NHRA FMDRS: Lebore, Manzo lead field in Englishtown

14 August 2000

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. – The rain stopped long enough to allow Federal-Mogul Dragster, Federal-Mogul Funny Car and Comp Eliminator to complete all rounds of qualifying at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park under cool and cloudy conditions.

Tony Lebore of Delray Beach Fla., who was unable to field his dragster in the first round of qualifying, came out swinging in the second round with a pass of 5.483 seconds at 237.63 mph. Lebore, who is car owner Michael Bartone’s father-in-law, had never made a pass in the new dragster set a personal best time on the first run.

"The car drifted towards the wall at about the 800-900 foot mark," said an elated Lebore. " I tried to correct it [the vehicles direction] but the car still headed towards the wall when I noticed the front wheels were off the ground. I pulled the chutes and clicked it off at about the 1100 foot mark to keep it from going into the wall; who knows what this car can do, that was fun!"

Frank Manzo of Morganville, N.J. needed only his first pass of the day to set the track e.t. record and take home the Winston Top Qualifier Award of $1000 posting a time of 5.592 seconds at 258.96 mph. Manzo’s pass was picture perfect; straight from beginning to end.

"We put a new motor in the car so we weren’t sure what to expect," said Manzo. " We set the car up soft thinking the track wouldn’t hold the car too well, but the track and weather were better than expected."

Manzo’s second pass of the day had him smoking the tires off the line and had him clicking it off by the 300 foot mark.

"We overpowered the track on the second run today," said Manzo. "I broke the tires loose just off the line and rather than hurt the car, I decided to shut her off early."

Dates, times and location of where the remainder of this race will be run have not been announced as of yet, please refer to the Northeastern Division website at www.nhradiv1.com for further details as they are available.

The following are Saturday’s final qualifying results from the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park:

FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER

    1.. Tony Lebor, Delray Beach, Fla., 5.483 seconds, 237.63 mph vs. 
    8. Bruce Horner, Bergenfield, N.J., 5.801, 244.03

    2.. Rich McPhillips, Phoenixville, Pa., 5.589, 238.51 vs. 
    7. Doug Foley, Wappingers Falls, N.Y., 5.790, 252.00

    3.. Cliff Bozzelli, Absecon, N.J., 5.597, 252.76 vs.
    6. Steve Cantrell, Wilmington, Del., 5.684, 241.28

    4.. Jeanie, Booz, Blooming Glen, Pa., 5.601, 253.42 vs.
    5.. Mike Kosky, Cuddy, Pa., 5.644, 252.47
    (Alternates)

    9. Dave DeAngelis, Middlesex, N.J., 5.957, 229.47

    10. Jeff Veale, Stoney Creek, Ont., 6.361, 213.03

    11. Ken Winward, Wilmington, Del., 6.482, 162.80

    12. Karen Benkovich, Fanwood, N.J., 8.291, 102.88

    13. Art Gallant, Boxboro, Mass., 12.170, 63.19

    14. John Headley, Newportville, Pa., 13.847, 38.49

    15. Fred Altrberg, Bergenfield, N.J., 24.489, 24.46

    

    FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR 

    1. Frank Manzo, Morganville, N.J. ’00 Dodge,5.592 seconds,258.96 mph vs. 8. Eric Lourie, Terryville, Conn., ’99 Camaro, 5.958, 249.86

    2. Tony Bartone, Manhasset, N.Y., ’99 Camaro, 5.606, 256.84 vs. 

    6.. Bruce Mullins, Fredricksburg, Va., ’98 Mustang, 5.884, 238.38
    3. Paul Gill, Brockton, Mass., ’96 Dodge, 5.623, 257.78 vs. 

    7.. Craig English, Mt. Holly, N.J., ’93 Firebird, 5.833, 245.09
4. Bob Newberry, Schenectady, N.Y., ’00 Dodge, 5.723, 250.64 vs.

5. Frank Monaghan Jr., Willow Grove, Pa., ’00 Camaro, 5.831, 247.20

(Alternates) 

9. Eddie Fisher, Milford, Conn., ‘97 Firebird, 6.128, 236.55

10. John Fiorini, Dalton, Mass., ’93 Saab, 6.367, 218.62

11. William Fulford, Virginia Beach, Va., ’00 Corvette, 7.007, 173.43

12. Dave Keddy, Ashland, Mass., ’96 Cutlass, 12.966, 63.39

13. Jim Lape, Myerstown, Pa., ’98 Camaro, 14.282, 89.39

COMP ELIMINATOR

    1.. Frank Aragona, Franklin Square, N.Y.,’98 Dragsrer G/ED, 8.399 seconds,(0.701 seconds under index)
    2.. Don Stratton, Beloit, Ohio, ’37 Roadster B/SR, 8.044,(-0.696)
    3.. Jeff Taylor, Lumberton, N.C., ’00 Camaro D/A, 7.878,(-0.682)
    4.. Ian Landies, Chardon, Ohio, ’34 Chevrolet A/SR, 8.002,(-0.678)
    5.. Dave Northrop, Perkasie, Pa., ’96 Cutlass H/A, 8.314,(-0.676)
    6.. Greg Kozera, Monroe, Conn., ’98 Dragster D/ED, 7.481,(-0.649)
    7.. Frank Affronti, Ontario, N.Y., ’97 Camaro C/A, 7.590,(-0.630)
    8.. Jonathan Aloisio, West Chester, Pa., ’98 Grand Am E/SM,8.310,(-0.610)
    9.. Jules Schonberger, Philadelphia, Pa., ’97 Cutlass H/A, 8.392,(-0.598
    10.. Bob Rossi, Woodbridge, N.J., ’92 Dragster A/A, 6.803,(-0.587)