Sat, 19 Mar 2005, 10:39 AM Let The Alcohol Flow

By Bob Frey Photo by: Auto Imagery, Inc. & BME Photography

The "Big Go East" as I've come to call the MAC Tools Gatornationals, not only begins the professional racing season on the east coast but it also signifies the start of racing in the two alcohol classes in the Eastern Time zone. And, with the fields that are entered for Gainesville, it should be some show.

Frank Manzo

Frank Manzo, who won the Winternationals, will come to Gainesville loaded for bear, and for Bob, and Cy and Tate and all the others. As good as Frank has been across the country he has really excelled in Florida. Eight times Frank has gone to the money round at the Gators and on half of those occasions he ended up winning the event. With the backing of Lucas Oil this year, Frank once again has the resources to be one of the toughest dudes in the class. Of course Frank is so good that if I were sponsoring him he'd still be more than competitive. Frank has probably participated in more races at Gainesville than any other driver in the field with the possible exception of Bob Newberry. The "Newb," who is always a threat to win whenever he shows up, has been racing at this race since he was in the Competition Eliminator class, a class that he won back in 1981. And as successful as Frank has been here, Bob has been even better. The New York ace has gone to an amazing nine final rounds in the alky funny car class and has won three of them. Several of those finals have come against Frank and if those two titans met in the finals this weekend it wouldn't surprise anyone and it would be a great race for everyone.

Jay Payne

With the long standing history between Frank and Bob, and with their success here, it might be a shock to find that neither one of them won this race last year. Cy Chesterman, who went on to win the Lucas Oil world title, stopped all comers here in 2004 and he has to be considered one of the favorites again this weekend. But wait, didn't I just say that the Division 1 guys were favorites? So who will it be? Tate Branch, who has never even raced at the Gatornationals, will make an appearance with George Etterman's race car and he's about due to bust out and win one of these national events. Tate is coming off his big D-4 win last week in Houston, a race that he practically owns. Having won it seven of the last eight years, Tate always jump starts the season with his performance at Houston and he'd like to keep that momentum rolling here. Of course all of those guys will have to contend with one Jay Payne and his Valvoline Chevrolet. Jay, who won the Bradenton Division 2 race a few weeks ago and who has already made three trips across the country this year, has wins at Gainesville in both alky classes and he would love to add a national win to his divisional total this early in the season. Jay is still gunning to become the first guy to win the season championship in both alcohol dragster and funny car classes. He'll have his hands full this weekend since he'll also be driving his Pro Mod car as so will his wife, Shelly. Should be a hectic weekend in the Payne pit area. In addition to those hitters, look for strong challenges from Mick Snyder, Danny Townsend and the great veteran, Vern Moats. And then there's my sleeper in the field, the "Follow A Dream" car of Jay Blake with David Ray driving. From what I hear, Randy Anderson will be helping that team this weekend and that automatically makes them a contender. Paul Lee, who ran so very well last year in the alky class, is skipping this race but he will be here next week testing out the team's fuel funny car. If all goes well we could see Paul and the team in two classes at some upcoming national events.

Arthur Gallant

The dragster class is also loaded with Arthur Gallant getting the roll of the favorite. Why? Well, because he ran a stunning 5.28 at the divisional race here a few weeks ago and that's quicker than he ever went at 100% nitro including the year that he won the world championship. Arthur has won this race a couple of times and until someone proves that they car run better than a 5.28 he's my man. In addition to Arthur, four of last year's top ten drivers will be here including the always tough Bill Reichert, Randy Meyer, Guy Kelly and Ashley Force. Jeff Wilson, who had a god weekend in Houston, will bring his blown car to Florida and it just may be the best supercharged alky car in the pits, but don't tell that to Kelly, Dan Mercier or Karen Benkovich because they all have good cars, too. The sleepers in the field could be Darrell Hitchman and the young Aaron Olivarez, both with fuel cars and both with the ability to step up and win this thing. The Division 3 racers, who won't begin their regional competition for a few weeks yet, will be out in force and that includes Reichert, Dave Hirata, Ken Perry and Robin Samsel. Since D-3 always features some of the best blown and injected cars in the country it's always tough to go against anyone from the "Land of the Winners."

As usual, a lot of the focus this weekend will be on the pro classes, both cars and motorcycles, but the real true drag racing fan will also get treated to one of the best shows of the season and that will be the battle in the alcohol classes. By the time all of the dust settles on Sunday night, we'll know which team and driver can claim the title of the best in the east.at least for now.

NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]

Apr 08- Hood Scoops Set to Return to NHRA Pro Stock Category in 2027
Apr 07- PowerEdge Returns as Presenting Sponsor of DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway
Apr 07- GESi Pro Stock No. 1 Qualifier Award Returns for 2026 Season
Apr 06- POMONA 1 - Funny Car Preview
Apr 02- Revchem Composites Plays Critical Role in Ron Capps Motorsports' Continued Success
Apr 01- Second Wave of NHRA 75th Anniversary Commemorative Tickets Include Wealth of Legends
Mar 30- CHARLOTTE - Event Preview
Mar 30- BELLE ROSE - Super Gas Round 5 Eliminations
Mar 30- BELLE ROSE - HEMI Chootout Round 3 Eliminations
Mar 30- BELLE ROSE - Competition Eliminator Final, Round 5 Eliminations