Mercier wins TA/D; Lourie takes TA/FC for the 2nd straight year

Mercier wins TA/D; Lourie takes TA/FC for the 2nd straight year

by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association

At the Lucas Oil Series Eastern Regional at Lebanon Valley Dragway in scenic upstate New York, Canadian Dan Mercier won Top Alcohol Dragster on Rich McPhillips' foul and Eric Lourie ran steady 5.70s on a tricky surface to claim the Top Alcohol Funny Car title.

Mercier and McPhillips, the top two qualifiers, had run within hundredths of a second of each other throughout eliminations until the final, where McPhillips took off too soon for a -.248 foul while Mercier scored with his slowest run of the day, 5.51. "I saw him so far out in front of me, and I said to myself, 'Impossible," because I knew that I had a good reaction time," said Mercier, of LaPrairie, Quebec. "I heard yelling over the radio, but I couldn't tell for sure what they were saying, so I just stayed on it to the end, just to be sure."

It was Mercier's first final-round appearance in exactly a year, since he had virtually the same e.t. and same reaction time that won this year's final in a close 5.52-5.51 holeshot loss to Dan Page here last year. Mercier was within three-thousandths of a second of both his reaction time and his e.t. from the 2011 final, but it proved irrelevant when McPhillips, who qualified No. 1 with the only run all weekend in the 5.30s, lurched off the line too soon.

Mercier, who won on the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series tour for the eighth time in his career, established low e.t. of all three rounds. He had a two-hundredths edge on McPhillips both in round one (5.41 to 5.43) and in the semifinals, where he beat Karen Stalba, 5.49 to 5.81. "It was nice to win again Lebanon Valley," he said. "It was here where I won my first race ever [over Art Gallant in 2004]."

Racing at the same track where he earned his Top Alcohol Funny Car license, Lourie stopped Wayne Morris in the final with the second-quickest run of the weekend, 5.73. "That's our third final in a row here, and each one was better than the last one," said Lourie, who ran consistent 5.70s in all three rounds. "We were runner-up here two years ago, won the final last year on a single, and won this one in a real race."

Lourie beat Todd Veney in round one, 5.77 to 5.80, and got around No. 1 qualifier D.J. Cox in the semifinals in what would have been a rematch of the 2011 final had Cox been able to appear in that race. Cox had a slight early lead but slowed to a 5.94 at just 207 mph while Lourie advanced with a 5.79.

Morris backpedaled to a 6.13 in the first round to upset Dan Pomponio, who shut off to an 8.48, and ran a 5.93 in the semi's in another upset win over Paul Gill, who shook hard and skated all over the track on a losing 6-flat. In the opening round of eliminations, Gill set low e.t. of the meet with a 5.70 win over John Anderika, who red-lighted.

photos by David Smith