Finke wins first in 3 years, Manzo 3rd this year

Finke wins first in 3 years, Manzo 3rd this year

by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association

Before a packed house at the Eastern Regional event at New England Dragway, John Finke had a .006 reaction time in the under-the-lights Top Alcohol Dragster final and ran a consistent 5.36 to stop No. 1 qualifier Richard Bourke. In Top Alcohol Funny Car, defending event champ Frank Manzo overcame a rare late light to run down John Anderika by seven-thousandths of a second, 5.60 to 5.69.

"This is one of the best wins I've ever had – definitely the best one that wasn't a national event," said Finke, a three-time national event champion. "I almost didn't believe it when I got out of the car at the top end of the track. I thought 'I did win, didn't I?' because I never saw my win light come on. I didn't know for sure until the crew came down there flashing the lights at me."

Finke had endured five runner-ups since his last victory, at the Englishtown Division 1 event in 2009. "The last couple of years were pretty tough," he said. "We got close a few times but could never get the job done."

If it hadn't been the best divisional/regional outing of Finke's career, it would've been the best of Bourke's. The New Jersey driver qualified No. 1 with a career-best 5.25 and took out Lebanon Valley winner Dan Mercier in round one with a 5.27. After a close win over Dan Page in the semifinals, he slipped to a 5.48 in the final.

Finke had the best reaction times of his career: a .015 in the first round against reigning world champ Duane Shields, a .022 against East Region points leader Rich McPhillips, and the .006 in the final against Bourke.

After a .054 reaction time in the first round and a .034 in the semifinals, Manzo slipped to a .139 in the final and made his first run all weekend that wasn't in the 5.50s. "I saw Anderika way out there at half-track and thought, 'Oh, he red-lighted,' " said Manzo, who still trailed Anderika at the 1,000-foot clocks. "Then I looked up at the scoreboard and saw that it wasn't on and thought, 'I've got a lot of catching up to do.' I wrung that thing's neck in 2nd gear and still wasn't sure if I was going to get him." With an 8-mph edge, he barely did, 5.60, 259 to 5.69, 251.

It would have been a second holeshot win in a row for Anderika, who took out Norwalk national event winner Paul Gill in the semifinals, 5.71 to Gill's tire-shaking, backpedaling 5.70. "I never saw Manzo the whole way," said Anderika, who lost the Norwalk regional final to Chris Foster earlier this year by an even closer margin: two-thousandths of a second. "But you're running Frank, so you never take anything for granted. I never even looked for my win-light that time. I looked for his, and when we crossed the finish line, there it was."

David Smith photos