NHRA Sportsman Drag Racers Roar into Gainesville for Next Stop In Federal-Mogul Series
17 March 2000
NHRA Sportsman Drag Racers Roar into Gainesville for Next Stop In Federal-Mogul National Series
SOUTHFIELD, Mich., March 16 The pros won't be the only
drag racers shooting for a coveted event title and series championship points
at this weekend's Mac Tools Gatornationals. Not by a long shot.
The National Hot Rod Association's 31st annual national event at
Gainesville Raceway will attract hundreds of the most talented Sportsman
drivers in the eastern United States, including two NHRA Federal-Mogul Funny
Car rivals who will renew a points battle that was resolved last year in the
semi-final round of the season's next-to-last national event.
Those drivers are defending NHRA Federal-Mogul Funny Car national champion
Frank Manzo, of Edison, New Jersey, and last year's runner-up and 1996
champion Tony Bartone, of Manhasset, New York. This will be the second time
in a month that the two have squared off in Gainesville -- Bartone won
February's divisional Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event with a final-
round win over Manzo. Bartone was runner-up to Todd Paton at last year's
Gatornationals, but established event records for fastest lap (5.641) and top
speed (256.31).
"Last year's battle in the Federal-Mogul Funny Car class represented the
very best of Sportsman competition," said Federal-Mogul Motorsports Manager
Shelley Pepmeier. "Frank and Tony couldn't have been more evenly matched, and
it certainly appears as though they're both ready to take it up a notch in
2000."
Bartone, who beat Manzo in four head-to-head runs last year, still
finished second to the three-time national champion after he failed to reach
the final round of the Matco Supernationals in Houston in late October. Had
Bartone reached the final round, he would have tied Manzo's season points
total and claimed the national title through NHRA's tiebreaker.
One points battle that hasn't seen a lot of suspense in recent years is in
the Federal-Mogul Dragster category; that challenge will begin to take shape
this weekend as FMD drivers battle for position behind three-time national
champion Rick Santos. Santos, who dominated the first two national events of
the year -- at Pomona, Calif., and Phoenix -- won't be in Gainesville.
"Rick ran a 5.39 e.t. in testing prior to the 1999 season and was
consistently in the 5.40s and low 5.50s over the course of last year's series.
This year he's run only one or two passes that haven't been in the 5.30s, so
he's definitely the man to beat. Somehow, he keeps coaxing more power and
speed out of his car," said Pepmeier.
This weekend's event -- the third of 23 national stops on the NHRA
schedule -- will feature competition in seven NHRA Federal-Mogul categories:
Federal-Mogul Dragster, Federal-Mogul Funny Car, Competition, Super Stock,
Stock, Super Comp and Super Gas.
The Super Street class will not compete at Gainesville.
The NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series covers all Sportsman competition
on the national and divisional levels. Racers compete for national and
divisional points titles and more than $400,000 in annual championship award
bonuses.
"The Federal-Mogul Series was established at a time when Sportsman racing
was ready to step up in terms of prestige and fan involvement," Pepmeier said.
"Federal-Mogul was in a similar position -- we had assembled many of the best-
known brands and product lines in the automotive industry, and we were looking
to generate greater awareness of our engineering and manufacturing
leadership."
By all accounts, both parties are stronger as a result of the Federal-
Mogul program. Sportsman competitors have enjoyed significantly larger prize
purses, increased television exposure and greater print media coverage. And
Federal-Mogul, which has tied its racing involvement to its best-known engine
brands and product lines -- Champion(R) spark plugs, Fel-Pro(R) gaskets and
Sealed Power(R) and Speed-Pro(R) engine parts -- has won the hearts of the
more than 30,000 competitors.
Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, Federal-Mogul Corporation
is an automotive parts manufacturer providing innovative solutions
and systems to global customers in the automotive, small engine, heavy-duty
and industrial markets. The company was founded in 1899. Visit the company's
web site at http://www.federal-mogul.com for more information.