Fri, 17 Nov 2006, 02:09 PM The Lucas Oil Sportsman Champions

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2006 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Standing: Bo Butner, Frank Manzo and Bill Reichert Sitting: Iggie Boicesco, Randy Wilkes, Peter Biondo and Ron Erks

While the POWERade awards ceremony gets a lot of attention and some exposure on television, the Lucas Oil sportsman ceremony was just as important to the competitors in that series. The ceremony, which was held right before the POWERade show, gives the seven champions an opportunity to be recognized for their accomplishments during the season, a season that spans a lot of miles and a lot of races for the men and women who compete in the Lucas Oil series. And, with the way the points are scored, it's often difficult to handicap the leaders or to know which driver is really in front until the last few weeks of the season. I often compare it to a staggered start in some of the track meets you see, and by that I mean that you don't really know who is winning that race until they come around the final turn. That was certainly the case this year when it looked for a while like a couple of the championships would be decided on tie-breaker rules, rules which I'm not sure I even understand. Anyway, it was nice to be a part of the festivities and I would like to congratulate all of the champions for 2006.

Bill Reichert

Bill Reichert won his first Top Alcohol Dragster national title and he did it with the best car in the class. After a little glitch early in the year in Gainesville, after which Bill said that "it's so easy to drive one of these cars that a monkey could do it," his sponsor at Rislone (and Bars Leaks) gave him a monkey that Bill proceeded to put in the car with him. After that, whether it was the monkey or Bill, the car was almost flawless. After running the table on the divisional level, Bill went out and won national events in Houston, Brainerd, Indy and the last race of the season this past week. Along the way he put up numbers that are the envy of every team that runs a fuel injected car in the class. Along with his wife, Gloria, and his son, Andy, who helps tune the car by phone, they had a great year, and the only question that remains is, will he return to defend his title next year? From what he said at the track this weekend, the answer appears to be yes, and that's good for the fans and bad for the guys who have to race him.

Frank Manzo

Frank Manzo even outdid himself this year. The man who has now won ten Lucas Oil world championships, crushed everything that got in his way this year and, even though Frank says "we got lucky a couple of times," luck had nothing to do with it. A talented team, led by Frank's long time friend and crew chief, John Glade, helped Frank re-write the record books and his performance in Virginia this year will long be regarded as one of the most impressive and dominating performances in the history of the class. He won his first world title a quarter of a century ago and, today, he is as competitive as he ever has been and he continues to raise the bar for the rest of the competitors in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Frank put six national event wins on the board and only a red light to Jay Payne at the first race of the year kept 2006 from being perfect for the guy they call "Ace." Still, it wasn't too bad and the only question that remains is, who, if anyone, can run with Frank in 2007?

Bo Butner

The Competition Eliminator title actually went from one side of a garage to another. Jeff Taylor won the title last year, and since he serves as the crew chief for Bo Butner, the 2006 champ, all he had to do was peel the number one off his car and give it to Bo. Ironically, it was Jeff who had the best chance to beat Bo going into the last two races of the season, the Division 7 race in Las Vegas and the final national event in Pomona. Bo, driving one of those new AA/SM cars, had a nasty fire in Vegas that burned his face and hands, and all he could do the rest of the weekend was sit and wait to see how many points Jeff put on the board. When Jeff went out in the semi-finals it was all over and Bo added his name to an impressive list of Competition Eliminator world champions. Bo then came to Pomona where he wanted to run the car and put it in the six-second range but that didn't happen. Still, it was a valiant try for a really tough racer who deserves to be called "champion." The only question that remains is, who will be the first one with an AA/SM car to officially go into the six second range?

Peter Biondo

Peter Biondo isn't called the "Terminator" for nothing. Pound for pound he is one of the best drivers / racers in the sport, and the fact that he won his fifth Lucas Oil world championship just goes to prove that point. In the process, Peter puts his name in the record books as only the fifth sportsman driver to win five or more titles. Of course Frank Manzo is one, and Dave Boertman, Scotty Richardson and Rick Santos are the others. Nice company huh? Peter not only had a good year in the Super Stock but he also won a national event in Stock Eliminator where he finished eleventh in the points. Along with his partner, Phillip Monteith, Peter has one of the best situations in the sportsman ranks, that is, he has a good car and a great owner who fully supports him. Throw in the fact that he can drive with the best of them and you have a combination that is very hard to beat. A new car, a fast one, from Arnie Martel's stable, could make Peter even tougher in 2007, if that's possible. The only question that remains is, what does he do for an encore?

Randy Wilkes

Randy Wilkes had one of the toughest situations this past weekend. The Ohio native had put all of his points on the board and could do nothing to help himself win the championship. So, he came to Pomona with the intent of trying to stop the other challengers, Tibor Kadar and James Paul. As the eliminations progressed it began to look more and more like we might have a tie between Tibor and Randy and then we would have to go to those wacky tie breakers to determine the champion. But Tibor lost to Ryan McClanahan in the fourth round, just one round before he could have claimed the championship and it was all over. Randy told the gathering at the ceremony that he was "a nervous wreck. My stomach was in knots all weekend long." He also thanked his good friend and crew chief, Michael Means, for all of his support. Michael, by the way, is also a huge Ohio State fan in addition to being a big drag racing fan. So, the only question that means is, who will win on "Judgment Day," Ohio State or Michigan?

Ron Erks

Ron Erks may have had the best time of any of the sportsman champions over the last few weeks of the season. The runner from Ohio, one of the best bracket racers around, all but put the championship out of reach early on and there was only one driver, Terry Edwards, who had a shot at him going into the D-7 race in Las Vegas. When Terry went out at that event it was all over and Ron was the champion. Ron's season included national event final rounds at Richmond and Chicago, and while he split those between Super Gas and Super Comp, it just goes to illustrate how talented he is. Toss in three final rounds on the divisional level and it's easy to see why the 8.90 title had Ron's name written all over it for a long while. The class is so tough, with well over a hundred cars competing at most races, and close to two hundred at some, that just to go rounds is a real accomplishment, and to win the championship is more like surviving than winning. Ron has been running and winning for a while and now, the only question that remains is, can he add a Super Gas title to his resume next year?

Iggie Boicesco

If Randy Wilkes weekend was stressful, maybe he should take some pointers from Iggie Boicesco the next time he is in that situation. While Randy was at Pomona watching all of his closest challengers go rounds, Iggie was at home in Pennsylvania, minding his own business. You see, Iggie had already competed at the maximum number of events and there was nothing he could do to help himself. When I asked him if he had a ticket for Pomona a few weeks ago he said that he didn't want to jinx himself by preparing for the championship. That, in the long run, probably made some travel agent very happy when Iggie won the title on Saturday and had to make reservations for four to fly from Philadelphia to California. And how did he learn that he had won? I called him on the phone and said "congratulations, champ." He said, "It's not over yet." And when I told him that it was he said that he hadn't been listening on the internet all day and that he figured someone would call him when it was resolved one way or another. That someone was me. Now, the only question that remains is, did Iggie get back east in time to go back to his teaching job on Wednesday?

During the year the sportsman racers provide some of the best action in the sport and, with championships still being decided on the last weekend of the year, it is always exciting for us and nerve wracking for them. Congratulations to all of the champions, and thanks to Lucas Oil for another great year of support for the sportsman racers on the NHRA tour.