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NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car champ Frank Manzo continued his winning streak over the weekend, scoring his third straight national event
win at the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Motorsports
Park in Norwalk, Ohio.  Manzo was joined in the winner’s circle by the
reigning Top Alcohol Dragster champion Bill Reichert of Owosso, Mich. 
Reichert’s win was his first on the national event level this season.

It was the summer of 2003 when a circle track driver by the name of Tim
Boychuk first remembers putting four wheels on a drag strip.

As
part owner of Castrol Raceway in Edmonton a few years back, Boychuk
vividly recalls the thrill of driving his first vehicle – a slow, bulky
track grinder – down the Canadian quarter mile in preparation for the
IHRA’s first trip to Edmonton for the Rocky Mountain Nationals nearly
seven years ago.

“I remember for the first Rocky Mountain
Nationals weekend on Wednesday and Thursday I was out there with a
grinder making the track smooth and wondering what the heck I am doing
out here. I am an oval racer so what am I doing at a drag strip at
midnight in the pouring rain grinding the track,” Boychuk recalled.

Jeg Coughlin has been a thorn in Mike Edwards side, until Norwalk. Each
time the two drivers have met in competition, Coughlin has had the
upper hand. When the two drivers met in the quarterfinals of the Summit
Racing Equipment Nationals, it was Coughlin with the hole shot on
Edwards, .033 to .061. Coughlin led until his Chevrolet Cobalt shook
the tires early in the run. Edwards turned in his typical consistent
performance as he powered straight down the track to a 6.666 second,
207.15 mph win.

Ashley Force Hood’s quarter-final win over Ron Capps represented more
than just a win light. The winner of the match up was guaranteed to
leapfrog past incoming point leader Tony Pedregon, who lost in the
first round to Jim Head.

On the starting line, Capps staged and then Force Hood rolled in and lit both bulbs. She apologized to Capps at the finish line.

Bob Tasca admits the .001 light cut by Jack Beckman threw him off his rhythmn keeping him from a win he wanted not just for himself, but for Ford.

“We want to win, that’s why we come,” said Tasca. “Unfortunately, for
us Jack guessed the tree, period. You can’t cut a .001 light.

“I heard him and it actually messed me up because I heard his car and
didn’t see the light go on. I had a decent light but I was still
confused. I hit the gas; I looked for the win light and didn’t see it
on. So I said, ‘Either I was really late, but I knew I was late. We
drove right into tire smoke.”

When Larry Dixon makes it to the final round, Larry Dixon wins. Dixon drove his

Roger Richards

Al-Anabi
Racing Top Fuel dragster, owned by Alan Johnson, to his fourth win of
the season in four final round appearances. Dixon has wins at
Gainesville, Topeka, Englishtown and now Norwalk, and stands second in
the points behind Tony Schumacher.

“Four win lights at the end of the day, that's what counts,” Dixon
said. “There were certain rounds that were not pretty but at the same
time we were the quickest car, so I am real thankful to get this win.”

Dixon path to the final round against Brandon Bernstein included what
looked like easy wins over Steve Chrisman, Clay Millican and Antron
Brown. Each time Dixon posted a solid run while his competition
struggled to get down the track. Bernstein did the same in the final
round, striking the tires before the 330-foot mark.

Jason Line needed a change. His Summit Racing Pontiac GXP wasn't getting the job done,

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so
he borrowed teammate Greg's Anderson's ride from last year. It was a
marriage made in heaven as Line led wire to wire to defeat Mike Edwards
in the final of the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

The win couldn't have come at a better time. Line's sponsor, Summit
Equipment is also the sponsor of the drag strip and the event.

“This is absolute the biggest win for me and this is a great time to do
it,” admitted Line.  “We are tired of watching that yellow car win
races and we need to get our share, too.”

No matter how three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Andrew Hines figured his odds in the final round of

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the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, they all seemed to work in his favor.

If he lost, his team still won.

If he won, they still won.

If he tried to push the tree, he couldn’t go red.

That’s all the incentive Hines needed to beat teammate Eddie Krawiec in
an all Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson final round where he laid down a
.005 reaction and outran the world champion to the finish line.

When it’s your birthday there are a few exceptions fate allows you to get away with, like a .001 reaction time

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behind the wheel of a Funny Car.

Jack Beckman pulled off the feat at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA
Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. The unfortunate victim of his chance
encounter with near perfection was Bob Tasca III.

“Had to cut the final round reaction time to bring up the day’s
average,” Beckman said, smiling. “I made a mistake and got away with
it.”

Beckman’s second Funny Car victory of 2009 followed a trend that he’s
remained close to in his seven prior national event victories. He flies
under radar all weekend long and when once in the final round, he goes
for the jugular.