The eight-member group from the NHRA Northeast Division claimed the overall team championship during the 22nd annual Jeg’s Sportsman Allstars race held last weekend at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL. Three Northeast Division drivers – Frank Manzo, Don Pires Jr., and Lynn Hoosigan – won their respective categories to lead the team to a 1,300 to 1,000 point victory over the host team from the North Central Division and earn the $20,000 team bonus. The Northeast Division team had won the overall team title on three previous occasions, but had been winless since 1995. The
Jeg’s Allstars event is the culmination of a year-long points battle between drivers in each of the eight Lucas Oil Sportsman categories, Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Competition, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street. Drivers earn Allstars points by competing in Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events held within each of NHRA’s seven geographic divisions. Defending Allstars champions in each category are automatically placed in the field as blockers, rounding out the eight car fields. Allstars competitors compete for individual and team honors, and a share of the $100,000 total payout.
Manzo, of Morganville, NJ, won the Jeg’s Allstars Top Alcohol Funny Car title for the fifth time in his career when he drove his Monte Carlo to a 5.54 to 5.72 win over Cy Chesterman, a representative of the West Central division.
The team from the North Central Division was able to mount a challenge thanks to the efforts of Marty Thacker, Jeff Taylor, and Rock Haas, who each scored victories and accounted for 900 of the team’s 1,000 total points.