Pro Sportsman Association
Meyer, Bartone Persevere in Houston
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Houston, TX – At the rain-plagued NHRA Spring Nationals at water-logged Royal Purple Raceway, Randy Meyer continued his recent 
resurgence in Top Alcohol Dragster and Tony Bartone won his second national event in a row in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Meyer, a six-time runner-up last season, moved into second place in the national standings behind only Jim Whiteley, whom he beat in the final, 5.36, 271 to a slowing 5.46, 221. “Whiteley’s been kicking my butt for a couple years now,” he said. “He and that whole team are tough and don’t make many mistakes.”
Whiteley led late in the race but the back two blower studs on each side broke, killing the boost and allowing Meyer, who crossed the finish line going 50 mph faster, to zoom by for his fourth career title and first since the 2007 Gatornationals. “He wasn’t pulling away from me, and I wasn’t catching him either, but somewhere between half-track and 1,000 feet he dropped back fast, and instead of coming up a little short like we did so many times last year, we got the win,” Meyer said. “We didn’t beat ourselves for a change.”
TAD/TAFC Autograph Sessions at All National Events
Anaheim, CA – The Pro Sportsman Association, in conjunction with Lucas Oil Products and NHRA, is working to get fans closer to the 
stars of Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car through autograph sessions at every national event, starting this weekend in Houston.
“This is a great way to promote alcohol racing and get our fan base more involved in what we do,” said PSA President and Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Ray Drew. “Wherever the alcohol cars are competing, we want to be available to interact directly with our fans. The PSA membership is growing, a series of hero cards will be available soon, and a lot of good things are happening.”
Reichert, Pomponio Take Charlotte
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Charlotte, NC – At the 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, five-time Top Alcohol Dragster world champ Bill Reichert earned his first 
national event title of the season and Dan Pomponio maintained his torrid pace in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Reichert took the Top Alcohol Dragster final by default when rookie Rishi Kanick, competing his first national event and second race ever, left before the Tree came on. Kanick rolled in as soon as Reichert pre-staged, and when Reichert lit the staged beam, Kanick took off and received no e.t.
Meyer Back On Top in TA/D, 3 in a Row For Pomponio in TA/FC
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Dinwiddie, VA – With victories at the Lucas Oil Series event at Virginia Motorsports Park, Randy Meyer got back in the Top Alcohol 
Dragster winner’s circle after a year of final-round futility and Dan Pomponio continued his amazing success in Top Alcohol Funny Car to take over the national points lead.
Meyer nipped Canadian Dan Mercier in the Top Alcohol Dragster final in the best race of the weekend, 5.321 to 5.330. “If this was last year, I would have lost,” said Meyer, who dropped all six of his final-round appearances in 2012 – three at regional events, two at national events, and one at the Jegs Allstars race. “Maybe this year, we’ll win the close ones.”
Meyer set top speed in the final at 271.57 mph, eclipsing the 270.86 he had run in a semifinal win over No. 1 qualifier Dan Page. “I didn’t get after it as hard for the final because I was afraid of smoking the tires and beating myself like I did last year,” he said. “I really didn’t expect him to pick up a tenth and make it that close.”
Severance, Bartone Continue Vegas Dominance
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo by Competition Plus
Las Vegas, NV – Top Alcohol Dragster veteran Joey Severance, appearing in his sixth final in eight years at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor 
Speedway, and Tony Bartone, who was in his fifth Top Alcohol Funny Car final in a row there, scored again at the desert supertrack. Severance edged Chris Demke by about a foot, 5.45 to 5.44, for the SummitRacing.com Nationals title, and Bartone nipped emerging star Shane Westerfield, 5.66 to 5.69, for his 37th career win.
“I don’t know what it is about this place, but it’s my second-favorite track in the world,” said Severance, who is a co-owner of Woodburn Dragstrip. He and Demke actually made their worst runs of eliminations in a final decided by just three-thousandths of a second. Severance, who has countless .00 lights to his credit, got off the mark first with a .057 reaction time and ran a 5.45, and Demke cut a .070 and clocked a 5.44. Demke’s Operational Solutions/Peen Rite/801 entry broke a lifter three seconds into the run and eventually kicked a rod.
Jim, Annie Whiteley Dominate Vegas Regional
Written by Todd Veney
Las Vegas, NV – For the second year in a row, Jim and Annie Whiteley’s YNot Racing team swept the Las Vegas spring Regional, Jim in 
Top Alcohol Dragster and wife Annie in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Jim led the dragster contingent from wire to wire, setting low e.t. of all three qualifying sessions and two of three rounds of eliminations, and Annie came from the No. 2 spot to defeat Doug Gordon in the Top Alcohol Funny Car final with low e.t. of the event, 5.59.
Jim, who beat Chris Demke last season in a final that had to be rerun after something blew through the lights in Demke’s lane as they approached the finish line the first time, was a winner before he passed the Tree this time on Don St. Arnaud’s foul start. “I saw the red-light before my green came on,” Whiteley said. “It can mess you up sometimes, but I didn’t mind because we weren’t running as good as we did here last year.”
Bourke, Pomponio Take First Regional Wins of 2013
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Gainesville, FL – At the Eastern Regional opener at Auto Plus Raceway in Gainesville, Richard Bourke extended his late-season reign 
from 2012 with a victory in Top Alcohol Dragster and veteran Dan Pomponio picked up his first Top Alcohol Funny Car win since the 2005 Maple Grove divisional, where he upset both Bob Newberry and Frank Manzo.
In unseasonably cold temperatures, Rich McPhillips, the reigning Eastern Region champ, and Bourke staged for what was expected to be side-by-side 5.30s in the Top Alcohol Dragster final. Bourke, who had more points per race than anyone in the region last year, and McPhillips, who scored once in 2012 and reached four finals, left together, but McPhillips was up in smoke before the 200-foot mark.
Williams Wins Central TAFC Title By One Point
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo by David Smith
Running on a fraction of some teams’ budgets, Kirk and Chris Williams won the Central Region Top Alcohol Funny Car championship 
over Kris Hool, 299 to 298. “You never think you’re having a good year while you’re going through it,” Williams said. “Then you look up at the end, and you won the championship.”
Williams got it by a single point, so a different outcome in any round anywhere all year, and Hool would have won the title. Both scored twice – Hool at Gainesville in February and late in the year at the rain-delayed Topeka event that was completed in Earlville. Williams won his first regional start of the season, in Denver, and at Earlville for what he considers the biggest win of his long career. Williams’ season ended one race later with a semifinal loss in Noble, but Hool, who’s been touring the country the past two years, had one race left, the Las Vegas event on the penultimate weekend of the season, where he needed to win one round to take the title.
TAFC Rookie Annie Whiteley Dominates the West With Five Wins
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Shocking everybody, especially herself, rookie Annie Whiteley put together a perfect five-win/425-point season to dominate the West 
Region, home to the two most prolific Top Alcohol Funny Car drivers other than Frank Manzo – Tony Bartone and Jay Payne – and multiple national event winners Clint Thompson, John Lombardo Jr., Doug Gordon, Steve Gasparrelli, and Brian Hough.
“I don’t know how to put words to it,” Whiteley said. “Our goals this year were to win a national and a regional race, and we almost got one of them and more than accomplished the other.”
Straight to the Top: Gingles Wins Central Region TAD Title
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Gord Gingles was as surprised as anyone when he came out of nowhere to win the Central Region championship this year. “It’s still hard 
to believe we finished on top,” said Gingles, an unknown from Winnipeg, Man., who had run just a handful of races in Top Alcohol Dragster before 2012.
Randy Meyer was supposed to win. “He had the better car at so many races,” Gingles said.
“That car went A to B all the time,” Meyer said of Gingles’ ride, “The Bull” A/Fuel Dragster owned and tuned by Clif Bakx. “I didn’t really know those guys, didn’t even know what the driver looked like, but you really have to hand it to them. They did a good job this year.”
