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NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series- SAT Results from Cecil County Dragway


NHRA LUCAS OIL DRAG RACING SERIES - NHRA NORTHEAST DIVISION
CECIL COUNTY DRAGWAY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2003

Bourke and Manzo Tops at Cecil County Dragway 
RISING SUN, Md. -In the final rounds of qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event being held at Cecil County Dragway, Top Alcohol Dragster driver Richard Bourke and Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Frank Manzo both qualified No. 1 in their respective fields.
In Top Alcohol Dragster, Bourke of Old Tappan, N.J., laid down a 5.417-second pass at 264.75 mph to take the top spot in the class and earn his first No 1 of the year. Qualified in second with a 5.503 second pass at 258.96 mph is Cuddy, Pa., racer Mike Kosky. Rich McPhillips of Phoenixville, N.J., is third. 
Among the surprise non-qualifiers in the class were current NHRA Northeast Division points leader Doug Foley of Sewell, N.J., and former NHRA Southeast Division champ Michael Gunderson of Middleburg, Fla.
Manzo, of Morganville, N.J., took his '03 Firebird to the top spot in Top Alcohol Funny Car after thundering to a 5.651-second pass at 255.58 mph. Qualified second with a 5.735 second pass at 250.13 mph is Brockton, Mass., racer Paul Gill. Todd Veney of Indianapolis is third at a 5.820-second pass at 250.04 mph. This is the fourth time this year that Manzo, the defending national and divisional champ in the class, has qualified in the No. 1 spot. 
	In Competition Eliminator, Michele Costa, of Freehold, N.J., recorded a 9.016-second pass behind the wheel of her Volkswagen powered dragster to take the lead in the class. Qualified in the second and third spots are Maspeth, N.Y., runner, Sal Biondo and Al Ackerman of Saddle Brook, N.J. 		
Anthony Cretella of Newington, Conn., drove his '86 Camaro to a 9.436-second pass to claim the No. 1 spot in Super Stock. Billy Leber Jr. of Tonawanda, N.Y., is qualified second, while South River, N.J., racer Richard Dioro is third. 
In Stock Eliminator, John Ruth of Baltimore piloted his '77 Omega to the No. 1 qualifying position after laying down a pass of 13.056 seconds. Claiming the second spot is Brian Van Poppel of Perry Hall, Md. Tim Abbazia of Greenwich, Conn., is currently third. 
As a reward for their qualifying efforts, Bourke and Manzo each earned $1250 as part of the Sealed Power Low Qualifier Bonus. Costa and Cretella earned $400 each, while Ruth earned $200 as part of the bonus from Sealed Power.  
In addition to qualifying for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competitors, Cecil County Dragway fans were also treated to 200-mph, side-by-side Pro Modified exhibitions and Jet Cars.  In the Pro Modified exhibition qualifying, Kent Ferrell of Aberdeen, Md., qualified in the top spot with a 6.348 second pass at 223.32 mph. Cecil County track owner Jim Halsey qualified second with a 6.381 second pass at 221.24 mph. 
Gates at Cecil County Dragway open Sunday at 8 a.m. with eliminations in Competition Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street are set to continue at 9 a.m.  Eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car are scheduled for noon. For more information please contact Cecil County Dragway at (410) 287-6280 or visit them on the web at www.CecilCountyDragway.com
The following are Saturday's qualifying results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at the Cecil County Dragway:

Top Alcohol Dragster
1) Richard Bourke, Old Tappan, N.J., 5.417 seconds, 264.75 mph
2) Mike Kosky, Cuddy, Pa., 5.503, 258.96
3) Rich McPhillips, Phoenixville, Pa., 5.538, 252.57
4) Cliff Bozzelli, Absecon, N.J., 5.556, 253.42
5) Fran Monaghan Jr., Meadowbrook, Pa., 5.586, 258.37
6) David De Angelis, Middlesex, N.J., 5.615, 250.23
7) Steven Cantrell, Wilmington, Del., 5.630, 252.10
8) Tony Bartone, Manhasset, N.Y., 5.672, 256.75
Not Qualified
9) Karen Benkovich, Fanwood, N.J., 5.676, 225.15
10) Mark Albert, Baldwin, Pa., 5.679, 245.09
11) Bruce Horner, Bergenfield, N.J., 5.684, 248.20
12) Douglas Foley, Sewell, N.J., 5.712, 216.62
13) Steve Lamplough, Severna Park, Md., 5.852, 203.09
14) Michael Gunderson, Middleburg, Fla., 9.967, 91.79
15) Ken Winward, Wilmington, Del., (no time)

First round TAD pairings
1) Richard Bourke, Old Tappan, N.J., 5.417 seconds, 264.75 mph vs. 8) Tony Bartone, Manhasset, N.Y., 5.672, 256.75
2) Mike Kosky, Cuddy, Pa., 5.503, 258.96 vs. 7) Steven Cantrell, Wilmington, Del., 5.630, 252.10
3) Rich McPhillips, Phoenixville, Pa., 5.538, 252.57 vs. 6) David De Angelis, Middlesex, N.J., 5.615, 250.23
4) Cliff Bozzelli, Absecon, N.J., 5.556, 253.42 vs. 5) Fran Monaghan Jr., Meadowbrook, Pa., 5.586, 258.37

Top Alcohol Funny Car
1) Frank Manzo, Morganville, N.J., '03 Firebird, 5.651 seconds, 255.58 mph
2) Paul Gill, Brockton, Mass., '01 Avenger, 5.735, 250.13
3) Todd Veney, Indianapolis, Ind., '00 Avenger, 5.820, 250.04
4) Bob Newberry, Schenectady, N.Y., '03 Camaro, 5.922, 227.80
5) Darrel Cox, Whiteford, Md., '00 Firebird, 6.021, 230.53
6) Dan Pomponio, Berlin, N.J., '99 Camaro, 6.099, 234.53
7) Charles Gambino, Daytona Bch, Fla., '98 Cutlass, 6.146, 230.80
8) Bobby Martindale, Chester, Va., Daytona, 6.558, 160.06

First round TAFC pairings
1) Frank Manzo, Morganville, N.J., '03 Firebird, 5.651 seconds, 255.58 mph vs. 8) Bobby Martindale, Chester, Va., Daytona, 6.558, 160.06
2) Paul Gill, Brockton, Mass., '01 Avenger, 5.735, 250.13 vs. 7) Charles Gambino, Daytona Bch, Fla., '98 Cutlass, 6.146, 230.80
3) Todd Veney, Indianapolis, Ind., '00 Avenger, 5.820, 250.04 vs. 6) Dan Pomponio, Berlin, N.J., '99 Camaro, 6.099, 234.53
4) Bob Newberry, Schenectady, N.Y., '03 Camaro, 5.922, 227.80 vs. 5) Darrel Cox, Whiteford, Md., '00 Firebird, 6.021, 230.53

Competition Eliminator
1) Michele Costa, Freehold, N.J., Capraun, G/D, 9.016 seconds, -0.714 (under index)
2) Sal Biondo, Maspeth, N.Y., '93 Beretta, D/EA, 8.402, -0.618
3) Al Ackerman, Saddle Brook, N.J., ProStart, F/D, 8.214, -0.556
4) Douglas Harris, Millville, N.J., '02 S-10, PSTA, 7.754, -0.546
5) Patrick Ross Sr, Avon Lake, Ohio, '03 Grand Am, F/A, 8.342, -0.498
6) Billy Griffin, Norwalk, Conn., '92 Camaro, E/AA, 8.041, -0.459
7) Tommy Ciccarone Jr., West Chester, Pa., '03 Cavalier, D/SMA, 8.853, -0.447
8) Jonathan Aloisio, W Chester, Pa., '98 Grand Am, B/SM, 8.403, -0.427
9) Allen Stanfield, Fredericksburg, Va., '99 Grand Am, F/SM, 9.073, -0.427
10) Santo Volpe, Cocoa, Fla., '63 Corvette, A/SR, 8.214, -0.426

Super Stock
1) Anthony Cretella, Newington, Conn., '86 Camaro, GT/BA, 9.436 seconds, -1.114 (under index)
2) Bill Leber Jr., Tonawanda, N.Y., '03 S-10, SS/TB, 9.158, -1.092
3) Richard Dioro, South River, N.J., '55 Chevy, SS/PA, 11.880, -1.070
4) Michael Iacono, Wading River, N.Y., '89 Camaro, GT/FA, 10.045, -1.055
5) Bucky Hess, Bunker Hill, W.V., '68 Barracuda, SS/AA, 8.967, -1.033
6) Angelo Ditocco, Mahopac, N.Y., '02 Firebird, GT/FA, 10.072, -1.028
7) Larry Mohar, Hagerstown, Md., '69 Camaro, SS/IA, 10.010, -0.990
8) Joseph Santangelo II, Marlborough, Conn., '90 Camaro, GT/IA, 10.512, -0.988
9) Lincoln Morehead, Marlboro, N.Y., '87 Camaro, GT/EA, 9.981, -0.969
10) Greg Gay, Westminster, Vt., '97 Dakota, SS/MA, 11.192, -0.958

Stock Eliminator
1) John Ruth, Baltimore, Md., '77 Omega, R/SA, 13.056 seconds, -1.294 (under index)
2) Brian Van Poppel, Perry Hall, Md., '86 Camaro, H/SA, 11.182, -1.268
3) Tim Abbazia, Greenwich, Conn., '62 Corvette, F/S, 10.837, -1.263
4) John Gray Jr., Hudson, Mass., '72 Nova, H/SA, 11.222, -1.228
5) Greg Philley, Taberg, N.Y., '80 Mustang, W/SA, 15.743, -1.207
6) Lee Zane, Pittsgrove, N.J., '74 Apollo, K/SA, 11.788, -1.162
7) Bob Mullaney, Rockaway, N.J., '84 Cutlass, K/SA, 11.793, -1.157
8) Lincoln Morehead, Marlboro, N.Y., '98 Firebird, C/FIA, 10.845, -1.155
9) Bobby Warren, Clinton, N.C., '97 Firebird, B/FI, 10.502, -1.148
10) Bob Horgan, Tyngsboro, Mass., '85 Camaro, I/SA, 11.462, -1.138