Story By NHRA D1 Photographer Phil Hutchison and NHRA Communications   Photos by David Smith

Division 7, the Pacific Division, took their first ever NHRA Jeg’s Allstars race base in the strength of Chris Demke winning Top Alcohol Dragster, Aaron Kinard’s win in Super Comp. The final tally went to a tiebreaker with Division 2.

The NED looked great in their new style shirts at the Driver Introduction

Division One finished out the money with unfortunate first round loses.

All looked good before a disastrous first round

Reigning Lucas World Champ Frank Manzo from Morganville NJ was the lone D1 winner beating Connecticut racer Mickey Ferro in the finals of Top Alcohol Funny Car. Manzo ran a 5.581 to Ferro’s 5.613. Earlier, Manzo defeated D7’s John Lombardo and Idaho racer Chris Foster to get to the final round. Ferro beat Tony Bartone and D1 blocker Eric Lourie to get his ticket to the finals.

To no one’s surprise, reigning Lucas World Champ Frank Manzo won his 10th Jeg’s event. Here Manzo defeats Idaho racer Chris Foster in R1

The only other D1 racer to make a final round appearance was Super Stock racer Joe Santangelo losing to Jerry Emmons in the finals as Santangelo ran under his dial (10.336, 10.36 dial) giving the win to Emmons.

2011 Stock World Champ Joe Santangelo took his Speedco GT/FA Camaro to a runner up in Super Stock

The following is courtesy of NHRA Communications

D1 Super Gas rep Mike Sawyer lost in round one breaking out with a 9.887 to eventual Jeg’s champ Sherman Adcock

Billy Pires lost first round of Stock to eventual champ Slate Cummings

Frankie broke his F/ED in one ugly first round for D1

Recent Maple Grove LODRS Top Sportsman winner Ryan Ondrejko was another first round casualty

New Jersey’s Karen Stalba is continuing her frustrating 2012 season with a first round loss in T/AD. Karen’s weekend best of 5.756 has her sitting outside the quick field for Sunday too.

Lebanon Valley Top Alcohol Funny Car champ Eric Lourie was the blocker in the Jeg’s race but went out in Round One losing to eventual R/U Ferro

It took the better part of three decades, but the team from the NHRA Pacific Division finally broke through for their first overall team title in the JEGS Allstars competition. Led by Chris Demke, who claimed the win in Top Alcohol Dragster and Aaron Kinard, who drove to the Super Comp title, Division Director Mike Rice’s troops scored 1,300 points, finishing in a tie with the Southeast Division team. Per the tie-breaker rules, which score additional points for wins, runner-up, and semifinal finishes, the title, and the $20,000 bonus that accompanies it, went to the Division 7 team for the first time. The Division 5 crew, also seeking their first title, finished a respectable third with 1,100 points.

In the final round in Top Alcohol Dragster, Demke banged a supercharger and slowed to a 7.74, but picked up the dramatic win after Randy Meyer fouled away a 5.30, the quickest run of the event. Kinard also chipped in with three big round-wins when he drove his dragster to a narrow 8.911 to 8.915 win over Division 2 racer Sherman Adcock Jr., who was looking to become the first driver to double in the JEGS Allstars race.

The Division 7 team got down to business early as they scored 800 out of a possible 1,000 points in the first round by sending eight of their 10 drivers into the semifinals. The Division 7 team was so dominant that the Division 6 team was mathematically eliminated after round one and the Division 1 team was on life support. However, as the battle progressed, the Division 2 and Division 5 teams stay in the hunt until the very end. The final race of the day in Top Alcohol Funny Car decided the championship when Frank Manzo downed Mickey Ferro, who was the last hope for the Southeast Division, 5.58 to 5.61. For Manzo, it was the tenth JEGS Allstars title in his illustrious career.

The biggest contributors for the Division 2 team were Adcock, who drove to a close 9.901 to 9.903 win in the Super Gas final over Division 5′s Kevin Moore and Dylan Stott, who shook off an early loss in Top Dragster but returned to claim the Top Sportsman title by beating blocker Joe Roubicek in the final. Stott won with a 6.89 on his 6.86 dial while Roubicek trailed with a .05-over 7.05.

Division 5 ace and former national champion Bruno Massel dominated in Comp, driving his turbocharged DD/AT Cobalt to a convincing final-round win over newlywed Division 7 racer Justin Lamb. Massel ran a 6.94 on his 7.54 index for the win while Lamb posted an 8.66 on his 9.17 index.

JR Lobner did his part for the Division 5 team with a Top Dragster win over defending JEGS Allstars champ James Monroe. Lobner was perfect with a 6.94 on his 6.94 dial while Monroe broke out by two-hundredths.

The Super Stock title went to Division 4 racer Jerry Emmons, who scored his second win in the special event. Paired with world champion Joe Santangelo in the final, Emmons drove his Lucas Oil entry to a .02-over 9.80 for the win after Santangelo broke out with a 10.33 on his 10.36 dial.

Another repeat winner was Slate Cummings, who stopped Bo Butner to win the Stock title. Cummings posted a .02-over 10.46 in his Moser-backed Firebird while Butner drove his swift BB/SA Cobra Jet to a .03-over 9.27.

The final trophy went to Randy Shipp who put the Division 3 team into the winner’s circle by driving his Nova to a narrow 10.902 to 10.911 win over Tom Manfred in a race that was decided by .002-second at the finish line.

Although the event was completed on Sunday night, there is still a lot of motivation for today’s JEGS Allstars champions heading into tomorrow’s final eliminations for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals as any racer who can repeat their win tomorrow will be eligible for the JEGS double-up bonus.