Fri, 23 Jul 2010, 11:56 AM The Rest of the Top Ten

By Bob Frey

A few weeks ago I did a story about the top five drivers, based on wins, in NHRA divisional history. At that time I told you that I'd complete the list and round out the top ten shortly. Well, with a couple of divisional races scheduled this week at opposite ends of the country (Columbus, Ohio and Sonoma, California), I figured this would be the perfect time to do that. Just as a refresher the top five were, in order, Frank Manzo (106), Bob Newberry (65), Jay Payne (62), Vern Moats (56) and Pat Austin (54). Of that group, Frank, Jay and Vern are still active as drivers and can add to their totals. Bob is still in the sport and serving as a tuner/consultant on the Roger Burgess team while Pat is happy and enjoying life away from racing. As far as I know he wasn't even at the recent Seattle national event, and if he was, I didn't see him.

Peter Biondo Photo by Jim Samuel

The sixth best driver, at least as far as wins go, on the divisional level is Peter Biondo. Known and loved as the "Terminator" because of the way he races and finishes what he starts, Peter chalked up his first divisional win back in 1992 at U.S 13 Dragway. Running in the Super Comp category, Peter beat Charles Niland in the final round and that would be his first of forty-six race wins on the divisional level. As a point of interest, Bob Newberry also won that race when he beat Frank Manzo while some youngster by the name of Jeg Coughlin won the Super Gas title. That win in the 8.90 category was one of only three that Peter won in that class and he also has earned victories in Super Street (4), Stock (11), Super Stock (26) and Comp (2). His Comp wins are interesting since they came fourteen years apart, at Lebanon Valley in 1996 and at Silver Dollar Raceway in 2008. That win, over Michael Hardee, was the last win on the divisional level for Peter. Since then he has concentrated mostly on national events and bracket races, and that includes promoting some bracket races with his friend and partner, Kyle Seipel. In addition to his wins Peter also has another sixteen final rounds, giving him a total of sixty-two finals at division races. It should also be pointed out that Peter is one of only a handful of racers who have ever "doubled-up" at a divisional race and he accomplished that on three different occasions. At Bristol in 2003, Lebanon Valley in 1996 and at Englishtown in 1995, Peter rolled into the winner's circle with two cars. And, as I always say, in the interest of fair reporting, I must mention that he also went to a pair of finals at a Division 2 race in 2007 and lost both times. But overall, Peter continues to live up to his nickname and he is as good as it gets in the sportsman ranks.

Bucky Austin Photo by Bob Johnson Photography

Three of the five on this list are from the alky ranks and the number seven driver in total wins at divisional events is Bucky Austin. Know as the "Northwest Hitter," Bucky won forty-four races and all of them came in the Top Alcohol Funny Car class, although he did make it to the final round in three classes. Generally regarded as one of the toughest competitors ever, Bucky went to his first divisional final round in Seattle in 1977 and he did it in the old Pro Comp class. Bucky lost that final to Joey Severance, a man who would beat him in each of Bucky's three final rounds in Pro Comp. In 1981 he was runner-up in his one and only final round appearance in Top Alcohol Dragster and it would be five years later before he would get that first win. At Race City in Canada in 1986 Bucky picked up his first win on the divisional level when he beat, of all people, his nephew, Pat Austin. The two family members met a total of ten times in final rounds and Bucky managed to salvage three wins out of those encounters. Some of Bucky's other final round opponents would include Cruz Pedregon, Brad Anderson, Gary Scelzi and Johnny Gray among others. His final win would come at Mission Raceway in Canada in 2005 when he beat Tim Nemeth. Bucky is working on his nostalgia program and he was at Seattle with some of the "Cacklefest" cars.

Edmond Richardson Photo by BME Photography

The driver who ranks number eight on the list of divisional winners is also among the top winners at national events and he was one of NHRA's Top Fifty drivers in the poll a few years ago. Edmond Richardson, one of the best and most feared drivers in the history of the sportsman ranks, has won a total of forty-one divisional races to go with the forty-five national events that he has won. Like Peter, Edmond has won races in a variety of classes and categories and he posted his first divisional win at State Capitol Raceway in 1984 when he won Super Street over Jim LeBlanc. That was one of his eight Super Street wins and he also has picked up trophies in Super Gas, Super Comp, Super Stock and Stock. Also like Peter, when you're as good as he is and race as often as he does, and when you do it in a couple of cars at each event, you are bound to "double-up," and Edmond has done that three times. His first was at Amarillo in 1987 where he won Super Comp and Super Gas, a fete he matched four years later at the same track. After making it look easy early in his career, it would be eighteen years before he would "double-up" again, and in 2009 Edmond won Stock and Super Comp at both Columbus and Cordova. Also, just like Peter, there were those times when Edmond came so close to having a great weekend only to fall short, like the two times were he went to a pair of finals and came up short. Still, when you have sixty-six final round appearances, even if you're as good as Edmond Richardson, you can't win them all.

Bill Reichert Photo by BME Photography

Ninth best is a driver who is still running, still winning and should move way up the list before he is done. Bill Reichert has won forty divisional races and he shows no signs of letting up. Over the past few years, the years when he has won his four Lucas Oil World Championships, Bill has established himself as one of the all-time greats in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. Unlike a lot of dragster drivers who tend to stay home, Bill has won races in five of the seven NHRA divisions, including Divisions 1, 2, 4 & 5 in addition to his home, Division 3. Over the course of his career Bill has raced both the blown and the fuel-injected dragsters, and since D-3 is his home, he has had to race some of the more formidable drivers in the history of the class, like Chuck Baird, Keith Stark, Ken Perry and Dave Hirata on a regular basis. His wins have come between 1992 at Great Lakes Dragway to the present and he has shared the winner's circle with the likes of Tim and Daniel Wilkerson, Frank Manzo, Peter Biondo and more, lots more.

Rick Santos Photo by Auto Imagery, Inc.

The final driver to make the top ten list is a guy who was as dominant as they come in his class. With some of the best competition in the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks when he was running, there were very few who were tougher to beat in the class than Rick Santos. Along with his father, George, they campaigned their classic small-block Chevy powered dragster up and down the West coast and they won almost everywhere they went. Later, when it was obvious that they just couldn't be competitive with that combination anymore, they switched to the late-model Chrysler and never missed a beat. Rick went to his first divisional final round at Woodburn in 1985 and he won his first race the next year at Baylands when he beat Eldon P. Slick. From there he just seemed to take off and he faced some of the best drivers ever in the class and a lot of drivers who went on to fame and fortune in the pro ranks. Among those he raced were Frank and Cruz Pedregon, Melanie Troxel, Cory McClenathan and Gary Scelzi. Back in the year 2000 he had some classic confrontations with Steve Faria who had one of the best cars in the class at that time. While Rick did travel for some national events away from the confines of his California home, most of his wins on the divisional level came at the tracks in Division 6 and 7. He did, however, win once outside the division when he traveled to Thunder Valley Raceway in Division 5 to win what would turn out to be his last division event in 2001.

All of these drivers had or are having great careers, and you had to if you wanted to make the top ten. The drivers who are tied for eleventh aren't too bad, either. That group, all with thirty-six wins, includes Tom Conway, Jerry Ruth, David Rampy and Bill Maropulos. Like I said, not bad.

NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]

Nov 06- LAS VEGAS - Top Alcohol Funny Car Final, Round 4 Eliminations
Nov 06- LAS VEGAS - Competition Eliminator Final, Round 5 Eliminations
Nov 06- LAS VEGAS - Top Dragster Final, Round 5 Eliminations
Nov 05- POMONA 2 - Event Preview
Nov 02- LAS VEGAS - Summary of Eliminations in Top Alcohol Funny Car
Nov 02- LAS VEGAS - Summary of Eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster
Nov 02- LAS VEGAS - Summary of Eliminations in Competition Eliminator
Nov 02- LAS VEGAS - Summary of Eliminations in Super Stock
Nov 02- LAS VEGAS - Summary of Eliminations in Stock Eliminator
Nov 02- LAS VEGAS - Summary of Eliminations in Super Gas