Drag Racing Action Online  Images: Phil Hutchison and Bob Reed

The Sportsman finals at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Dragway were a bit disjointed as it took more than one day to get the finals in the books. With the rain coming on Sunday the NHRA decided to run the Lucas Oil racers to completion Saturday but after the sun went down and the moisture started to appear, that plan didn’t quite work out. Only Top Dragster made it to the finals with the rest of the Lucas racers coming back Monday for their finals.

Stewart, near lane, takes a close 5.213 win over Payne’s 5.253

Under cloudy skies, Tony Stewart in the Mobil 1 A/FD tuned by Rich McPhillips won a tight one with a 5.213 win over third generation racer Madison Payne’s close but losing 5.253. Payne, driving the Muscle Milk car of Duane Shields, was the recent US Nationals winner and set the pace with a #1 qualifier pass of 5.192.

Madison Payne slows the Muscle Milk dragster after a first round win over Mark Albert 

Payne defeated Canadian racer Jeff Chatterson in the semi finals to get the chance to face Stewart. Stewart with the McPhillips team making the tuning decisions, was the crowd favorite, had taken out the quick blown car of Brandon Greco in the semis  on his way to his second 2023 win.  Stewart left Maple Grove in the top spot in the Lucas point chase. Tony has 636 points to second place Julie Nataas who is in second with 572.

Nataas’ car wasn’t absent as team owner Randy Meyer had Australian racer Fiona Crisp behind the wheel of the OTG backed dragster. Crisp qualified in a tight field with a 5.397 and improved to a career best of 5.25 in her first round loss to Stewart who made a statement running the weekend’s quickest pass at a 5.189

In Top Alcohol Funny Car it went down to the #1 qualifier Sean Bellemeur  from Placentia CA in the Steve Boggs tuned Bartone Bros. Camaro against the #5 qualifier Camaro of Matt Gill out of Massachusetts behind the wheel of the Moduline Camaro.

Bellemeur was first off the line and didn’t look back as his 5.462 easily outdistanced Gill’s 5.514. The win was Bellemeur’s 34th career Wally and his second of the season.

One round earlier, Bellemeur took out the DXI Camaro of DJ Cox in the semifinals with a 5.450 to a 5.455 of Cox.

Mick Steele’s beautiful Mustang turned a lot of heads with the quickest injected nitro Funny Car run in NHRA history

In addition to Bellemeur’s win, the big new in the class  was the injected nitro Mustang of Tennessee racer Mick Steele running a NHRA best. In 2022, NHRA approved the combination that has become the norm in the T/AD class but has not caught on with the Funny Car contingent with only a handful of racers testing the waters. But Steele, who has been running an A/FD for years and was familiar with the setup, got the Mustang down the track with a 5.459 during qualifying good enough for the #4 spot. Later Steele posted a 5.529 in the first round showing the unique set up has potential to be a game changer.

Defending Division One Comp champ Steve Szupka had a dream weekend at Maple Gove. Between his completion fouling, not showing, and a bye run, Szupka never had to do much other than piloting the Mike and Pam Miskovsky C/DA to the winner’s circle.

His final round competition, Mark Hopkins’ D/A ’92 Baretta from nearby Phoenixville left  -0.038 too soon giving Szupka his 4th NHRA national win.

Local racer Mark Hopkins rolled the dice in the finals in his D/A against Szupka and lit the red light for his troubles. 

New York professional Sportsman racer Dan Fletcher, driving the FGT/G Micro Strategies Camaro won Super Stock defeating long time NED racer Michael Iacono’s GT/GA  Camaro in the finals. The Camaro, the winningest car in NHRA history, took Fletcher to his 107th NHRA national event win with a 9.732 on a 9.71 dial as Iacono was right there with a 9.823 on his 9.80 dial, Fletcher’s better reaction time, 0.013 to Iacono’s good, 0.025, was the difference at the stripe.

Former NHRA Lucas champ Joe Santangelo from Marlborough CT took his B/SA ’69 Camaro to the Stock win beating the FS/AA Mustang of Ken Miele from Selma NC.

Santangelo had the advantage off the line with a 0.016 light to Miele’s 0.086 and on the top end Miele pushed it too far breaking out with an 8.476 on an 8.52 to Santangelo’s 10.625 on a 10.60 dial. The win at the Pep Boys Nationals was Santangelo’s 22nd.

McCleaft, near lane, had the slower RT in the finals and it cost the Shinglehouse PA the race

Hummelstown PA.racer Chase Fahnestock knows Maple Grove Dragway. The Pennsylvania. racer calls the track home often competing at the Mid Atlantic 0.90 series in his dragster.  In the Super Comp final, he took his dragster to a win defeating Ed McCleaft  in a classic case of who gets off the line first, wins. Fahnestock was off first with a 0.015 to McCleaft’s 0.040 and his 9.920 won over McCleaft’s better 8.913 but it was over at the line. The win was Fahnestock’s first in two tries.

Fahnestock, far lane, took out the tough Elite dragster driven by Vince Nobile in the semis to get to his second career final

Keith Mayers, not adverse to running a unique combination, took his Alfa Romeo roadster to the Super Gas in taking out first time finalist Bill Trum. Mayers crushed the tree with a 0.006 light to Trum’s good 0.012 and ran a 9.938 for the win over Trum’s 9.948. The win was Mayers’ third career NHRA Wally.

Forster, near lane had a great RT to take his first career NHRA win

George Forster from Greencastle PA took his first ever NHRA Wally at Maple Grove beating Canadian racer Michel Bastien’s Dodge Dayton in the finals of Top Sportsman. Forster had Bastien at the tree with a super 0.005 light to Bastien’s 0.038 and ran a 7.487 in his Monte Carlo on a 7.45 dial to Bastien’s better but later 7.015 on a 7.00 dial.

Long time NED racer Vince Musolino drove his car to a Top Dragster win beating James Glenn in the finals. Musolino, from Bridgeport NY had a perfect 0.000 light and ran a 6.563 on a 6.54 dial as Glenn, who calls Division 6  home,  ran a closer number with a 7.315 on his 7.30 dial, but again, it was a case of who got off the line quicker, won the race. The win was Musolino’s second career Wally.