Tue, 7 Sep 2010, 06:28 PM Going the Distance at the Big Go

By Kelly Wade Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

CLERMONT, Ind. --

Standing: Troy Coughlin Jr., Marty Thacker, Shawn Langdon and Jay Payne Kneeling: Al Ackerman, Tim Bishop and Jimmy DeFrank

Scads of Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competitors traveled from near and far for the 56th annual running of the revered Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at historic O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, an event held in such high regard that most racers value a trophy claimed there above any other. At the conclusion of this year's celebrated affair, Marty Thacker (Top Alcohol Dragster), Jay Payne (Top Alcohol Funny Car), Al Ackerman (Comp), Jimmy DeFrank (Super Stock), Tim Bishop (Stock), Troy Coughlin Jr. (Super Comp), and Shawn Langdon (Super Gas) were the victors.

The Top Alcohol Dragster final was a thriller, with Robinson, Ill., resident Thacker locking in a .003 reaction but forfeiting the lead early to the Northwest Division's Shawn Cowie, who extended the lead until the 1,000-foot timer where his engine seemed to give out. Thacker sailed ahead and got the win light, 5.415 to 5.488.

Thacker vs. Cowie

Thacker, in his Rapid Transit blown rail, was the No. 10 qualifier and delighted fans in the first round of eliminations when he and Shortline Express A/FD driver Duane shields clocked identical 5.377s, both at 265 mph. Thacker's .029 to Shields' .042 starting line reaction was the decider.

In the second round, Thacker stopped defending national champion Bill Reichert, 5.336 to 5.353, and in the semifinals he sawed down the tree with a .011 to Darren Nicholson's .035 and clocked a 5.384 to 5.397 for the win.

Cowie, in his Mundie's Towing blown alcohol dragster, stopped 1982 low qualifier Buddy Domingue in the first round and then galloped past Randy Meyer in round two. In the semis, after the two were separated by just four-thousandths at the tree, Chris Demke had troubles near the 330 timer and the 'chutes popped out, sending Cowie to the final on a quick 5.295 without much of a challenge.

Reichert, who won the divisional at Bowling Green the weekend prior, left Indy in the points lead, with Cowie trailing by 52 markers.

Payne vs. Bartone

Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Frank Manzo has won the event nine times and was in prime shape to pass Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden as the winningest Indy competitor of all time, but he was absent from this year's event. His father, Dominic, passed away just a few days earlier.

Payne, the No. 7 qualifier in his FireIce Mustang, made his way to the winner's circle with the aid of a fair amount of luck. He recorded a first round defeat of Cassie Simonton (disqualified for crossing the centerline) and picked up his 450th round win, got the win light when second-round opponent Fred Hagen Jr. was a no-show after his car had engine issues during the warm-up, and simply ran quicker than Chris Foster in the semifinals.

In the final, No. 1 qualifier Tony Bartone pulled into the waterbox after he was reinstated due to semifinals winner John Bojec coming up light at the scales. Bartone had rattled the tires in the semis and shook again in the final, and Payne scored with a 5.648 to 8.653. In respective first and second round matches, Bartone, in his Centre Pointe Collision Mustang, got the best of Richard Cortino and Steve Harker.

With the U.S. Nationals win, Payne moved into second place in the series standings behind Manzo, and Mickey Ferro was stationed in third with Harker in fourth and Steve Gasparrelli in fifth.

Ackerman vs. Massel

The Competition Eliminator money round pitted Brainerd winner Al Ackerman and his F/D entry against reigning world champion Bruno Massel and his DD/AT turbo Cobalt. Ackerman came into the round with a .06 CIC penalty, and Massel carried in a .20, enough to permanently ding the index. It was all for naught when the little blue Cobalt wound up and launched one thousandth too quick, lighting the red bulb. Ackerman cut a cool .006 light and went (-.20) 8.33.

After collecting round wins over Bill Morse and Mike Trumble, Saddle Brook, N.J., resident Ackerman got the win light in a close third-round match with Steve Kent, a longtime Comp racer and owner of the Attitude Apparel Pro Stock team headed by driver Rodger Brogdon. Ackerman was first off the starting line but not by much, recording a .048 light to Kent's .053, and he closed the deal at the top end with a (-56) 8.60 to (-.56) 8.33. The margin of victory was a slim .004-second.

Fourth-round opponent Buddy Perkinson was .052 in the red to Ackerman's .004 green, and in the semifinals, Shaun Vincent fouled by nine-thousandths.

Massel made his way around Frank Cervelli and then went plenty under with a (-.58) 7.79 to stop Jason Coan, who was (-.58) 8.80, by .009. Next on his hit list was heavy-hitter Sal Biondo, followed by a win over Jay Billingsley that required another little hit to his index. Matching .032 reaction times kicked off Massel's semifinals match with Joey Tanksley, and he acquired the permanent CIC with a (-.60) 7.69 on his way to victory.

DeFrank vs. Johns

Ackerman left Indy with the points lead, Glen Treadwell was in second, Frank Aragona in third, Alan Ellis in fourth, and Brian Browell in fifth.

Super Stock excitement started early with the NHRA Mopar Hemi Challenge being contested during class eliminations and Jim Daniels driving his SS/AH '68 Dart to the win over David Barton.

The U.S. Nationals Super Stock title was awarded to DeFrank, driver of the SS/BS '10 Cobalt, when he was better at the tree by .017 in the final and clocked an 8.710 on his 8.68 dial to send Irvin Johns back to Charleston, Ind., sans trophy.

DeFrank's road to the winner's circle included a first round freebie when Gary Coccaro fouled by .049 in their heads-up match and another lucky break when Bill Zaskowski missed the tree by .022 in the second round. DeFrank was off the starting line with a.015 light in round three to Doug Engels' .048 and ran closer to his dial to advance to round four, where he got the nod over former Stock world champion Michael Iacono's breakout pass.

DeFrank, the reigning world champ in the category, had heads-up standoffs with Scott Stillings (quarterfinals) and Byron Latino (semis). Stillings went red by four-thou and Latino was better at the tree but could not run the number.

Bishop vs. Burton

Ryan McClanahan lead the Super Stock points following the long weekend with Brad Zaskowski nipping at his heels and Tony Mandella, Joseph Santangelo, and Bryan Chaney not far behind.

Stock racers came to Indy in full force, with 174 cars vying for 128 spots. Notable, PB Candies, son of drag racing icon Paul Candies, made the field, and "Big Daddy" Don Garlits brought out his Dodge Challenger Drag Pak for another shot but was unable to break into top 128.

Stock winner Tim Bishop, of Queenstown, Md., earned the first win of a very long career when points leader Brad Burton fouled by .013 in the final. Bishop didn't have an easy win kind of day, though; entering the final he was fresh off of a semifinals victory over one of the strongest drivers sportsman racing has seen: Dan Fletcher, who won the title in Brainerd just a couple of weeks earlier. Bishop was .066 at the tree in his B/S '97 Firehawk and ran dead-on his 10.28 dial plus three-thousandths to Fletcher's .040 reaction and 11.186 on an 11.15 target.

En route to the final, Bishop shifted his way past Sweden's Mikael Lind, who red-lighted in the first round and a fouling Jack Zimmerman in round two before a third-round heads-up no-breakout B/S competition with former sportsman champ Kevin Helms. Helms launched a good deal quicker, .024 to .073, but Bishop crossed the finish line first, 10.262 to 10.312.

Billy Leber had the better reaction time in round four but Bishop ran closer to his dial, and in the quarterfinals, the event winner survived a double-breakout with Gary Emmons.

Coughlin Jr. vs. O'Neal

Burton, at the top of the Stock standings, is trailed by Jody Lang, Santangelo, Tyler Wudarczyk, and Edmond Richardson.

Third generation racer Coughlin Jr. scored the second Wally of his career when he put together a .032 reaction with an 8.921 pass to beat Don O'Neal's .046 and 8.954. Coughlin also won in Las Vegas last season.

Coughlin's first-round performance was exactly as one would expect from a racer with a family name synonymous with success on the drag strip. Coughlin, in his '07 Undercover dragster, pulled to the starting line next to Chad Lamont and then reeled off an awesome .009 reaction and posted a near-perfect 8.901 on the 8.90 index. In the second round, the 20-year-old powerhouse was 003 on the tree and a thousandth under the index in an easy win over fouling George Garbiso. He was then .007 at the start to Kyle Fickler's .008 and ran closer to the number in their double-breakout affair to advance to round four, where he was .009 and a thousandth under again to Janice Swan's .006 red-light.

Coughlin was .015 on the launch in both the fifth and sixth rounds and beat Matt Weston, who broke out, and Brian Forrester, who was the greater offender in their double-breakout match.

The semifinals produced a third consecutive .015 green light and a two-thousandths-over 8.902 to set Coughlin up to stop James Majkowski.

Langdon vs. Tatum

O'Neal was a perfect triple-zero in the first round and defeated Bob Wolkwitz, and a .001 reaction and 8.924 bested Randy Folk's .006 and slowing 9.719. In the third round, Robert Eaker's breakout effort handed O'Neal the easy win, and the fourth round saw a red-light by Tommy Phillips for another simple advancement. O'Neal was second off the starting line but closer to 8.90 for the fifth round victory, and in the quarters, Cory Baker paved the way to the finals for O'Neal with a breakout number that handed his opponent a bye run into the final.

Langdon went a couple of rounds in Top Fuel, but a .010 and 9.922 on the 9.90 Super Gas index were good for the win over Palmetto, Ga.'s David Tatum. Langdon was right on the dial in the first round with a three-thousandths-over pass to stop J. Matt Harnish, and in the second round he was the winner of a double breakout with mark Sanders. Langdon was excellent on the starting line in round three when he clocked a typical .006, but traction troubles plagued both Langdon and worthy opponent Tommy Phillips. Langdon got the tires to stick for the 10.260 to 10.434 triumph.

World championship racer Mike Ferderer challenged Langdon with a .023 and 9.929 in round four, but the Brownsburg, Ind., versatile driver cleared a.007 light and won on a holeshot with a 9.937. The quarterfinals drew together two of the sports finest leavers, Langdon and Dave Connolly. Connolly was a bit off his regularly stellar reaction times and recorded a .065, and he finished it off with a breakout 9.887 to Langdon's winning .019 and 9.919. In the semifinals, the decision was made on the starting line when Craig Maddox left .033-second too soon.

Tatum rounded up wins over Shawn Feece, Brian Hackett, Brina Splingaire, Steve Williams, Sheldon Gecker, and Tom Stalba on the way to the final.

The Super Gas points were led by Tatum, who was 140 markers ahead of second place Mike Ferderer. Rock Haas, Michael Miller, and Steven Furr rounded out the top five in the standings.

The Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will next join the Full Throttle Series tour at the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Charlotte, where Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, and Super Gas racers will vie for respective event titles Sept. 16-19.

Monday's Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series final results from the 56th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Marty Thacker, 5.415, 266.85 def. Shawn Cowie, 5.488, 226.89.

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Jay Payne, Ford Mustang, 5.648, 256.36 def. Tony Bartone, Mustang, 8.653, 108.16.

Competition Eliminator -- Al Ackerman, Dragster, 8.331, 126.84 def. Bruno Massel, Cobalt, 7.944, 130.47.

Super Stock -- Jimmy DeFrank, Chevy Cobalt, 8.710, 155.33 def. Irvin Johns, Cobalt, 9.228, 141.34.

Stock Eliminator -- Tim Bishop, Pontiac Firehawk, 10.321, 129.08 def. Brad Burton, Pontiac Firebird, 11.132, 101.56.

Super Comp -- Troy Coughlin Jr., Dragster, 8.921, 175.80 def. Don O'Neal, Dragster, 8.954, 155.96.

Super Gas -- Shawn Langdon, Chevy Camaro, 9.922, 163.37 def. David Tatum, Chevy Cavalier, 9.930, 164.71.