Fri, 5 May 2006, 01:27 PM The Kentucky Derby or The Summit Racing Nationals?

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2006 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Mark Billington

A check of the entry list for this week's Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Commerce, Georgia finds one of the stalwarts of Division 2 on the list in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Mark Billington, a regular on the D-2 scene for more than a decade now is ready to mix it up with the Bob Newberry's and Frank Manzo's of the world. The only problem is that Mark works as an operation's manager for Frito Lay and one of his areas is Louisville, Kentucky where they're having a nice little race of their own this weekend. "The Kentucky Derby is in town and they're having some computer issues at one of our locations and I have to rectify it before I can go racing," Mark said. "Right now I'm planning on being in Commerce but I won't be able to get there until Friday morning." Fortunately the alcohol cars don't run until later Friday so Mark may have time to straighten things out in Kentucky and then get to Atlanta Dragway in time to race. "My crew is on their way to the track and I hope to join them," the forty-two year old said. And when he does you can look for Mark to be as competitive as any car there as he looks for his first national event win.

Over the past few years Mark Billington has shown an increased level of performance and his car is now regularly running in the low 5.70's and the high 5.60's. His best effort came a few weeks ago in Florida at the Gatornationals when he hit a solid 5.679 to qualify eighth in a very tough field. "Jeff McGaffick has been helping us lately. We bought an engine from him last year and he pointed us in the right direction. He'll be at the track this weekend to lend a hand if we need it." McGaffick owned the car that Paul Lee took to the title in Atlanta in 2004 and he now owns his own fuel funny car. When I asked Mark if he had any aspirations of moving up to the fuel class he said no. "If I had $300,000 right now I'd stay in the alcohol class because I love it. I like the people and the competition and I don't have any plans or desire to move up." But maybe if he had that 300 grand he could get somebody to cover for him this weekend in Kentucky.

Mark Billington

Mark has been running in the alky ranks since he sold the rear-engine dragster that he used to race with his wife, Kay. "We ran the car for about four or five years on most of the eighth-mile tracks in the southeast," Mark said. "The money we made with that car helped us buy our first funny car." Mark got his first engine from Bob Newberry and he has continued that trend as well as buying two of the cars that he had. "I met Bob at the Winter Series in Florida and we hit it off. I've bought his cars because the learning curve in this class is so steep that I thought it was important to begin with a known commodity and Bob's car was just that." And after racing a dragster for a few years Mark said that he went with an alcohol funny car because, at the time, you could make money match racing them down south. "We got a lot of match races initially but now it's hard to do both, run the divisional and national races and match race too, so we pretty much keep to the schedule that we've had for a few years now." That schedule includes running all of the Division 2 races and about four or five national events. This year it will also include a return trip to the Jeg's All Star race in Chicago. "We won the All Star berth for the second time and that will be a lot of fun. A lot of work, but a lot of fun, too." Mark said that when he was in the All Star program last year the team drove all night long and changed an engine before running Friday morning. "I was really tired and I remember that I was leaning on the fence watching the fuel cars run, but then I thought that I wouldn't want to be doing anything else."

Mark lives in Norcross, Georgia and he runs in the southeast but Mark has found himself often going head-to-head at the divisional races with one of the best racers in the class, Jay Payne who lives in California. "I've actually become good friends with Jay and if I ever have trouble at the track he's the first one to offer help," Mark said. "My wife and Shelly (Jay's wife) have become friends and she buys Girl Scout cookies from my daughter, Kayla and Kayla enjoys playing with their daughter." Lately other big name drivers like Bob Newberry have been coming south to race, too. "I don't mind them coming down here but when I'm running as good as I ever have and I get beat it gets a little frustrating. At one race I ran a 5.70 and Bob ran a 5.63 and then at another race I ran 5.76 and I got beat then, too. But the way I figure it, the only way you can get better is to race against the best and Bob and Jay are two of the best." Mark has put that philosophy to work over the past twelve years and he is constantly improving. He has improved his national standing in each of the past five years and he has gone from number thirty-eight to a career best tenth last year. He has been to the final round at thirteen divisional races, winning six of them and he made it to the final round at Gainesville last year where he lost to Bob Newberry. "I really admire guys like Bob and Jay and Frank Manzo, guys who are very successful businessmen and who run very competitive race cars. I like being around them and I think it can make me a better racer." Mark admits to running on a budget and every dollar that he can save is important. "I bought this car from Bob and put my name on it and a few flames and nothing else. I need to concentrate my resources on racing and not on paint."

Assuming that he gets all of his work done in Kentucky, Mark will be in Commerce this weekend with his all volunteer crew. "I have three guys who work with me and I think they're the best." Mark described the three as a machinist, a fabricator and a hard worker. "Bill Clarke is a great fabricator and he makes all kinds of things that we need for the car. Tom Ryerson is the machinist and David Lavery does a little bit of everything and most of the hard work." Mark's responsibilities consist of working on the engine, doing the top end and checking bearings, and initially calling the shots on the tune-up. Bill Clarke has been learning the advanced tuning from Jeff and if all goes well this weekend he hopes to be able to tune it up for four rounds of racing. Of course Mark has to get to the track first. Mark, who has a business degree from Cornell and has been working with Frito Lay for twenty years, seems like a pretty smart guy so I know he'll figure out a way to be in Commerce, and then maybe he'll figure out a way to the winner's circle.

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