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ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. --
On the high side, acclaimed driver Rampy pulled off the fourth double-up of his career with wins in both Comp Eliminator and Super Stock. The now 77-time national event winner's most recent previous double-up was at Phoenix in 2006 when he took home trophies in both Comp and Stock. Prior to that, Rampy celebrated doubly in the winner's circle after a Comp and Stock win at the fall Las Vegas race in 2005 and also in 1998 at Sonoma, where he won Comp and Super Comp. The prolific Piedmont, Ala., driver has several almost-doubles, too, most recently in 2007 at the spring race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he was runner-up in Comp and Stock.
In the first two rounds, Rampy was clocking lights in the .020s, but by round three he was super sharp: a .010 reaction and 10.295 (10.27 dial) was good to halt Lincoln Morehead, and from there it only got better. A .009 launch threatened Shane Carr in the quarterfinals - Carr was .026 to start - and Rampy was on the better end of their double-breakout match. The semifinals told a similar story as the veteran racer issued a threat to the quicker car with his .004 reaction and played the stripe superiorly after encouraging James Antonette's break out 9.562 (9.57). It should be noted that Super Stock runner-up Hochrun came to life in the late rounds after his third-round bye run that he played out as a leisurely stroll down the quarter-mile. In the quarterfinals, the driver of the GT/CA Camaro ran dead-on his 9.78 dial with a three to get ahead of Bryan Worner, and in the semifinals, the Colonia, N.J., racer was swiftly off the starting line in .005-second and played a 9.781 on his 9.76 number to top Kent Hanley's too-quick 9.368 (9.37).
The A/EA '32 Bantam driven by Rampy advanced on three red-lighting opponents in four rounds en route to the final while Bertozzi got out of the first round on his opponent's foul then took a bite in round-two with a .57-under 8.34 to Arnie Martel's .43-under 8.10 to get a bye run into the semifinals. The 2010 Reading winner, Steve Szupka, was out of the gate with a slower .050 reaction to Bertozzi's .022 and lost on a .43-under 8.68 to Bertozzi's .44-under 8.27. For the third consecutive season and seventh time in his career, Cuddy, Penn., driver and back-to-back Englishtown winner (1987-88) Mike Kosky finished second in the Top Alcohol Dragster competition in Englishtown. Kosky, who earned a start in his 151st national event overall and 28th at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, ultimately qualified his blown American Flyer rail in the No. 3 position.
Guest was unable to make the call in the second round and forfeited the win to Shields, who took the single and then beat Bill Reichert in the semifinals before clocking low e.t. and top speed of the meet with a 5.206 at 277.20 mph in his final-round victory over Kosky. It was the second victory of the season for Boulder City, Nev., driver Shields, who also won the season-opener in Pomona, and it was the 17th of his career. Shields has recorded most of his victories closer to his home base in the West, but he was the 2002 winner in Englishtown with a final-round defeat of Art Gallant. Notably, Daniel Page, driving Gallant's Top Alcohol Dragster, was the leader of the first session of qualifying with a career best 5.298, 269.29 mph, and the number held to pan out as the first No. 1 of his career. Another career best in the first round: a 5.381 at 259.16 mph for Mike Comella, whose enjoyable weekend as a rookie in the category came to an end in the semifinals when he rolled the beams before the tree was activated, handing Kosky a ticket to the final.
In a rematch of last season's final at Raceway Park, No. 1 qualifier Manzo raced to an unnecessary yet impressive low e.t. and top speed of the meet 5.456, 266.21 mph after Ferro illuminated the red light by .045-second. It was the 93rd national event win for Morganville, N.J.-based Manzo and his 34th consecutive final round. Prior to Manzo's ultra-fast speed in the closing act, Alexis DeJoria's 262.85 mph run in the semifinals reset the track record in what turned out to be a losing, though valiant, effort. Also worth mentioning: leading up to eliminations, DJ Cox struggled in the first two sessions but made a big move in the last qualifying round with career best numbers (5.603, 256.94 mph) in his Dixie Construction Monte Carlo to break into the field and hop all the way up to the No. 3 spot before bumping down to 5th in the line-up. Stock titlist Santangelo, who was batting heavy last year and finished sixth in Super Stock and fourth in Stock Eliminator, had two national event wins on his resume heading into the SuperNationals; his first was in Stock at the Gatornationals and his second was in Super Stock at Englishtown - both last year. This time, Santangelo drew first-time finalist Chuck Veach as his opponent and survived their double-breakout match by four-thousandths to get the glory at the esteemed facility.
After surviving a close race with F/SA Duster campaigner Dusty Lowell (the margin of victory was just .016-second), Santangelo got the lead off the starting line in the semis over Alan Mark, .028 to .066, and turned it into gold with a 10.779 on a 10.75 to his opponent's sharp 10.331 (10.33). Veach, driving an H/SA '84 Camaro, also had a little luck in his initial foray into eliminations when his first-round challenger fouled, but he followed up with well-played wins over Scott Albrecht and Rich Epprecht before emerging successfully from a double-breakout with Bob Bender and nabbing a very fortunate bye into the final after Sterling Simmons couldn't make the call in the quarterfinals.
A couple of red-lights helped Heuwetter gain a berth in the final - Michael Cerro in round three and Alan Kenny in the semifinals - but the quarterfinals required more work; Heuwetter was second to launch and had to finesse the finish line to beat Brian Martel, 8.917 to 8.953. Despite the foul-up in the final, Higgins had a great weekend after trucking in from Mapleton, Ill. He was dialed-in perfectly in the semifinals, crossing the important stripe with an on-the-nose 8.900 for an amazingly close .0003-second victory over Jason Kenny and the longed-for Perfectly Strange payout.
Sawyer, wheeling an '03 Cavalier, was owning the starting line in the first four rounds of eliminations with a .008 to start the show, a perfect triple-zero to keep it going in the second round, a .004 to beat up a little on Peter Biondo, and a .006 that might have scared red-lighting opponent Hank Smith just a smidge in the quarterfinals. His worst light was a .020 in the semifinals, but Duane LaFleur was unable to run the number and he scooted into his fourth career final. Yes, he has won each of his money-round appearances. Ross, too, clearly had the starting line figured out. A .001 in the quarterfinals contributed to a defeat of Dan Northrop and was good for a bye into the final - and Ross kept sharp with a .005 on the single pass.
After getting out of the first round on a .015 start and 10.955 pass, Reiff earned stripes as the luckiest guy on campus. He was effective in his own starting-line game, recording no worse than a .020 light heading into the final, but each of the remainder of his opponents saw the red-light and automatically advanced the Boyertown, Penn., driver of the '88 Cutlass. Roberts alternated strength at both ends of the track, overcoming Mike Quartarone's .005 reaction by running closer to the index in the first round, playing the stripe effectively next to breakout opponent Frank Abad in round two for a bye into the quarterfinals, launching ahead of John Maggiulli, and then timing the finish line better in a double-breakout semifinals match with Frank Duplissis Jr. More thrills on tour continue soon. The Full Throttle Series takes a weekend off, and then Lucas Oil drivers will be back in action at the national event level at Bristol Dragway for the Ford Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals, June 17-19. See you there. Sunday's Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series final results from the 42nd annual NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Top Alcohol Dragster -- Duane Shields, 5.206, 277.20 def. Mike Kosky, 5.471, 262.74. Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Frank Manzo, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.456, 266.21 def. Mickey Ferro, Monte Carlo, 5.562, 259.91. Competition Eliminator -- David Rampy, Bantam, 7.653, 137.95 def. Anthony Bertozzi, Roadster, 30.777, 45.08. Super Stock -- David Rampy, Chevy Camaro, 10.292, 129.54 def. Bob Hochrun, Camaro, 9.782, 134.77. Stock Eliminator -- Joe Santangelo, Chevy Camaro, 10.753, 114.98 def. Chuck Veach, Camaro, 11.559, 113.41. Super Comp -- Dave Heuwetter, Dragster, 8.934, 174.50 def. Don Higgins, Dragster, broke. Super Gas -- Mike Sawyer, Chevy Cavalier, 9.943, 157.98 def. Francis Ross, Chevy Camaro, 9.884, 167.53. Super Street -- Eric Reiff, Olds Cutlass, 10.897, 123.69 def. Ryan Roberts, Chevy Monte Carlo, 10.869, 135.84.
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