Fri, 7 Sep 2001, 06:28 AM
You Couldn't Ask For Much More!!
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By Bob Frey
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As a drag racing fan, and, especially as a sportsman racing fan, the recently
concluded MAC Tools U.S. Nationals was about as good as it gets. Sure, there was a
lot of attention focused on Don Garlits and Shirley Muldowney, but the real fans,
those who appreciate good drag racing action regardless of class, got everything
they could possibly have wanted from the sportsman racers at Indy. I know I did.
Keith Stark
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I guess the best place to start is at the top, and, in the sportsman classes, that
means the Federal Mogul Dragster and Funny Car categories. At Indy, two drivers who
took completely different routes to the title, won out over a couple of very
competitive fields. Keith Stark, who has been a practitioner of the fuel injected,
nitro-methane burning dragsters for as long as I can remember, won the dragster
class, while Frank Manzo, the ultimate driver in a sportsman car, won the Funny Car
division. Keith, who not only rebounded from a horrendous accident several years ago
in Gainesville, but he came back and won at the Florida track the very next year,
took out Bill Reichert to win his first, Indy crown. I spoke with Keith several
times over the weekend and you could see the determination in his face, the drive,
so to speak, to purge all of the bad memories and prove that he is the epitome of
what makes this sport great. Here is a guy who just underwent the seventeenth
operation on his hand, and still he finds ways to tune a car and make it run as well
as anyone in the country. A guy who has no feeling on the outside of the injured
hand, but has enough sensation in the palm of his hand to be able to
"feel" the car and know exactly what it’s doing when he’s driving. That’s
some kind of racer! And when the win light came on in his lane, you could feel the
sense of pride that was building up inside of him, pride for a job well done.
Frank Manzo
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Frank Manzo, who won his first World Championship back in 1981, is about to win his
seventh, and I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do to stop him. Oh, sure, it’
s mathematically possible, but all of the stars and the planets would have to line
up just right for another driver to be able to beat him. Frank, the Indy champ in
1986, ’94, ’97, and 2000, added the 2001 title to his long list of accomplishments
and he did it in typical, Frank Manzo style. He was the top qualifier, he set low
elapsed time of the meet and, except for Fred Hagen’s top speed of 253.95, he had
the best speed on race day. Frank is, indeed, the man! His final round match against
Jay Payne pitted the two, quickest cars of the weekend against one another. And,
when I spoke to Jay after the race, he said, "Hey, we gave it our best shot,
but against Frankie, that just wasn’t good enough." Well, then, what more could
a guy do? Frank’s final round time of 5.724 came after runs of 5.717, 5.722 and the
monster first-round run of 5.638. As we like to say in New Jersey, "anyone want
a piece of that?" I didn’t think so.
As exciting as the two, top classes were, the themes that were being played out in
the other sportsman classes were equally exciting. First, Bucky Hess won the big
SS/AA Shootout for the first time in his career. Good thing, too, ‘cause Bucky
probably needs the money. Actually, I think that Bucky, and most of the other guys,
would have run that deal for free, or at least, for bragging rights. It was one of
the highlights of the weekend. Congratulations, Bucky.
Santo Volpe
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There are several guys whom I worked with at Indy who realize that Competition
Eliminator is always worth the price of admission. Guys like Leo Taugher, Lewis
Bloom, my "bud" from New Jersey, Bob Unkefer and Alan Reinhart, and for us
to watch Santo Volpe mow down the Comp field was like watching a great artist at
work. Slowly, OK, quickly, methodically, Santo took Bob Phelps’ supercharged
Corvette down the track and into the next round, beating some of the best stars in
the Comp class in the process. Brian Olson’s A/ND, NHRA’s top 50 driver, David
Rampy, and the incomparable Jeff Taylor, all fell before the rampaging Corvette.
Robert Bailey, who hadn’t done too badly on his side of the ladder, who be Santo’s
last victim, and Robert, try as he might, just wouldn’t have enough on this day to
stop Santo in his bid for a little Indy immortality. Not since Tom Trisch, way back
in 1981, had a AA/A entered the Indy winner’s circle. And, while I’m not saying that
it will be twenty years before it happens again, don’t look for this to be an
every-year experience. This year, however, it was really exciting. The only thing
that could have made it better, was if Santo’s wife, Susan, could have been there to
see him win. Maybe next year.
Peter Biondo
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As cool as the SS/AA shootout was, seeing one of the big, bad, Barracuda’s march
through the Super Stock field on Monday was pretty neat, too. Jerry Jenkins, driving
one of the classic 1968 hemi cars, beat everybody who got in his way, until he
finally made it to the title run. There, however, waiting for him, was the
"Terminator," Peter Biondo, in Phil Monteith’s Pontiac Firebird. Peter,
who had reaction times of .515, .529 and .507 in the three, previous rounds, did it
again, with a stellar .509 in the final. Even though Jerry had a great .527 of his
own, he was still "last off the line," and that would cost him. Peter, who
had to beat Dan Fletcher in order to get to the semi-finals, ran just about
"dead on" his dial, and would win his fourth, Indy title. While next year
may seem like a long time away for Jerry, he should know that he gave the fans some
real thrills while running down just about everyone in Super Stock. And, you’ve got
to remember, only two other guys have ever won the eliminator in one of the ’68
cars. Jerry, you did good.
If you are a lover of stick, shift cars, then Stock Eliminator was for you at Indy.
Ten of the final sixteen cars in the eliminator were four-speeds, and two of them,
both Fords and both Waldo’s, were in the final. Son, Eric, beat dad, Jim, in a
classic race that saw the elder Waldo actually have the better reaction time (.548 -
.576). At least dad will have something to brag about next year. The .548, by the
way, was Jim’s worst reaction time of the last, four rounds. Not bad, huh?
Especially for a guy who has been doing this almost as long as Frank Manzo. And,
even though he lost, you could hear the pride in his voice as he joined Leo Taugher
in the winner’s circle. "I couldn’t be prouder," he said choking back a
tear. "What more could a father ask for than to race his son in the finals at
Indy?" What more, indeed.
The "Super" classes, comp and gas, rounded out the Indy sportsman racing.
Damon Dabbs, a long-time runner in the bracket classes, as well as the
"90" categories, won Indy the easy way, that is, there was no one in the
other lane. After a real rush at the end of the day, Jim Hughes, who has a whole
fleet of cars, couldn’t answer the bell for the money run and, sadly, for him, Damon
got the single. And two guys who had never made it to a final round at an NHRA
national event, Larry Edmoundson and Steve Shaughnessy, staged the weirdest Super
Gas final that I’ve ever seen. Apparently, neither guy wanted to lose by breaking
out, so, at about half-track, they began pacing each other. In the end, Larry got
the win with a 10.42, while Steve trailed with a 10.56. Unless I’m missing
something, which is a real possibility, that could open up a whole new way of racing
in Super Gas. Then again…
>From the first race on Wednesday, to the finals the next Monday, the sportsman
racers did more than just "fill in" between the pro sessions. And, while
that may be the perception sometimes, never let anyone lose sight of the fact that
it’s these guys and girls who provide some of the best action at every, NHRA
national event. I know, for me, they certainly did at the 47th running of
the U.S. Nationals.
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