Pro Sportsman Association
Demke, Whiteley Claim Victory at Route 66 Nationals
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Joilet, IL – At the Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, overdue Chris Demke picked up his first win of the season in Top Alcohol Dragster, 
and Annie Whiteley prevailed at a national event for the first time in her career in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Demke led Rishi Kanick wire to wire in the final for a 5.31 to 5.44 victory, his first in six 2013 finals, including the Jegs Allstars race the previous day, which he lost by just 12-thousandths of a second. “This kind of took the edge off the Allstars race,” he said. “And it really helps us in the points, too. Going to all those finals and not winning makes you kind of give up on the points chase after a while, but now it looks like we’re right back in it.”
Reichert, Brand Top Jegs Allstars Fields
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Joliet, IL – At the Jegs Allstars race at Route 66 Raceway, Bill Reichert edged defending event champ Chris Demke in a classic Top 
Alcohol Dragster final, 5.31 to 5.32, and Dale Brand, hot off a regional win over Frank Manzo, got the job done in Top Alcohol Funny Car with a 5.59, low e.t. of eliminations.
Reichert’s victory was the third of his career at the Allstars race but the first without him also qualifying for the Route 66 Nationals, which is run in conjunction with the prestigious event. “It’s been a long time since I didn’t qualify,” said the five-time world champ. “I couldn’t even tell you when the last time was – probably right after we started running A/Fuel [in 2000.]”
Whiteleys Complete Consecutive Tulsa Sweeps
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Tulsa, OK – For the second year in a row, the husband-and-wife team of Jim and Annie Whiteley swept Top Alcohol honors at the Tulsa 
Lucas Oil Series event. Jim led the Top Alcohol Dragster contingent from wire to wire, and wife Annie overcame severe shake in the final round to outlast a tough Alcohol Funny Car class.
Jim’s victory was his second in two weeks, including an equally dominant score in Denver. This time, he emerged victorious from a comprised almost entirely of A/Fuelers; of 10 cars in attendance, the only one other than Whiteley’s with a blown-alcohol setup belonged to Mark Taliaferro, who only recently made the switch back from injected-nitro.
Booher Wins Second, Brand Stops Manzo
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Cordova, IL – At the Central Region Lucas Oil Series event at Cordova Dragway Park, Brandon Booher ruled Top Alcohol Dragster for 
the second week in a row and Dale Brand won Top Alcohol Funny Car over Frank Manzo, running his lifetime win-loss record against the reigning world champ to 2-0.
Booher, who went the distance for the first time in his career just two weeks ago at Chicago’s Route 66 Raceway, won a tight final over veteran Robin Samsel, 5.45 to 5.46, after taking an even closer semifinal win over Dave Hirata. “Both of those guys stepped up,” Booher said. “I was shooting for .40-flat or a .41 in the final, but I got a little greedy and shook and spun the tires. There he was – boom, right beside me – but the car made it through the shake without me having to pedal. I probably wrung out both gears a little more than I should have, but we got it done.”
TAD/TAFC coverage from Denver, Mission, and Lebanon Valley
Finke, Veney Score at Lebanon Valley
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
At the East Regional at Lebanon Valley Dragway in the mountains of upstate New York, John Finke won Top Alcohol Dragster from the No. 1 spot and Todd Veney did likewise in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Competing at his home track, Finke completed a storybook weekend with a final-round decision over teammate Jackie Fricke, who was appearing in her first regional final. They left almost.050 lights and Finke earned the title with a consistent 5.48 when Fricke, driving Joe Cantrell’s car, went up in smoke.
Booher, Foster Shine at Route 66 Regional
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Joliet, IL – At the North Central regional at Route 66 Raceway, Brandon Booher went the distance for the first time in his Top Alcohol 
Dragster career and Chris Foster for the second race in a row in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Booher, who qualified high at the first two races this season only to be upset in the opening round, paced an outstanding field (5.44 bump) with a career-best 5.32 at 271 mph and stayed in the 5.30s throughout eliminations, including a 5.38 in the final against Chris Demke, who smoked the tires, backpedaled, and lost with a 5.92 at 255 mph.
Page, Manzo Win Maple Grove Regional
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
At the Eastern Regional 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.
Thacker, Foster Win Norwalk, Earn Allstars Bids
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Norwalk, OH – At the Lucas Oil Series event at Norwalk, which again hosted a capacity crowd Saturday and had fans lined up for miles 
both directions, Marty Thacker sealed a spot on the Jegs Allstars team with his first Alcohol Dragster victory since 2011, and Chris Foster beat John Anderika in the Top Alcohol Funny Car final for the second year in a row.
Thacker defeated rookie 28-year-old rookie Kyle Michalek in a close final, 5.40 to 5.45, and never ran out of the 5.40s all weekend. “We were trying to get into the .30s in the final, and we might have made it if I’d wrung out 2nd gear another 100 or 150 rpm,” he said. “He pulled on me through the middle and I pulled on him at the top end. It sounded like his car was fading a little at the end, but I’ve raced those A/Fuel cars too many times to ever take anything for granted.”
Canadian Teams Take Both Alcohol Classes at Topeka
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Topeka, KS – Canadian teams swept the weather-plagued Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka, where Alan Bradshaw picked up 
his first win in 10 years in Top Alcohol Dragster and Jirka Kaplan earned his first ever in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Bradshaw wasn’t looking good at half-track in the final, but opponent Chris Demke’s engine went silent at the 2-3 shift, allowing Bradshaw, who last scored in 2003, when he won the national championship driving for Randy Meyer’s team, to race by for a 5.49 win. Demke’s blower snout broke, which shed the belt, slowed him to a 5.86, and left him with three runner-ups in three national event finals this year and four in four career finals in Topeka.
Reichert, Bohl Win Indy North Central Opener
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Indianapolis, IN – At the rain-plagued North Central opener in Indianapolis, five-time world champ Bill Reichert got his second win in 
three starts in Top Alcohol Dragster, and Andy Bohl became one of the few drivers in years to beat Frank Manzo in a Top Alcohol Funny Car final. Eliminations, already postponed a week, were run in their entirety on Monday after racers in all classes except the Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car headed home Sunday night following a long day sitting in the rain.
In the Top Alcohol Dragster final, Reichert left within thousandths of Thacker in a battle of former U.S. Nationals winners and scored with a consistent 5.42 opposite Thacker’s close 5.46. “Bill’s no fun to race anymore,” Thacker said. “I’ve never seen anyone completely turn his reaction times around the way he has. If this was a couple of years ago, I would have beat him on a holeshot.”
