th annual Bakersfield March Meet under the gun as far as getting the race in as scheduled.

The iconic Bakersfield sign says it all…wet weather

Friday’s qualifying was washed out and as of Saturday morning, the rain is hanging around making getting down the track impossible. As of 9:00 am on Saturday, the racing is on hold but better weather is on tap for the afternoon.

Breakfast at Zingo’s is part of the Bakersfield experience. Great way to start the day

The schedule will definitely be cut down, as the plan is to complete the race in its entirety by Sunday night. The fuel cars are scheduled to get two time runs today and go right into eliminations Sunday morning. With over 30 Nitro Funny Cars on the premises, and all the other classes needing to get some passes in, racing on Monday may be a reality.

Look for an update later today.

Phil

Photos by Diane Kubicke and Phil Hutchison Story by Phil Hutchison

Lat year’s winners with their Wallys

This Saturday, January 12, marks the annual NHRA Northeast Division Awards Banquet. The banquet will be held at the beautiful Hershey Lodge and Convention Center in Chocolatetown USA, Hershey Pennsylvania.

Mr Bob Frey will be on hand to emcee the show

Returning for 2012, the emcee for the evening’s festivities will be none other than ESPN TV personality Bob Frey. Bob, who recently announced his retirement from the NHRA national event announcing duties, will, as usual, keep the crowd entertained all night with his unique humor and charm.

To the winners go the spoils, or in this case, the Wallys

2012 marked the first year the Alcohol classes were contested in regional events throughout the USA. Division One was one of the hotbeds of the 4 regions with five of the six scheduled Eastern events held in the NED.

Rich McPhillips’ T/AD won the first ever Eastern title

Winning the first ever NHRA Eastern Regional Top Alcohol Dragster title was Phoenixville racer Rich McPhillips in his A/FD.  McPhillips won the region on the strength of his late round finishes and an 11^th hour win at the Bowling Green LODRS late in the season.

Todd Veney had three wins in 2012

Joining McPhillips on the podium will be first time Eastern Region Top Alcohol Funny Car champ, Todd Veney from Indianapolis IN. Veney drove Jay Blake’s “Follow a Dream” Monte Carlo Funny car to wins at Richmond, Cecil, and Bowling Green to distance himself from the #2 finisher. John Anderika.

NHRA Division Sportsman Champs are:

Competition Eliminator – Frank Aragona Jr

Super Stock  - Lincoln Morehead

Stock – Donald Pires

Super Comp and NHRA Lucas World Champ – Al Kenny

Super Gas – Mike Sawyer

Super Street – Chris DePascale

MX Industrial/Magnaflux Top Dragster  – Jason Hoff

MX Industrial/Magnaflux Top Sportsman  – Tony Arcuni Jr

Pro Stock Inc Snowmobile – Ed Armstrong

In addition to awarding the NHRA Division One Sportsman winners, the NHRA Junior Drag Racing League Conference winners from D1 will be recognized along with the 2012 Northeast Division Junior Dragster champs.

The Summit ET Finals winners will also be acknowledged along with the Summit Team champs and Team Spirit awards.

Also on tap for the evening will be the surprise awards that are voted on by the racers and crews themselves. These awards include:

Last year’s Person of the Year, went to Stock racer Bob Bender. Bender (left) is with NED Director Bob Lang

Wrench of the Year

Sponsor of the Year

Track of the Year

Person of the Year

Sportsman Driver of the Year

ET Driver of the Year

And two Hall of Fame Inductees will be announced at the banquet

NorthEastDrag Review.com will be on hand throughout the festivities and will have complete coverage of the NED banquet next week.