Pro Sportsman Association
Top Alcohol Teams Headed For Late-Season Showdowns
Written by Will Hanna and Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo by David Smith
Bowling Green, KY – As the first year of regional competition for Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car teams winds down, championship battles in most regions are only intensifying. The West and Central divisions still have multiple events remaining, but in
the East, which wrapped up competition last weekend in Cecil County, Md., and the North Central, which concludes this weekend in Bowling Green, Ky., the situation is growing clearer.
Top Alcohol Dragster in the North Central Region remains the domain of five-time world champ Bill Reichert, who has won his last three regional starts – Maple Grove, Chicago, and Columbus. The only driver with even a remote chance to break his stranglehold is Ken Perry, who won the Norwalk event and has been to just four regionals this year. Odds dictate otherwise, but with a three-race win skein like the one Reichert put together this summer, the Canadian driver could end the season with four wins and a runner-up.
Bourke, Veney win Eastern Regional at Cecil County
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo by David Smith
Rising Sun, MD – At historic Cecil County Dragway at the final Eastern Regional event of the year, Richard Bourke parlayed qualifying success at recent events into his first victory of the season in Top Alcohol Dragster and Todd Veney won Top Alcohol Funny Car for
the second time this year.
“The car’s been running great in qualifying all year,” said Bourke, who paced the field at three of the four Eastern Regional events he entered this season, sometimes by as much as seven-hundredths of a second. “We’ve had a few problems in eliminations, but this time everything went right.”
Bourke was No. 1 after the first session with the only run in the 5.30s (5.38), was overtaken by Canadian Dan Mercier’s 5.37 in the last-shot session, and reclaimed the lead one pair later with a 5.36. Sixteen drivers attempted to qualify, and the bump was Frank Schuster’s 5.48.
Newburgh almost all the way back from crash
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Rock Falls, IL – After a devastating crash two years ago at the Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, where he slammed hard into the wall but escaped uninjured, Alcohol Funny Car veteran Kevin Newburgh is finally making his way back into competition. For Newburgh, a 
working man from a small town in the heart of the Midwest, the prototypical “little guy,” you don’t just come back overnight. It cost him half a year’s salary to rebuild.
“It really cleaned me out,” says Newburgh, a 43-year-old mechanic at Pillar’s Repair in his hometown of Rock Falls, Ill. “I do this all out of my pocket, and it can be pretty rough sometimes. I had to get a new body and have the chassis front-halved.”
On that fateful run, Newburgh crossed the centerline, corrected, and the next thing he knew, he was into the wall and the body was flying off the car. “I got out of the groove but thought I had it all straightened out,” he says. “I clipped a cone and cranked the wheel hard, and the car just took off like a bullet, shot across the track in the opposite direction, and smacked the wall sideways. The body was ruined and the chassis really got bent up.”
Gingles wins first ever, Foster his second this year at Cordova
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo Courtesy of Roger Richards
Cordova, IL – At the Midwest Regional event at Cordova Dragway Park, Canadian Gord Gingles picked up the first win of his Top Alcohol Dragster career and Chris Foster his second of the year in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Gingles was the picture of consistency throughout eliminations, running nothing but 5.30s in the summer heat to outduel a top-flight field that included some of the best cars in the country. The Winnipeg, Man., driver strapped a holeshot on returning veteran Dennis Drath in the final round with an outstanding .016 reaction time and sped to a consistent 5.37 at 267 mph for the victory. Drath, down a couple of car lengths by the half-track mark, shut off to a 6.05 after running between 5.40 and 5.42 all weekend.
Drath qualified in the top half with a 5.42 and took out many-time national event champions Marty Thacker and Chase Copeland in the preliminary rounds of eliminations. With a 5.34, his best run of the weekend, Gingles qualified No. 2 behind Randy Meyer, who set low e.t. with the only run in the 5.20s. Gingles was six-hundredths of a second behind Meyer but seven-hundredths ahead of the rest of the field in qualifying and never ran less than a 5.39 or slower than 266 mph all night.
Racing A/Fuel is just what the Doctor Ordered!
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo by David Smith
Kokomo, IN – Most doctors would probably rather vacation in exotic locales or just play golf, but for Dr. Jerry Powell, relaxation comes a quarter-mile at a time in a 270-mph A/Fuel Dragster.
“A lot of other doctors think I’m nuts,” says Powell, who runs a family practice in Kokomo, Ind., and pays for racing by working emergency-room shifts. “I’ve had some of them say, ‘Why would you want to do that?’ Save your money for when you retire.’ But everybody has to have their own thing, and racing is my thing. Why be 50 or 60 and look back and wish you’d done it? I can do this job until the day I die, and I’m going to race as long as I can.”
Powell’s interest in the medical profession began when a dump-truck tailgate slammed shut on his hand when he was 6 years old. “One of the first microscopic surgeons in the world was in Indianapolis, and he sewed the tips back on my fingers,” Powell says. “That was 1978.” Rehabbing for a year, he became increasingly enamored of medicine as he was making a complete recovery from his injuries. It wasn’t that long ago that he – like most doctors, presumably – knew little about drag racing, motorsports, or cars in general. Then he went to a track with his dad.
Jay Blake: Man on a Mission
Written by Todd Veney; Pro Sportsman Association
Photo by David Smith
Cape Code, MA – Jay Blake has never let a little thing like not being able to see slow him down. Blinded in an industrial accident in May 1997, he has gone on to accomplish things that he might never have if he was just another mechanic and drag racer, things like
inspiring thousands and changing people’s lives.
About the only thing the eternal optimist from Cape Cod, Mass., can’t do is drive his race car, which is fine with him – he never wanted to anyway. “The dream was never about driving,” Blake says. “It was always about working on the car.” He does more than just work on a race car, though; he’s the crew chief and owner of the Permatex/Follow A Dream Top Alcohol Funny Car, and for him, drag racing isn’t a hobby. It’s who he is and what he does.
When he’s not leading his team at events across North America or helping prepare his car for the next race, Blake demonstrates the power of positive thinking, determination, and teamwork – the foundation of Follow A Dream, the non-profit organization he formed in the late 1990s – through speaking engagements before tens of thousands of people at sponsor displays, vocational and technical schools, and corporate/business gatherings.
Demke Back on Top in TA/D, Whiteley rules TA/FC with 5.50
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Sonoma, CA – At the Western Region event in Sonoma, Calif., Winternationals and Gatornationals champion Chris Demke earned his first regional victory of the season i
n Top Alcohol Dragster and rookie Annie Whiteley her third in Top Alcohol Funny Car, both from the No. 1 qualifying spot.
Demke, shut out since his Gatornationals victory in March except for a Jegs Allstars win last month (which doesn’t count for points), paced the field in qualifying with a 5.30 and in eliminations overcame the electrical gremlins that have plagued the team for weeks for his first win ever at Sonoma. “This team had won at every track in California – Pomona, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Palmdale, Fontana – except this one,” he said.
Demke nearly remained winless at the picturesque facility in the wine country north of San Francisco but had just enough to take out Ray Martin in the final, 5.44 to 5.45. “The engine shut off and came back on twice on that run,” said Demke, who survived a close one in which both drivers made their first runs out of the 5.30s all day.
Reichert Takes 3rd in a row, Ferro Winning Ugly!
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo by Steve Fuhrman
Hebron, OH – Backed into a corner after losing early in his first two regional starts, Bill Reichert won his third straight to complete a perfect regional season and put himself in position to challenge runaway points leader Jim Whiteley for the Alcohol Dragster
championship. Mickey Ferro had a much tougher time the negotiating the treacherous National Trail Raceway surface but managed to eke out the win in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Reichert, upset in the first round at both Indianapolis and Norwalk, followed up his Maple Grove and Chicago wins by stopping Robin Samsel in the Columbus final, 5.40 to 5.84. “You try not to think about the pressure of having to win three races in a row for a perfect three-win regional season, but in the back of your mind, it’s always there,” said Reichert, who won every national championship from 2006 to 2010 and settled for second last year. “I just tried to concentrate on winning each round and dealing with the conditions.”
Finke wins first in 3 years, Manzo 3rd this year
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo by David Smith
Epping, NH – Before a packed house at the Eastern Regional event at New England Dragway, John Finke had a .006 reaction time in the under-the-lights Top Alcohol Dragster final and ran a consistent 5.36 to stop No. 1 qualifier Richard Bourke. In Top Alcohol Funn
y Car, defending event champ Frank Manzo overcame a rare late light to run down John Anderika by seven-thousandths of a second, 5.60 to 5.69.
“This is one of the best wins I’ve ever had – definitely the best one that wasn’t a national event,” said Finke, a three-time national event champion. “I almost didn’t believe it when I got out of the car at the top end of the track. I thought ‘I did win, didn’t I?’ because I never saw my win light come on. I didn’t know for sure until the crew came down there flashing the lights at me.”
Finke had endured five runner-ups since his last victory, at the Englishtown Division 1 event in 2009. “The last couple of years were pretty tough,” he said. “We got close a few times but could never get the job done.”
Lawrence surprises in TAD, Payne sweeps TAFC at Woodburn
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Woodburn, OR – At the Les Schwab Challenge Western Regional event at Woodburn Dragstrip, Gregg Lawrence came from the last spot in the field to take down championship contenders Joey Severance and Chris Demke for Top Alcohol Dragster honors, and all-time great Jay Payne
outlasted a top-flight field of Top Alcohol Funny Cars for his second victory of the season and passed idle Frank Manzo for second place in the national standings.
Lawrence upset Severance, the two-time defending event champion and pre-race favorite, in the opening round with a steady 5.55. Severance, a co-owner of the track, shook the tires off the starting line and slowed to an 8.57 after the chutes deployed. Lawrence soloed in the semifinals and met Demke, who set the track record (5.32) in qualifying, in the final.
Demke, who ran a 5.33 in the first round and a 5.35 in a semifinal win over Megan McKernan, coasted to a 17.96 after a wire to the six-shooter became disconnected when the car rattled the tires in low gear. Lawrence, who got quicker and quicker in every round, scooped up the win with his best run of the weekend, 5.53.
