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STORY PHIL HUTCHISON

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One of NHRA’s best non points race of the year, the JEGS Allstars pits the best top sportsman drag racers from across North America against each other in a battle for individual and team titles

The Best of the winning a year-long competition within each of NHRA’s seven geographic divisions.

Racers can only qualify for one of the coveted spots on the JEGS Allstars team by points earned at Division events.  The unique race crowns individual champions across 10 distinct NHRA Lucas Oil categories. From the 0.90 classes, Stock and Super Stock, Top Dragster and Sportsman and the Top Alcohol classes and Competition Eliminator.

The winning team members split a bonus out of a total payout of over $125,000. Each of the winners has also earned the right to return to the Texas Motorplex next season for the 42nd annual JEGS Allstars event.

Since its start, the JEGS Allstars has called Bowling Green, Indy, National Trail, Rt 66, and most recently, the Texas Motorplex home.

I worked with the NHRA Division One crew in the early 2000’s, I got to cover the events in Columbus Ohio and Rt 66 in Chicago Illinois, and it was one of the highlights of the NHRA weekend.

NHRA Divisions Two and One are tied with the most JEGS wins with nine apiece. In 2010, I traveled with the D1 team to Chicago and after a brief rainstorm, Division One claimed their 7th JEGS title. Since then, D1 has won in 2022 and 2044.

In 2010, two racers stood out from D1 at the Allstars. Frank Manzo, the 2nd most winning Sportsman driver in NHRA history and Frank Aragona Jr who, with a boatload of national and divisional wins, was the D1 defending NHRA Comp champ. The two racers were a juggernaut.

After retiring from the driver’s seat to tune Pro Mods, Manzo still holds the record for the most JEGS Allstar wins at ten victories.

Mickey Ferro, near lane, is from Connecticut, but in 2009 D2 was his home division as Manzo had a stranglehold on D1

In Chicago, Manzo won Top Alcohol Funny car over D2 rep Mickey Ferro and Aragona was runner up in Comp to Bruno Massel.

Adding the point total which pushed D1 to the win was Jason Kenny winning Super Gas in his black Corvette. Joe Santangelo took Super Stock driving his GT/GA Chevy Camaro.

Jason Kenny and sister Samantha Coughlin

Joe Santangelo takes an early win in Super Stock at the 2010 JEGS Allstars

Other racers representing D! at the JEGS were Tom Slater in Super Comp.  Marty Ganjoin in Super Street, Dusty Lowell racing his Duster in Stock. Frank Zeffiro In Top Dragster and Bobby Tag’s Vette in Top Sportsman. New England racer Mike Sawyer in Super Gas.

Jackie Fricke in John Finke’s A/FD rounded out the team.

 It went down to the final round to decide a winner.

At the end of eliminations, D1 and D5 were tied with 1300 points. The first tiebreaker didn’t help, leading to tiebreaker #2 which tallied individual overall victories awarding Division One their 7th JEGS title.

One story from the 2010 win was Super Street racer Marty Ganjoin and his wife left the Chicago track Saturday after he lost early in eliminations and to dodge the rain. I was getting all the division racers together for group photos and noticed Ganjoin wasn’t there.

Marty Ganjoin, near lane, beat D3 racer Alex Miller in R1 but lost in R2 to Ray Todd in the semis ending the New Jersey racer’s day

I called him on my cell phone, and he picked up, and I could hear people in the background. They were at a restaurant having dinner while the D1 team took the title. He was so surprised he couldn’t believe that they won, and he wasn’t there.

This weekend in Dallas the 2026 D1 team is comprised of Comp racer Joe Carnasciale, Super Stock Byron Worner, World Champ Bubba Linke in Stock. Former D1 division champ Tom Stalba in Super Comp and Josh Eastburn in Super Gas. Keith Mayers is Super Street rep, and Kevin Robb and Jeff Brooks are our Top/Top racers.