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2000 Year in Review by Dave Mohn
The 2000 Northeast Division Drag Racing Season began at the Lancaster Host Resort and Conference Center for the 1999 Champions Award Ceremony. Thursday and Friday the Track Operator of the NHRA Northeast Division Member Tracks held their annual meeting. Announced at the meeting was the replacement of Sears Craftsman by the fine folks of Summit Racing Equipment as the primary sponsor of the ET Series. The Series is now known as the NHRA Summit Racing Series. This support should give the ET Series a real "shot in the arm." Also, S & W Race Cars renewed their involvement with the Summit ET Series by returning as the sponsor of the S & W Race Cars Race of Champions. The track operators of the National Opens in the division also decided to step up and create the Northeast Division Open Series and to crown champions in the six categories contested at these events. The Bounty Hunter Program is now in it’s second year and going strong. Select Performance came up with the Select Performance Best Performer Award to be given to the best package during eliminations to all categories from Comp Eliminator through Super Street and the ET Categories at the NHRA Summit Racing Series ET Finals. The first race of 2000 was the Pepsi First State National Open in Delmar, DE at US 13 Dragway. Charlie Cathell and Company had the place ready to go. Improvements over the winter made us anxious to get started. Fast times were the norm at this event. The winner in Super Stock was Jim Lydon over Don Ciccarone Jr. in an all GT/AA final. The Stock win went to Ken Miele over Jim Reid Jr. in a classic Ford versus Chevy match-up with the win going to the Ford. Super Comp Winner Doug Doll Jr. had his hands full defeating Ken Moses. Steve Drummond took Super Gas by .001 of a second from Larry Paden. Ray Balian swiped victory from the hands of Brad Givler to win Super Street. The weather cooperated for the first race. Maybe this is the start to a beautiful season?? The second race of the year was the Coors Light National Open at Atco Raceway in Atco, NJ. You have to have good thoughts going to a racetrack that has its own brand new BEER GARDEN!!! Anyway, the racing began on Friday with record runs aplenty. Air and track conditions made it seem like a rock could have set the record and in fact I think some may have. Teardown began Friday afternoon and was completed on Saturday. As I am writing this article, I am searching for log sheets from Saturday and Sunday and can’t find any. So that must mean we were rained out on Saturday. Good thing they have that BEER GARDEN!! Well after all was said and done, we got to go back to Atco again June 24. Thanks to Joe Sway and the Staff of Atco Raceway for providing the atmosphere needed to put on an event of this caliber. Englishtown, NJ – The Matco Tools Spring Supernationals was the next stop. The track was too good. So we let it rain the event out and come back in September. The first Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series Event of the year was held Memorial Day Weekend at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, PA. (For those of you who remember, the Memorial Day Holiday is the rain date for this event. Keep that in mind). Friday began like any other Friday – sun shining and plenty of smiling faces in the pits. Saturday arrived and the rain curtailed racing around 11:00 a.m. So we started out late on Sunday (due to the car count which forces us to run 1st round of some classes on Saturday) having to run all eliminations and the threat of rain. Needless to say it rained at around 7:00 p.m. Monday, our day off, we began racing at 9:00 a.m. and finished the event at 12:30 p.m. At least we finished it. Rich McPhillips took Federal-Mogul Dragster over a quicker Jeanie Booz on a hole-shot. Frank Manzo out ran Paul Gill in Federal-Mogul Funny Car. Erich Bollman took a popular win from Steve Ambrose in Comp Eliminator. Michael Barsky defeated Pat Toomey in Super Stock. Mark Dickerson buffaloed Billy Leber in Stock. John DiBartolomeo won Super Comp over Tom Boyle’s breakout. Billy Leber almost pulled off the double with a win over Mark Payne is Super Gas. Jeff Fisher jumped around a red-lighting Robbie Welch for the Super Street Win. Thanks to George Case and his crack staff for all of their help with this event. US 13 is stop number two on the FMDRS tour. The weather was hot, SUNNY and DRY!!!!!!!!!!! The race was uneventful with the exception of Jackie Rogge making a rare perfect run in Super Comp. We had a gamblers race on Friday with the Top 8 and Super Slam races on Saturday. Three days of sun with no threat of rain, unbelievable. Cliff Bozzelli took an emotional win in Federal-Mogul Dragster from Jeanie Booz. Bozzelli had a mishap with the guardrail here last year. Frank Manzo defeated Craig "It was Korn" English in Federal-Mogul Funny Car. English took a tour of the cornfield at the bottom of the track, but was able to continue with the event. Dave Northrop defeated Jeff Taylor to win Comp Eliminator. Peter Biondo took the win over Denny Steward to win Super Stock. Jack Matyas defeated Toby Lang to win his first Stock Crown. Kathy Mattos defeated local Danny Bastianelli to win Super Comp. Theodore Burtis beat Tom Stalba in Super Gas. Robbie Welch outran Brad Givler to the Super Street win. Special thanks to the fine folks at US 13 for all their hospitality. The Federal-Mogul All-Stars drew us to Columbus to the Pontiac Excitement Nationals presented by Summit Racing. Once again our team looked real good on paper. As a matter of fact it still looks good on paper. Don’t you agree??
2000 Federal-Mogul All-Star Team
Well, as usual, we spoke too soon. The lone winner was Dan Fletcher who will once again be allowed to go as the blocker in Super Stock. Congratulations to the team and better luck next time. Lebanon Valley Dragway in West Lebanon, NY was stop number three on the FMDRS tour. The absolute perfect weekend for a drag race. The temperature wasn’t too hot the sun was shining and no threat of rain. We’re feeling pretty good again about finishing the year on a dry note. Friday night the track had its annual Fourth of July celebration and all involved had a great time. Saturday was the racer bash put on once again by the Rothermel Family and Lebanon Valley Dragway. Special thanks to all involved with this picnic. The winner in Federal-Mogul Dragster was Jeanie Booz, who defeated Mike Gunderson. Frank Manzo defeated Bob Newberry to extend his points lead in Federal-Mogul Funny Car. Frank Aragona and his Subaru-powered dragster defeated Don Stratton and his Chevy Street Roadster to win Competition Eliminator. Pat Storey made the trip from Canada to take his truck to the Super Stock Win over Sal Biondo. Andy Kinash made it two years in a row in Stock with his win over Larry Pappas. Jeff Szilagyi defeated Wally Roberts in Super Comp. Ken Bowers took the Super Gas win from Steve Drummond. Mike Giuliano took a dead heat win from Ken Van Gorder in Super Street. Thanks once again to Tim & Kyle Barletta, Glen Grow, and the entire staff at Lebanon Valley Dragway. There’s a three week lull in the racing season prior to Numidia FMDRS. A well deserved rest for the traveling circus. The forecast for the race is very promising. Friday racing goes as scheduled as well as Saturday. Saturday evening, Max Naylor booked in Professional Wrestling as an added attraction. The show was great but the highlight of the evening was Mike Giuliano squaring off against Billy Curtin in the main ring. Racing started on Sunday as scheduled. Unfortunately, the rains came late in the day the event was concluded at the next stop on our tour, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Mike Kosky defeated Rich McPhillips in Federal-Mogul Dragster. Frank Manzo continued his unbeaten streak by defeating Franny Monaghan Jr. in Federal-Mogul Funny Car. The Federal-Mogul Dragster and Funny Car finals were completed just prior to the sky falling at Numidia Raceway. In Comp Eliminator, Jeff Taylor defeated Don Stratton. Super Stock championship contender Peter Biondo defeated Angelo DiTocco in a close race. Ron Urquhart took the Stock title from Billy Nees. Bob Bielaszka defeated Ken Moses for the win in Super Comp. Jeff Szilagyi made it two wins in a row in different classes with his win over Todd Beam in Super Gas. Mike Giuliano continued his streak with the final round victory over Eric Reiff. Special thanks to Max and Jane and the staff of Numidia Raceway for their efforts in putting on this event. Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ was the sight of our next event. With the weather ending Numidia the way it did, our spirits were a little diminished when we looked at the forecast. Friday went as scheduled with the completion of the Numidia event. Saturday was not so good. We got in one qualifying session for all categories. The afternoon was disturbed by intermittent drizzle and flaring tempers. If you were there you know the story. The plug was pulled on the day and we would try to complete as much as possible on Sunday. The curfew at Englishtown is very strict for 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday. We knew going in that it was impossible to complete the event on Sunday. Inevitably, we finished racing at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening with a lot of racing still to go. The decision was made to complete the event at Cecil County Dragway on Saturday. Tony Lebor defeated Cliff Bozzelli in Federal-Mogul Dragster. Frank Manzo continued his domination by taking out Paul Gill in Federal-Mogul Funny Car. Don Stratton continued his final round streak by winning Comp Eliminator over Jonathan Aloisio. Dan Fletcher took the win in Super Stock from Norm Hall. Joe DeMarzo defeated Lloyd MacKay in Stock. Derek Clark scored his first Wally by defeating Tom Goldman in Super Gas. Tom Stalba won Super Comp over Kent Hanley. Brett Albert took his Street Roadster to the winner's circle in Super Street by defeating John Schenone. After the Englishtown race, the tornado that is the Northeast Division Drag Racing Season took us to Mason-Dixon Dragway near Hagerstown, MD for the Northeast Division Jr. Drag Racing League Divisional Championships. With over 250 5hp Briggs and Stratton powered Jr. Dragsters pre-entered, our hopes were high for another successful race at Mason-Dixon. Friday time trials went as planned and the Race of Champions was scheduled for the afternoon. I don’t have to tell you, but it rained on our parade again. Luckily, it stopped in time for the festivities across the street at the chicken barbecue. Saturday morning, we picked up where we left off with The Race of Champions and Katy Rich took home the gold. After we finished that race, we went straight into regular eliminations. The event went smooth as silk. Thanks to Elmer and Kathy Wachter and the crew at Mason-Dixon Dragway for making this the most successful JDRL Championship event to date. The winner of the 8-9 yr. old age group was Brandon Spicer who defeated Tim Holtzapple. Daniel Lorenzo followed in his sister Alexa’s footsteps by taking the win in the 10-11 yr. old bracket over Joshua Gamber. Mark Roe defeated Frank Markward in the 12-13 yr. old age group. Second generation racer Franklin DiBartolomeo defeated Josh Starcher in the 14-17 yr. old age group to match his father’s Divisional win count for 2000. Cecil County Dragway was the following week. Friday went as planned with a great turnout for the Night qualifying session and jet cars. Saturday was a jam-packed day of racing excitement. We completed eliminations from Englishtown and completed qualifying for Cecil County. Everything went according to schedule. Sunday was one of the most horrific days of racing in recent memory. During the second round of Competition Eliminator, Ian Landies suffered fatal injuries when his Street Roadster crashed. Our thoughts and prayers go to the Landies family. Racing continued until the rains came. The completion date was set for October 21 -- Two months away. Federal-Mogul Dragster and Funny Car finals were completed in conjunction with the Keystone Nationals qualifying for those classes. Federal-Mogul Dragster went to Rich McPhillips who defeated Jeanie Booz. Federal-Mogul Funny Car honors went to Paul Gill who defeated Frank Manzo to end his unbeaten streak. When we returned to Cecil County, the weather was fantastic. Ken Keir won Comp Eliminator over Allen Stanfield. Michael Barsky bookended his season with a win over Peter Biondo in Super Stock. Robert Pare defeated good friend Robbie Hudlow in Stock eliminator. Jack Sepanek, Jr. beat Ken Moses, who borrowed Sepanek’s spare motor to run the event, to win Super Comp. This was also a rematch from the PA Dutch Classic final. Dan Northrop took the Super Gas Divisional Crown with his win over George Smith. Jeff Fisher defeated Keith Bowers in Super Street to tighten up the points chase in that category. We would like to thank Jim Halsey, Kathy Crouse, and the staff of Cecil County Dragway for their efforts during these events. The next week was the US Nationals in Indianapolis, IN. The race went smooth. Congratulations to the winners. The following week took us back to E-town for the conclusion of the Matco Tool Spring Supernationals. I thought it was September? The following week we were at Maple Grove Raceway for the Keystone Nationals. Another race in the books. Back to US 13 Dragway for the NHRA Summit Racing ET Finals. Thursday we had the Track Operators Race and Team Captain Race at the conclusion of time trials. The Track Operator title went to Tony DerMarcky of Island Dragway, while the Team Captain winner was Kevin Sway from Atco Raceway. Friday was more time trials with the S & W Race Cars Race of Champions. Ben Parks took the Super Pro honors, while Dahrl Clark, Jonathan Tisdale, and Brian Correll, won Heavy, Motorcycle, and Street respectively. Joining the winners in the Winner’s Circle was Michael Weney from S & W Race Cars. Saturday morning was the beginning of Team Eliminations. We began racing with heavy hearts, after hearing of the passing of Vinny Napp, a true Drag Racing Pioneer from Raceway Park in Englishtown. Vinny, you will truly be missed. The Team Spirit Award was also decided with Team Numidia Raceway warranting the honors. After nine round of racing in some categories, the overall Team Championship went to Atco Raceway. Super Pro honors went to Alan Glatt when he defeated Ben Calhoun in an all Team Capitol Raceway final. Anthony Fetch of Team Raceway Park defeated Jeff Pasquarillo from Team Atco to take the Heavy crown. Butch Zelinsky defeated good friend Chuck Kiger in an all Team Numida Motorcycle final. Matt Rosen beat Atco teammate Jamie Schreiter to take the Street Crown. Kristin Gagnon took the High School win for Team Lebanon Valley Dragway over Marques McClure of Maple Grove Raceway. Alan Glatt, Anthony Fetch, Butch Zelinsky, and Matt Rosen all earned the honor to go the AAA of Southern California/NHRA Finals to compete for the National Title in their respective classes. Good Luck to all. Thanks go out to Charlie Cathell and the staff of US 13 Dragway for putting on their usual great race. We would like to also thank the Track Operators and Team Captains for assisting in making this event as fun as it is. The Castrol GTX PA Dutch Classic at Maple Grove Raceway is for many the final event of the 2000 Season. It would be for us too, except we have to complete Cecil County FMDRS the following week. I know my story is kind of out of order, it’s the only way I could make sense out of it, so please bear with me. Traditionally this event draws racers from all over the Continent and this year’s event was no exception. Big money was up for grabs if a Stocker could make it into the 9-second ET Zone. Bobby DeArmond made the trek from New Mexico to throw his name in the hat with racers Tom Baird, Richard Todd, Joe Aluise, Jr. to name a few. Unfortunately, warm temperatures never made it conducive to the elusive 9-second time slip. But we had a race to run and by golly we’re going to run it. We also have Champions to crown in the Northeast Division Open Series. The Comp Eliminator race win went to Bob Rossi who defeated Series Champion Greg Kozera in the final. The Super Stock winner was Dean Stanfield who defeated Gene McBean. A strong showing by Jim Lydon gave him the Series Championship in Super Stock. Jim Conte won Stock Eliminator over Series Champion Stan Giermanski. Robert Moran, Jr. defeated Mark Parente in Super Gas. George Stack took home the Series Championship in Super Gas. Dennis Altman defeated Larry Pulver to win Super Street, while Don Garbinski was celebrating his Series Championship. Thanks to the NHRA Northeast Division Certification Team whose efforts go unnoticed 95 percent of the time. Without this group of individuals, the races we put on would never work. Their undaunted work effort has made the Northeast Division the place to race. George Case and the staff at Maple Grove Raceway also deserve a lot of recognition for the efforts that they played in making this event what it has become. On to Pomona and the NHRA Finals. Our Summit ET Competitors are anxious and willing to race on unfamiliar territory. Alan Glatt couldn’t make it out to Pomona, so we went in without a Super Pro racer. Anthony Fetch, Matt Rosen, and Butch Zelinsky are all relaxed and ready to race. Unfortunately, the Northeast Division’s contingent didn’t fare so well at the event but all had a great time and the experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity. After the Finals, was the National Championship Award Ceremony. The Northeast Division was well represented at the Banquet with three Federal-Mogul Championships. Dan Northrop took the Super Gas Title, While Pete Biondo won the Super Stock crown. Perennial Federal-Mogul Stand-out Frank Manzo also claimed the Federal-Mogul Funny Car Championship for the sixth time with a perfect 10 wins out of 10 races season. Congratulations to all. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA, in conjunction with the NHRA Northeast Division and Maple Grove Raceway has put together an interactive display promoting our sport. The Display involves three dragsters and Starting Line Christmas Tree. Reaction times are the basis for the display, plotting the three drivers of these cars in head-to head competition in a five round race. The cars were built by S & W Race Cars, with sponsorship dollars coming from Sunoco and Castrol. Competition Tire East (Goodyear) contributed to this project along with Compulink, Centerline Wheel, Paintworks Inc., and Riggeal’s Performance Fiberglass, Inc. Also on display at the Institute are Jr. Dragster’s donated by Grosso’s Performance and Parkway Corporation. The display is one of the main attractions for a sports related interactive area of the museum titled Sports Challenge. The Sports Challenge grand opening was November 18. Pat Croce, Philadelphia 76ers Owner was the emcee of the day’s festivities. As part of the grand opening ceremonies, several race cars were displayed outside the main entrance to the Institute. Those on hand were Jules and Richard Schonberger’s F/SM Firebird, Rich Orth’s ET Vega, Don Scholl’s Dragster, Tina Orth’s Jr. Dragster, John Ciccarone’s Jr. Dragster, Tom Ciccarone’s Super Stock truck and Street roadster, driven last year by James Antonette, Jr., and Tom Ciccarone, Jr’s Super Stock Grand Am. To say that the event was overwhelming is an understatement. In conclusion, 2000 was a very memorable season. The ups and downs and trials and tribulations were awe-inspiring. We had a few racers figure out why they are race car drivers and not Stuntmen.(I won’t mention any names but they both sound like Dan). Off the subject of Northrop and Fletcher. Back to racing. The Northeast Division family lost several members this year. Our sympathies and prayers go out to the families of all involved. We gained some new friends this year and found out that whatever Bob Lang did to the Man Upstairs last year, he hasn’t repented enough. Well, I have taken up enough of your time. Hope your holidays are wonderful and we hope to see you at the banquet to be held at a new location this year. Hershey, PA (Chocolatetown, USA) is home to the Hershey Lode and Convention Center, where the banquet will be held January 13, 2001. Thank you everyone for your support and for making Division One your home away from home. 2000 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series Champions FMD – Jeannie Booz FMFC – Frank Manzo Comp – Don Stratton Super Stock – Pete Biondo Stock – Mark Dickerson Super Comp – Tom Stalba Super Gas – Dan Northrop Super Street – Mike Giuliano
2001 NHRA Sportsman All Stars FMD – Jeannie Booz FMFC – Frank Manzo Comp – Dave Northrop Super Stock – Pete Biondo Stock – Mark Dickerson Super Comp –Joe Cambria Super Gas –Steve Drummond Super Street – Jeff Fisher
2000 Northeast Division Open Series Comp – Greg Kozera Super Stock – Jim Lydon Stock – Stan Giermanski Super Comp – Ken Moses Super Gas – George Stack Super Street – Don Garbinski
2000 Summit ET Series Super Pro – Alan Glatt Heavy – Anthony Fetch Street – Matt Rosen Bike/Sled – Butch Zelinsky High School – Kristin Gagnon
2000 Summit ET Series S & W Race Cars Race of Champions Super Pro – Ben Parks Heavy – Dahrl Clark Street – Brian Correll Bike/Sled – Jonathan Tisdale
2000 Northeast Division JDRL Championships 8-9 Yr. Old – Brandon Spicer 10-11 Yr. Old – Daniel Lorenzo 12-13 Yr. Old – Mark Roe 14-17 Yr. Old – Franklin DiBartolomeo Race of Champions – Katy Rich
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