Mon, 18 Oct 1999, 11:29 AM Federal-Mogul Funny Car Championship Still Not Settled

Courtesy of NHRA Marketing

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The Federal-Mogul Funny Car national championship has yet to be settled after the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Bristol Dragway.

Last year's 2nd place finisher in the national standings, Bob Newberry, from Schenectady, N.Y. upset both the defending national champion Frank Manzo, from Morganville, N.J., as well as the current number two racer in the national standings, Tony Bartone, from Manhasset, N.Y. Both drivers fell to Newberry, a multi-division and national event champion in the alcohol funny car category, in the semi-final and final rounds of competition. Newberry took out Manzo in the semi-final round with a time of 5.719 seconds to Manzo's 5.813 seconds. Then in the final, Newberry downed the pursuing 1996 national Federal-Mogul Funny Car champion Bartone, with a time of 5.750 seconds to Bartone's 5.779 seconds.

"The car has been running really well," Newberry said after the race. "The runs felt good and we came out with a win."

In Federal-Mogul Dragster, Darrell Russell, from Houston, was able to take out some of the other top drivers on his way to victory circle. Russell, who finished the 1998 season in 3rd place nationally, has been running on a limited schedule and did not know what to expect at the end of the season, other than the fact that he wanted to win.

"We came out here this weekend to make it past the first round so we would take the win in the NHRA South Central Division championship in [Federal-Mogul] Dragster," Russell said. "Troy Buff [currently second in the South Central division standings] might have come out to this race to pass us in the championship. We didn't want to let that happen, and we won the race along the way, it was a great weekend." Russell's brother, and crew chief, Chris, explained how he felt about his brother's win and what they wanted to do, "We came to this race to kick some out of division butt and win the division four [South Central] championship in Federal-Mogul Dragster."

The following are final results from the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Bristol Dragway, the last of six races in the NHRA Southeast Division listing driver, city, state, make of car, elapsed time in seconds and miles per hour:

FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER

Round 1

1. David Wells, LeMars, Iowa, 5.678 seconds elapsed time, 250.27 miles per hour def. 8. Rich McPhillips, Phoenixville, Pa., 5.846, 226.73

2. Mike Gunderson, Middleburg, Fla., 5.631, 251.30 def. 7. Bill McCornack, Lexington, Ky., 5.778, 243.85

3. Darrell Russell, Houston, 5.603, 252.10 def. 6. Doug Foley, Tarrytown, N.Y., 5.785, 242.84

5. Jeanie Booz, Blooming Glen, Pa., 5.767, 247.34 def. 4. Marty Thacker,

Robinson, Ill., 5.919, 232.83

Round 2

1. Wells, 5.681, 250.78 def. 5. Booz, 5.794, 246.71

3. Russell, 5.598, 253.14 def. 2. Gunderson, 5.807, 203.77

Final Round

3. Russell, 5.580, 252.43 def. 1. Wells, 5.737, 246.75

FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR

Round 1

1. Bob Newberry, Schenectady, N.Y., '99 Avenger, 5.803, 247.47 def. 8. Craig English, Mt. Holly, N.J., '93 Firebird, 5.985, 220.66

2. Tony Bartone, Manhasset, N.Y., '99 Camaro, 5.818, 243.59 def. 7. Franny Monaghan, Willow Grove, Pa., '99 Camaro, 6.174, 223.25

3. Steve Harker, Brisbane, Australia, 5.886, 245.99 def. 6. Todd Paton, Brantford, Ont., Can., 5.868, 243.68

5. Frank Manzo, Morganville, N.J., '99 Avenger, 5.842, 248.57 def. 4. Marc White, Glendale Hts., Ill., '99 Firebird, 6.092, 212.29

Round 2

1. Newberry, 5.719, 247.88 def. 5. Manzo, 5.842, 248.57

2. Bartone, 5.770, 243.94 def. 3. Harker, 5.816, 247.97

Final Round

1. Newberry, 5.750, 247.93 def. 2. Bartone, 5.779, 244.07

COMP ELIMINATOR

Larry Pritchett, Clarkrange, Tenn., D/SM '97 Pontiac, 8.287, 163.59 def. Brian Browell, Lafayette, Ind., D/Dragster, 7.511, 177.98

SUPER STOCK

Mike Crutchfield, Montgomery, Ala., SS/BS '90 Camaro, 9.304, 145.58 def. Gene Daugherty, Salem, Va., SS/HA '67 Camaro, 10.542

STOCK ELIMINATOR

Lee Bannister, Crosby, Texas, E/SA '72 Pontiac, 12.342, 96.08 def. Bill Howell, Aiken, S.C., B/SA '70 Mustang, 15.764, 78.97

SUPER GAS

Tom Small, Indianapolis, '68 Camaro, 10.011, 143.96 def. Cole McAllister, Hagerstown, Md., '90 LeBaron, 9.997, 137.96

SUPER COMP

Steve Witherow, Falls Church, Va., 9.020, 152.73 def. Richie Jarvis, Glen St. Mary, Fla., 8.983, 160.94

SUPER STREET

Dwight Limbaugh, Decherd, Tenn., '67 Chevelle, 10.999, 129.29 def. Linn Bebout, Gambier, Ohio, '69 Cutlass, 10.987, 129.57



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