NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Matt Cummings won his second national event of the season in Top Alcohol Dragster, and world champion Doug Gordon grabbed his fourth title in Top Alcohol Funny Car to lead the list of winners from the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil in Reading. Cummings and Gordon shared the Maple Grove Raceway winner’s circle with Frank Aragona Jr. (Comp), Bobby Fazio (Super Stock), Joe Santangelo II (Stock), Taylor Iacono (Super Comp), Jason Kenny (Super Gas), and Tom Martino (Top Dragster presented by Vortech Superchargers). 

Cummings won in Norwalk and was also a runner-up at the recent Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indy. In Reading, he drove the McPhillips family’s dragster to a strong 5.211 to 5.267 win over Robin Samsel in the Top Alcohol Dragster final round. Cummings ran as quick as 5.16 in his race-day wins against Mike Kosky and Karen Stalba. Samsel made the best run of his long career with a 5.139 in the quarterfinals against Dan Page. That run held up for low elapsed time of the event. [video]

Gordon is on pace to possibly win a second straight Top Alcohol Funny Car title after stopping former champ Sean Bellemeur in the final, 5.445 to 5.489. Gordon, the current leader in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series standings, now has five wins in eight final rounds (national and regional) this season. Gordon powered past John Headley and Matt Gill to reach the final. Bellemeur was also impressive with a .005 light in his semifinal win over D.J. Cox. [video]

After a slow start to the season, Aragona has put himself in a position to contend for the Comp title after winning the final round over Chip Ippolito, who fouled. Aragona, fresh off a runner-up finish in Indianapolis, was the low qualifier and drove past Thomas Miller and Calvin Hill to reach the final round. Aragona now has 15 national event wins, including at least one in each of the last five seasons. [video]

There was a first-time winner in Super Stock after Fazio topped a red-lighting Jonathan Allegrucci in the final round. Fazio, in his four-speed Mustang, had a tough road to the final round, including a semifinal race against past world champ Byron Worner. Fazio was also sharp in his quarterfinal win against David Thomas. Fazio also kicked off his weekend in Reading by winning the Combo Stick title during Friday’s Super Stock class eliminations. [video]

Santangelo is a title contender in both Super Stock and Stock and helped himself with his third win of the season in Stock in Reading. Driving Anthony Bertozzi’s ’69 Camaro, Santangelo topped Allison Doll in a final-round battle between two past world champions. The final was extremely close with Santangelo combining a .020 light with a 10.456 on his 10.45 dial for the win, and Doll was very competitive with a .009 light before breaking out by .02-second with a 10.580. [video]

For the past few seasons, Iacono has been one of the Northeast Division’s best Super Street racers, and now, she’s successfully tackling Super Comp. In her second national event final, Iacono took on her brother-in-law, Lee Ream, and turned on the win light, 8.919 to 8.930. Iacono also earned wins against Tom Stalba and Tom Hunter on her way to the final. Ream punched his ticket to the final by stopping Josh Eastburn in the semifinals. [video]

Kenny won his fifth national event title in Super Gas and was nearly joined in the winner’s circle by his father, Al, who was a runner-up in Top Dragster. In the final, Kenny drove his Corvette to a double-breakout win against Bill Nuzzo, 9.899 to 9.882. Kenny also overcame Bernard Weaver’s perfect .000 light in the quarterfinals and a strong .004 light by Super Street specialist Keith Mayers in the semi’s. [video]

Ohio-based Martino won for the first time in Top Dragster presented by Vortech Superchargers when he stopped Al Kenny in the final. Martino finished the job with a .017 light and a 6.620 on his 6.59 dial, and Kenny slipped from his 6.15 dial to a 6.236. Martino topped Atlanta winner Ken Moses in order to earn a semifinal bye run, and Kenny cleared a big hurdle in the semifinals when he defeated reigning world champion and current points leader Anthony Bertozzi. [video]