Thu, 28 Oct 2010, 08:40 PM And The Champion Is?

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Bill Reichert

With two national events remaining on the schedule and one Lucas Oil divisional race, only two sportsman drivers have clinched championships while the other classes are still up for grabs. Ok, so some are more "up" than others, but it looks like several of the championships may not be decided until Pomona. As I'm sure you know, scoring in the Lucas Oil ranks is a little more confusing than it is in the Full Throttle series, but that's because not all sportsman racers can or want to travel all over the country in their quest for a championship. So, in the alky classes, drivers get to keep points that they earn at their best five of eight races at both the national and divisional events while the other classes can score at their best three of six national events and their best five divisional races. It's really not as hard as it seems but it does make for some interesting scenarios coming down the stretch and that's what we have this year.

Frank Manzo

In the Top Alcohol Dragster class Bill Reichert, the reigning and four-time Lucas Oil World Champion, is the leader with a total of 754 points. Bill has used up his full compliment of races so that's all the points he can earn this year. As good as that total is it is not enough to guarantee Bill another title, in fact, a couple of drivers could catch or pass him if everything, and I mean everything falls their way at these last few races. Shawn Cowie is currently in second place with 691 points but he can still add to his total at both Las Vegas and Pomona. For Shawn to catch Bill, though, he needs to win both of those races, and with the fields that will be in Vegas and California, that's not an easy task. Still, as I always say, someone's going to win those races so Shawn has a good a chance as anyone else. The other contender is Chris Demke who is having a career year with Jerry Maddern's car. Chris has one divisional and one national race left to claim, so we may know his fate by the end of this weekend. Chris is replacing a third round, or semi-final, at a national race so he needs to make the finals this weekend to add points. If he makes it to the final round, win or lose, he then needs to go to the final at the last divisional race, too. It won't be easy, but then again, nobody said it would be.

Al Ackerman

Jay Payne went to the Division 2 race in Georgia two weeks ago in an attempt to keep his slim, very slim title hopes alive. Jay told me that if he won at Silver Dollar Raceway he would go to Noble, Oklahoma in an effort to add more points in an effort to catch Frank Manzo. But Jay lost to Mickey Ferro in Georgia and that ended his title chase for 2010. Actually, if Jay ran the table at the last three races that he can still claim he would tie Frank in the points, but he would then lose in a tie-breaker. He gave it a good shot but, in the end, Frank will win the Top Alcohol Funny Car crown for the fourteenth time and that will tie him with John Force for the most national championships in the sport's history. Of course if John comes back and wins the fuel Funny Car title, he'll have the record all to himself. Frank's done all he can so now he just has to wait and see what John does. And while Frank will tell you that those records and numbers don't mean anything, I'll tell you that they do mean a lot, they mean that Frank has been a dominant driver for a very long time. Frank and his team should be very proud of what they've accomplished and he has been a great champion and a real credit to the sport.

Ryan McClenathan

Al Ackerman has locked up his first national championship in Competition Eliminator by putting 717 points on the board. Al, with national event wins in Norwalk, Brainerd and Indianapolis, has had a great year, one that most racers can only dream about. In addition to his success on the national level Al has also had a good year at divisional races. With wins in Cecil County, Columbus and Cordova as well as another final round at Englishtown, Al's little dragster has been a picture of consistency and he made it tough for any of his would-be challengers. Among that group are Glen Treadwell, former World Champion Frank Aragona and the reigning World Champion, Bruno Massel. All of those drivers had very good years, but when Al is winning the maximum of three national events and going to finals at four divisional races, it's easy to see why he will be the 2010 Lucas Oil World Champion.

Brad Burton

Super Stock is still a toss up, and with three races left, Ryan McClenathan is holding on to a slim lead. Ryan has one divisional race still to claim and he can add as many as fifty-four points to his total with a win. Brad Zaskowski, who has had a good season, is in second place but has earned all the points he can for 2010. Lincoln Morehead currently sits in third with his 622 points but he can claim both the Las Vegas national and divisional races as well as the final race of the year in Pomona. And while he can't add a lot of points at the national races (although he could add enough to pass Ryan), he can pick up a bundle at the divisional race. Lincoln would be replacing a second round loss at that race and that means there are about sixty-five points out there waiting for him to claim. Whether he does or not remains to be seen, but that's a lot of points. Tony Mandella is also in the mix and he currently resides in fourth place with 607 points and one race, the division race in Vegas, still to claim. Like Lincoln, Tony will be replacing a second-round loss so he has those same sixty-five points to earn. Obviously they both can't win so the pairings at the D-7 race should be very interesting. But let's not get ahead of ourselves because we still have the national race to go. Sal Biondo also has to get consideration since he has 602 points and he has that same divisional race ahead of him. By my math, which I admit is not always the best, Sal, another former World Champion, would have to go to the final round at that divisional race if he wants to have any chance of earning the championship.

Luke Bogacki

Stock Eliminator may be the most wide open class of them all with no less than five drivers having a realistic chance at winning. Brad Burton, with three final rounds and two wins on the national level, has led the points in Stock Eliminator for a long time now. Brad opened the season with a win at the Winternationals, added another win in Denver and he went to the finals in Indy and that's just about as good as you can get on the national level. Brad, who has 591 points, could add points at one more national event but he would have to win the race to do so. So, it's at the divisional race where he can still pick up a lot of points since he will be replacing a first-round loss. Brad's closest challenger right now is Slate Cummings who is in second place with 581 points. Slate, who made a big move with his runner-up last week at the D-4 race in Noble, Oklahoma, is out of national races to claim but he'll be replacing a first-round loss when he gets to the Las Vegas divisional race. With a maximum of 656 points and a little momentum on his side, Slate looks poised to give Brad a real run for his money. Both of those drivers may be looking over their shoulders at one of the best sportsman racers in history, Edmond Richardson. Edmond, the reigning Lucas Oil Champion, has 578 points but has a national and divisional race to claim and he can earn a lot of points at both of them. If Edmond goes past the second round at either race he'll begin adding to his total, and anyone who knows what Edmond is like when the pressure is on knows that you can never bet against him. Jody Lang, another big-time racer, has 549 points based on scoring at five national and seven divisional races. That means he can add at one more national and the divisional race in Vegas, a track where he has always done well. With a max of eighty-six more points available to him Jody can't be counted out. Dustan Lowell, a Division 1 All-Star, could also take the lead if he has good races at his remaining two events, but, from what I can discover, he is not entered at either the Las Vegas or the Pomona national races. If he does show up he has a lot of points waiting for him, enough that he could win the championship. Stay tuned, we'll see if he comes cross country to challenge the leaders.

David Tatum

Super Comp currently finds Luke Bogacki and Ray Miller tied for the lead and they are both out of races. The tie-breaking procedures in the sportsman classes are a little complicated, but the way I see it Luke would take the championship over Ray based on the second tie-breaker, which is head-to-head meetings between the two at scored events. And that means races where both drivers scored the race. See, I told you it's complicated. It's also not over, since Gary Stinnett could also sneak by for the title. Gary has one race to claim, the divisional race, and he will be replacing a second-round loss. But because he is thirty-four points behind the leaders, he will need to go to the sixth round if he wants to be the champion. That Edmond Richardson guy is also in contention in the 8.90 category. Edmond's 566 points have been earned at five national and seven divisional races which means he has two races ahead of him at which to earn points. He'll be replacing a second-round loss at the national race and he would need to go to the fifth round at the divisional race to earn points. Since we're not racing Super Comp this weekend it looks like we won't know who the S/C champ is until Pomona, and maybe that's the way it should be. Oh yeah, Kevin Wright, the Division 5 racer, could still sneak in but he needs to go deep into eliminations at the D-7 race and then at Pomona. Kevin is replacing a second-round loss on the divisional level while he would need to get to the final round at his last national race to add points. With all of that said, the favorite to win in Super Comp is...?

Right now, to me, David Tatum looks like a lock in Super Gas. The veteran racer has 690 points and is out of races, but his lead over his closest rivals looks like it's enough to give him the championship. Mike Ferderer is in second place but is out of races while Rock Haas is a distant third but still has a chance. Since Rock can claim points at all three remaining races he has a shot at the championship but he'll just about have to run the table at those events. He needs to go to the sixth round at the national races while anything past the second round at the divisional race will add to his total. Having said that, anything short of a final round at the divisional race would probably leave him a little short of David's total. It's possible, and we've seen guys come from way back before, so maybe Rock can be the latest to do it.

As I always say when I look at possible scenarios for the championships, all of my numbers are unofficial, and the gurus at NHRA will have the official standings. Good luck to everyone and it's one of the reasons why we enjoy the last three weeks of the season.