NHRA FMDRS: Top stories from Cecil County Dragway
30 August 1999
After several rounds of cars had successfully run qualifying and time
trails on Friday, the dark clouds finally released a rainstorm during the
NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series at Cecil County Dragway.
Racing was put on hold at around 6:40 p.m. as NHRA staff and Cecil
County Dragway staff tried to wait the storm out. But after several
attempts to dry the track in the hour and a half after, several more
downpours made that task impossible.
New tracks and new track owners have been a beneficial addition to the
NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series in the 1999 season. Two new tracks
have expanded the country's coverage of drag racing with Bristol Dragway in
Bristol, Tenn., and Tri-State Raceway in Earlsville, Iowa. But in addition
to those new tracks NHRA is also proud to welcome new track owners to the
NHRA Membership Track family at two well known facilities, Cecil County
Dragway in Rising Sun, Md., and Quaker City Raceway in Salem, Ohio.
The new owners of Quaker City Raceway, the Swindells, were proud to
hold their first NHRA Federal-Mogul event at their raceway after the Vivian
Mossey decided to sell the facility to them. Their event drew an
impressive crowd and an exciting race in the NHRA North Central Division.
The second set of new owners is the Crouse family who now own and
operate Cecil County Dragway. The track was purchased from John Comer Sr.,
who had been the owner for several years. Comer, however, has not
completely relinquished his stake in the track as he and his wife, Kitty,
still run the concession stands at the track. The facility is now run by
Cathy Crouse and Jimmy Halsey, who both also work at Crouse Construction.
Cathy's father, Richard, purchased the track from Comer earlier this year
and has put his trust into his daughter and Halsey to run the events and
activities of the track each weekend.
"My mom called me twice on Friday" Cathy said on Friday evening. "She
called me at my office, in the tower, and I think even at the concessions
stand. After all those calls I wasn't sure what she wanted, but luckily it
was simply to wish me luck at our first big event."
With a big show on Friday evening, that unfortunately didn't go off on
Friday night because of rain and instead went off on Saturday, along with a
lot of great racing the rest of the weekend, the Crouses are sure to enjoy
their new track for years to come.
The 1997 and 1998 back-to-back Federal-Mogul Funny Car champion, Frank
Manzo, from Morganville, N.J., is making his presence felt once again at
the last of the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series events in the NHRA
Northeast Division at Cecil County Dragway.
Due to the rainout during Friday evening's planned qualifying run for
Federal-Mogul Dragster and Funny Car, those categories only got two runs
rather than the three they originally expected. But that wasn't about to
stop Manzo from becoming not only the Winston Top Qualifier of the event,
beating out close rival and friend, Bob Newberry, from Schenectady, N.Y.,
but also beat the standing track records of quickest and fastest times.
Manzo's time of 5.698 seconds and speed of 254.18 miles per hour beat the
old record of 5.80 seconds readily.
Manzo could only say of his run, "The track was good, and we're happy
that it didn't rain again."
In the battle of Federal-Mogul Dragster Mike Kosky, from Cuddy, Pa.,
was the Winston Top Qualifier with a time of 5.708 seconds at 244.74 miles
per hour. Kosky was able to beat out the top two competitors in the NHRA
Northeast division standings Jeanie Booz, from Blooming Glen, Pa., and Ron
Still, from Smyrna, Del. Currently Booz is leading the points race by a
mere ten points over Still. This last of six events will be a determining
factor in the success or defeat of Booz in the division championship, which
could still be taken by Still should he pass Booz during eliminations.
Booz went out in the first round of eliminations on Sunday, losing to
the injected-nitro dragster of Gary Parks. Booz redlighted with a .026
reaction time against Parks who had a .477 reaction time, and had a run of
5.896 seconds at 210.44 miles per hour.
Ron Still moved into the second round, or semi finals, so he will pass
Booz up in the division championship race for now. But there are still two
more races that Booz can claim in Dinwiddie, Va., at the NHRA Federal-Mogul
race, and in Bristol, Tenn., at the new Bristol Dragway, the last of the
NHRA Southeast Division events.
Whether Jeanie goes to those last events will depend on her
performance at the Keystone Nationals in Reading, Pa., at Maple Grove
Raceway. "Let's see how you do at the Keystones," Eric Sindrich, owner of
Jeanie Booz's Federal-Mogul Dragster, said. "He always says stuff like
that" Booz replied. "All I want to do is win the championship, but it's
his money so I can only go where he tells me we can go."
Should Still go out in the semi-final round of competition, he will
not have a large enough lead in the points standings to claim the
championship, but it will be up to the Rick Cindrich Racing Team of Booz's
dragster to pursue those additional points.
In the semi-finals of competition in Federal-Mogul Dragster, Still
defeated Bruce Insinger, who had lane choice, on a holeshot. Both
competitors clocked times of 5.66 seconds at the end of the track with
Still going 249.76 miles per hour, and Insinger running at 248.11 miles per
hour. Still went on to meet Mike Kosky, who defeated the injected-nitro
dragster of Gary Parks in the semis, in which Still will have lane choice.
Kosky was able to take the win light, with a holeshot, in Sunday's
final, beating Still with a time of 5.715 seconds, beating Still's quicker
5.620 second run. Kosky got off the line with a .464 reaction time that
Still couldn't outrun at the end of the track, because of his .579 second
reaction time. So the 1999 NHRA Northeast Division's season in the
Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series will be remembered as the year that six
different drivers won six different events throughout the series.
After so many wins in Federal-Mogul Funny Car, one might think that
Manzo couldn't continue to get better with each year, but that is exactly
what he has been able to do. The final race of the NHRA Northeast Division
at Cecil County Dragway was the last division race Manzo will be attending
for the 1999 season.
The 1999 NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series Northeast Division
title in Federal-Mogul Funny Car will be Manzo's fifth in a row, almost
catching the current record holder for most consecutive division
championships in a row, which Bob Newberry, second in the nation, currently
holds with seven. As if having that amount of championships in a row isn't
enough to celebrate, Manzo is also on his way to a third consecutive
national championship. And if that isn't enough for someone to realize
what an outstanding driver he is, Manzo has also made this season perfect
for division points.
Each driver in all of the seven geographic NHRA divisions can claim a
certain amount of races for points in his or her respective division; five
out of eight races to be exact. Out of those eight races, which can be
both in and out of division, the racer will claim only those five best
races, where he or she has claimed the most points. What makes Manzo's
achievement this season so incredible, is that he won five out of six races
in his own division. Many drivers find that as the season comes to an end
they must travel to a few out of division races to go for their
championship title.
Manzo will be attending two more races this season, the largest of the
NHRA events next weekend, the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, and the
Keystone Nationals held at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., after that.
Manzo has already won the division title, but has not yet taken the
national title in Federal-Mogul Funny Car, however with a win at those two
last races he has an excellent chance of making his entire year perfect,
once again.
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