Sun, 13 Jan 2002, 06:46 AM
Congratulations To The Champs!
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By Bob Frey
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One sure way to know that a new drag racing season is about to begin, is when you
see all of the NHRA divisions holding their annual banquets and award’s
presentations. Most of those will take place this weekend, and I’ll have the
privilege of hosting the Division 1 festivities, while other notables like
Leo
Taugher, Bruce Kamada and
Ken Stout will be holding court in the other
divisions. On behalf of all of us who follow the sportsman racing, I’d like to say
congratulations to all of the champions, from the Top Alcohol Dragster drivers to
the Jr. Dragster kingpins.
Rick Santos
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Speaking of champions, one champion has told me that he will return to racing action
in an attempt to defend his title in 2002 is
Rick Santos. After lots of
rumors about him going to Top Fuel, rumors which seem to crop up every year, Rick
told me that he will be at the Winternationals in the
Jack O’Bannon dragster
next month. Running a refurbished version of the champ car from last year, Rick, his
dad and Mr. O’Bannon will start the season off at a track that has been extremely
good to them over the past few years. How good? Well, Rick has won the
Winternationals every year since 1998, and has won the "Finals" at Pomona
for the last three seasons. Throw in a 1996 title at the season opener and you have
the most dominant car at the fairgrounds in any class. And, just for the record,
Rick won his first national event ever at Pomona back in 1991, when he beat the
great
Blaine Johnson in the final round. Rick loves Pomona! Still, it will be
interesting to watch the team run, since their crew chief of the past few years,
Norm Grimes, has, indeed, signed up to work with Jerry Toliver this year. Of
course, as good as Norm is, and he is very good, I do seem to recall the Santos
family doing rather well on their own for quite a few years. Anybody who wants to
win the Winternationals will certainly have to contend with Rick, his dad and the
rest of the team at Pomona, Good luck, you’re going to need it. And, while the team
will not have the backing of Oakwood Homes this year, I’m sure that some smart
company president will give them a call before too long. That’s just too good a team
to go unsponsored for any period of time. Now that I think about it, how’s this for
a scenario? Norm goes over to Toliver’s team, with the blessing, and maybe the
financial support, of Mr. O’Bannon, he learns lots of stuff about the fuel motors
and the class in general, and then returns to be the crew chief on a Rick Santos
driven, Jack O’Bannon owned top fuel car? Hey, I like it!!
With Rick staying with the O’Bannon team, that leaves the seat in the Edgecombe
family car open, a seat which Rick helped to build by the way. If everything goes
according to what I’m hearing, look for former U.S. Nationals’ champion, Darren
Nicholson, to get that ride this year. I’m not saying that it’s a done deal, I’m
just saying that that’s what I’ve heard. Darren is a great driver and the Edgecombe
car has shown great potential over the past couple of seasons. Together, they cold
be a formidable combo in 2002 Of course, Paul Jones in the Darien and Meadows
car may be the early line favorite to win the Winternats…Jon Capps, the
brother of Funny Car driver, Ron Capps, should also be at Pomona racing in the
alcohol class. He’ll be in a funny car and the team should make a formal
announcement real soon, if they haven’t by the time you read this….And look for one
of the long time, great west coast teams to announce soon that they’ll be back
together. All in all, the alcohol classes on the west coast should be very exciting
this year.
Frank Manzo has his car ready and he is raring to go racing this year. The
"Ace," the undisputed champion of the class for the past five years, will
get his 11th divisional championship trophy this weekend in Hershey,
Pennsylvania. Bob Newberry and Paul Gill will be honored for finishing
second and third respectively. For any aspiring alcohol funny car drivers out there,
I have a word of advice for you, don’t begin your career in Division 1….Wouldn’t it
be great if Frank decided to go to Pomona this year? He’s done it in the past and it
always makes for a better show when Frankie gets to mix it up with Pat Austin,
Bucky Austin, the Gasparrelli’s and the rest of those D-7 guys. Of
course, a lot of us remember the year when Bob Newberry headed west and ripped
through the Winternationals’ field. It was 1991 and the "Newb" qualified
number one, and then beat Hugh Kelly, Brett Williamson, Lou Gasparrelli and
Bucky Austin to win the race. The very next year, he won the World Championship.
Manzo last won the season opener in 1997, and he did so by qualifying right behind
Tony Bartone, and then by beating Bernie Harrington, Wayne Stoeckel, Pat Austin and
John Geyer. A guy by the name of Von Smith was the first alternate at that
race, by the way.
So, as the banquet season wraps up, and the new year swings into high hear, let’s
congratulate the 2001 champions and tell them to enjoy the weekend, because starting
real soon, the rest of the sportsman racers are coming after you. And let’s all be
glad that Rick Santos will be at Pomona, because it just wouldn’t be the same
without him, would it?
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