Thu, 1 Nov 2001, 09:28 PM
And the Winner is.
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By Bob Frey
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As sure as we turn the clocks back (you did do it, didn’t you?), and as sure as it
starts to get cold every year at this time, the battle for the NHRA Federal Mogul
World Championship is here. In almost every class, the Division 7 points race this
weekend, and/or the final national event next weekend in Pomona, will decide who the
2001 sportsman winners are. Sure, the top two classes have been decided, but in the
other five categories, the titles are very much up for grabs.
Frank Manzo
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Rick Santos and Frank Manzo repeated as world champs this year, a feat that they
have now done five and seven times respectively. And, while they did get a bit of a
battle this year, they pretty much were the dominant drivers in their classes. OK,
so Rick got more of a challenge than Frank did, but it was an interesting year in
the premiere classes nonetheless. Now, all that remain are two races, one national
and one divisional, to decide the cream of the 2001 crop. For those of you who may
not know, the sportsman racers, other than the top, two, alcohol classes, are
permitted to claim points at three of their first six national events and at five of
their first eight division races. Once a driver has reached the maximum number of
events, he or she cannot improve their points total, even if they won all of the
remaining races at which they competed. Using that formula, Frank Aragona in
Competition Eliminator, Peter Biondo in Stock and Jeff Miller in Super Stock are
among the racers who had great seasons but cannot and will not win the
championships. Too bad, too, since all are very deserving and all had magnificent
years. But, rules are rules. Even David Rampy, who has won a bunch of races on both
the national and divisional level, "maxxed out" and isn’t eligible for the
title. Dan Fletcher, who might well win the Super Stock crown, won the Las Vegas
national event this past weekend and, because of the point’s setup, couldn’t claim
it or add the points to his total. He could, of course, cash the winner’s check,
which I’m sure he has done by now. By further way of illustration, Pat Austin, one
of the great racers of all time (and number ten on my top 50 list), won nine,
national races in 1989 and didn’t win the championship. Heck, he didn’t even finish
second that year, because six of his wins came after he had hit his maximum number
of races to claim. Because of the way the points are structured, Brad Anderson, with
three national wins, won the title, and Bob Newberry, with two national event
victories, also finished ahead of Pat. Sounds tough, but it really is the best way
to structure the points to be fair to everyone, and not force some of the sportsman
drivers to have to compete at every race like the pros do. Speaking of the pros,
there are guys in Pro Stock this year who have national event wins and won’t even
finish in the top ten in points. Anyway, I digress…
The Competition Eliminator battle looks like it will come down to Mike Saye, Don
Stratton or Andy Manna. Saye, a former Super Stock World Champion, is the leader in
the clubhouse, and has one national event left to claim. Stratton, who is claiming
Division 1 this year, is only 19 points behind Mike and he, too, has one more
national event at which he can claim points. Andy Manna, another former world champ,
is well within striking distance of both drivers and he can add to his total at both
Las Vegas, this weekend, and Pomona, next. Saye can up his point’s total if he can
get past the third round at Pomona, while both Stratton and Manna need to go to the
finals at their races to gain points. Both Don and Andy are very capable of going
rounds, but with the competition as tough as it is, I kind of like Mike’s position
right now. I’m not saying he’ll win, mind you, just that I like his position.
Dan Fletcher
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Super Stock is Dan Fletcher’s to win or lose. The way I see it, he has to get past
the third round at the Vegas divisional meet, to increase his points. Since he won
the national event there last week, I think he’ll go into the race feeling very
confident. Like Saye, Dan will have to sweat out the performance of another, former
world champ, Jimmy DeFrank, before claiming victory. DeFrank, one of the great,
young drivers in the sport, has a couple of second round losses to improve on at
both the divisional and national events, and that shouldn’t be too difficult for the
west coast star. Still, with the caliber of cars that’ll be at both races, it won’t
be easy. And remember, Fletcher is claiming Division 7 as his home division this
year, and that could mean a few extra points in Vegas and that could be very
important. Of course, Jimmy is also a "home boy."
In Stock, the globe-trotting Jody Lang has put all of the points that he’s going to
claim on the board, and now he looks back at the other racers and says, "just
bring it." And I’m sure that Kevin Helms, Jeff Hefler and others will do just
that. Helms, who drives that that really neat, big block, stick shift, Chevy Camaro,
has one divisional race left at which to claim points, and so he’ll be at Las Vegas
this weekend. Trailing Jody by only five points, Kevin can take the lead if he can
just get to the fourth round. Of course, he’ll probably run into Hefler, who will be
there with the same goal in mind. Actually, by my tally, Jeff can take the lead if
he can just get to the third round. But, remember, my totals are all unofficial! Lee
Zane, who won the AC Delco Nationals in Stock Eliminator, is a real dark horse in
the class, but if he could double up, that is, add a Pomona win to his Vegas
victory, he just might be able to vault into the lead.
The two, remaining classes, Super Comp and Super Gas, both have one thing in common,
Scotty Richardson, Already a five-time world champion, Scotty could add two more if
all of the stars line up properly for him over the next ten days. In the 8.90 class,
he trails the leader, Rodney Costlow, by 48 points, and he has one division race
left to claim. If I did my math right, Scotty will have to pray for a lot of cars to
be in Vegas and he’ll have to beat most of them in order to win this thing. And, Mr.
Costlow will have to go out early, thus adding no more points to his count. Of
course, Billy Maddox, who won his first, national event in Las Vegas, still has two
races to claim, and he only trails Rodney by a mere 17 points. Since Billy has done
well on the divisional level, his best hope, believe it or not, may come at the
"Finals" in Pomona, where he would have to go five rounds to add points.
It ought to be fun and I know that Rodney, who has led the points for quite some
time, isn’t about the give it up without a fight.
Scotty Richardson
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Super Gas looks to be a much more, favorable scenario for Scotty. Ed Alessi leads
everyone, including Scotty, heading into the final, two events. Scotty, down by just
five points, can take the lead by going past the second round in Las Vegas, a feat
he easily surpassed this past weekend when he won the race. Ed, then, would have to
improve on a fourth round showing at Pomona, and that is never easy for anyone,
especially a driver who isn’t familiar with the track. Ed DeStaute, the great west
coast veteran, meanwhile, needs to go four rounds or more at the Division 7 race to
add to his total and move into the lead, while Tom Stalba, the New Jersey entry in
the sweepstakes, probably needs a final round appearance at the huge D-7 race to
keep his slim title hopes alive.
However it all shakes out, one thing is certain going into the AAA Club NHRA Finals
in Pomona in two weeks, and that is, most, if not all, of these titles will still be
up for grabs. And, for a guy who loves great, pressure racing, and drivers who can
handle that pressure, I can’t wait to see how it unfolds. Maybe next time, we’ll
address the idea of "team" racing, or "blocking," or
"stepping out" to help a fellow racer. If you think the team concept gets
put to the test in the professional classes, wait until you see it take shape in the
sportsman categories. But, like I said, that is a different topic for a different
day, for now, I just want to wish all of the competitors good luck and have a great,
couple of weeks. And remember, my point’s totals are for "amusement only,"
that is, don’t say that the "skinny, geeky, bald-headed announcer with glasses
said I only had to go two rounds to win it" Of course, I know that won’t
happen, since all of these guys, their teams and their competitors know exactly what
they have to do at the next two races if they want to be the 2001 Federal Mogul
World Champions. Go get em, boys!
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