Thu, 30 May 2013, 17:17 PM Page, Manzo Take Lucas Oil Wins at Maple Grove

Courtesy of NHRA Field Marketing Photo copyright 2013 David Smith Photos

MOHNTON, Pa. --

Page defeated Reichert

At the NHRA Northeast Division Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at Maple Grove Raceway, chassis builder Dan Page collected his second career Top Alcohol Dragster victory and Frank Manzo earned what surprisingly was his first win all year in Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Page, driving Art Gallant's A/Fueler, took the Top Alcohol Dragster final easily when defending champ Bill Reichert, who had won this event four times in the past five years, went up in smoke not far off the line. With a strong 5.34, Page, who had run low e.t. of eliminations (5.32) in the semi's, scored for the first time since July 2011.

??????????? "That was harder than it looked," Page said. "We were supposed to be in the lanes at 7:15, and at 10 to 7 we were taking a head off the car. One cylinder didn't leak that great the round before, and we checked it again before the final, thinking it was going to be the same, and found that it had gotten a lot worse. Who does a valve job between rounds?"

??????????? "I do," Gallant said.

??????????? Reichert, who didn't qualify until the last-shot session at Norwalk a week earlier, did it the hard way again this time. His 5.35 was good for No. 2 behind Trinidad's Rishi Kanick, who made the only run all weekend in the 5.20s, a 5.28. Sixteen drivers attempted to qualify, and the bump was Frank Schuster's 5.44 in Tom Jones' blown-alcohol entry. Among the surprise non-qualifiers were John Finke, Mike Kosky, and 2011 world champ Duane Shields.

??????????? Page edged Gainesville regional winner Richard Bourke on a slight holeshot in round one, 5.522 to 5.521, and Kanick in the semi's, 5.32 to 5.48. Reichert's Rislone dragster ran a 5.38 in the opening round against early season points leader Rich McPhillips, who went up in smoke, and a consistent 5.37 in the semifinals against resurgent Karen Stalba.

?????????

Veney vs. Manzo

Down six-hundredths going into the final, Reichert hopped it up and went just 100 feet before losing traction. "I had to," he said. "I thought I saw a few places where we could improve, but the car said, 'No way.' They gave me the lane I wanted ? the one I'd been in all day ? but it didn't make it."

??????????? Manzo dominated Top Alcohol Funny Car, qualifying No. 1 with a 5.49 and running quicker on his worst run of eliminations (5.52) than any other driver did on his best. He singled to a 5.51 in the first round when Marie Ferriolo was unable to return after hurting a fuel pump in qualifying. A 5.52 in the semifinals covered Eric Lourie's 5.69, and a 5.50 in the final was more than enough against Todd Veney, who smoked the tires off the line.

??????????? "It almost didn't make it," said Manzo, famous for never being satisfied. "It was right on the edge, and I was lucky to make it down the track every time. I really thought I was in trouble."

??????????? Veney, driving Jay Blake's Permatex/Follow A Dream car, got around Matt Gill with a 5.58 in round one and alternate John Anderika with a 5.56 in the semifinals. Gill, making his first run ever with someone in the next lane, shut off to a 6.05 at 204 mph. Anderika got in as an alternate for John Headley and won the first round over D.J. Cox, who qualified No. 2 with a career-best 5.56 at more than 260 mph.

In Comp Eliminator it was Frank Aragona Jr. defending his event title from a year ago and picking up his second win of the year.? The Freehold, N.J., racer held on to defeat Mike Miscovsky, Quakertown, Pa., with a pass of 8.065, 153.04.

Mike Sawyer also scored his second win of the year in Super Gas with a 0.014 second package and a 9.901 second lap on the 9.90 index.? Sawyer beat Francis Ross who broke out with his ?67 Camaro.

In the Magnaflux Top Sportsman and Top Dragster classes presented by Select Performance, Michael Cerro was better at both ends of the track as he matched up with Anthony Arcuni and John Taylor made up the starting line advantage of Mike Gardner to take the win.? Cerro covered the quarter-mile in 6.982 seconds at 195.05 mph for the Top Sportsman trophy while Taylor went 7.344 at 174.39 in Top Dragster.

Lee Ream, Narvon, Pa., led start to finish over Chase Fahnestock, Newville, Pa., for the win in Super Comp while Casey Grubb, Milford, N.H., won on a double breakout with Frank Abad in Super Street.

The Super Stock title went to John Armstrong, Kingston, N.S., in his ?69 Corvette when John Kakalecik left early with a foul start and Don Pires Jr. was better than David Barton as he held on to win in Stock.

Northeast Division racers head to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park to meet up with the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and the Toyota NHRA Summernationals this weekend, May 30 ? June 2 before their next Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Lebanon Valley Dragway, June 14-16.?

The following are the final results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Maple Grove Raceway:

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER:
Round 1
1) Manuj Rishi Kanick, Trinidad, 5.421, 244.12 def. 8) Frank Schuster, Chesterfield, N.J., 5.979,
254.66
2) Bill Reichert, Owosso, Mich., 5.387, 264.70 def. 7) Rich McPhillips, Phoenixville, Pa., 8.662,
96.60
4) Dan Page, Hampstead, N.H., 5.522, 266.27 def. 5) Richard Bourke, Old Tappan, N.J., 5.521, 255.05
3) Karen Stalba, Hammonton, N.J., 5.392, 263.92 def. 6) Wayne Morris, Lincoln University, Pa.,
5.592, 248.43

Semifinals
Page, 5.321, 268.76 def. Rishi Kanick, 5.486, 262.69
Reichert, 5.379, 263.31 def. Stalba, 5.418, 264.49

Finals
Page, 5.348, 274.89 def. Reichert, 11.527, 79.84

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR:
Round 1
5) Eric Lourie, Terryville, Conn., '02 Camaro, 5.778, 253.75 def.
4) Dan Pomponio, Berlin, N.J., '10 Monte Carlo, 16.990, 44.40

9) John Anderika, Wyoming, Pa., '10 Monte Carlo, 5.633, 253.56 def.
2) DJ Cox Jr., Whiteford, Md., '09 Monte Carlo, 11.950, 65.40

3) Todd Veney, Indianapolis, '08 Impala, 5.584, 258.62 def.
6) Mathew Gill, W Bridgewater, Mass., '08 Mustang, 6.052, 204.23

1) Frank Manzo, Mooresville, Ind., '10 Monte Carlo, 5.517, 259.86 def.
8) Marie Ferriolo, Allentown, N.J., '02 Camaro, broke

Semifinals
Veney, 5.565, 259.16 def. Anderika, broke
Manzo, 5.524, 260.86 def. Lourie, 5.698, 253.90

Final
Manzo, 5.509, 261.17 def. Veney, 6.753, 173.01

COMP ELIMINATOR
Frank Aragona, Freehold, N.J., dragster, F/ED, 8.065, 153.04 def. Mike Miscovsky, Quakertown, Pa.,
Fritz, C/DA, 6.975, 190.06

SUPER STOCK
John Armstrong, Kingston, N.S., '69 Corvette, SSA/A, 8.641, 153.91 def. John Kakalecik, Whitehouse
Station, N.J., '70 Plymouth, SS/CA, foul

STOCK ELIMINATOR
Don Pires Jr., Dighton, Mass., '72 Nova, H/SA, 11.372, 109.89 def. David Barton, Robesonia, Pa.,
'09 Challenger, CC/SA, 9.540, 132.48

SUPER COMP
Lee Ream, Narvon, Pa., dragster, 8.952, 164.99 def. Chase Fahnestock, Newville, Pa., dragster,
8.919, 159.95

SUPER GAS
Mike Sawyer, Leominster, Mass., '03 Cavalier, 9.901, 165.78 def. Francis Ross, Milford, N.H., '67
Camaro, 9.898, 163.97

SUPER STREET
Casey Grubb, Milford, N.H., '68 Camaro, 10.886, 136.63 def. Frank Abad, Wading River, N.Y., '68
Camaro, 10.883, 123.94

TOP SPORTSMAN PRESENTED BY SELECT PERFORMANCE
Michael Cerro, Mineola, N.Y., '63 Corvette, 6.982, 195.05 def. Anthony Arcuni, Babylon, N.Y., '07
GTO, 6.944, 199.61

TOP DRAGSTER PRESENTED BY SELECT PERFORMANCE
John Taylor, Apache Junction, Ariz., dragster, 7.344, 174.39 def. Mike Gardner, Haymarket, Va.,
dragster, 6.759, 197.88