Results 2021

MANDRA RACING - RECAP CECIL COUNTY - September 11, 2021

Just when you think it can’t get any better MANDRA has the fourth race in a row with a new winner and runner-up. Congratulations to Dave Fenzel and Gary Conte the race finalists.

The days sponsors were John Harris and Christina Davenport. Along with the sponsorship from the rained out Beaver Springs race from a week ago this gave MANDRA racers a double purse for the days winners, $200 to win, $100 for runner-up and $50 for each semi-finalist.

In addition there was a $25 bonus for the racer with the worst winning green light reaction time during eliminations, (both lights had to be green) the competition for this prize was ferocious.

MANDRA had 27 cars on hand, new member Kermit Weinreich had a .001 reaction time on his first time run but Bill Wert showed everyone he could do better with a .000 on his second time run. Unfortunately do to Ray Blooms epic transmission failure on his second time run there was an even number of cars and no bye run for Bill.

There were a couple close races in the first round but the competition for the worst winning green light was on. Gary Breeback won his first round with a .110 RT, Gary Conte won his round with a .120 RT, John Harris won his round with a .149 RT and Mark Fenzel won first round with a .163 green light.

Second round saw John Harris defeat Jack Stump, in a close race between Mark Santee and Brian Yarrison, Mark got the win, John Rose, with low reaction time for the round defeated Randy Campbell, Dave Fenzel beat new member Kermit Weinreich, Garry Conte won over Gary Breeback and Ralph Ferraro had a bye run with low reaction time in first round.

Third round Marc English and Mark Santee faced off with leaving Santee leaving first with the better reaction time but at the finish line Marc English prevailed running a 9.30 on his 9.29 dial in. Dave Fenzel defeated John Harris, Gary Conte won when Ralph Ferraro went red and John Rose had a bye run into the semi-finals.

With four cars left in the semi-finals Dave Fenzel won over John Rose who was competing for the worst winning green light with a .207, Mark English and Gary Conte continued their pursuit of the worst winning green light award, with .150 and .119 RT’s. With both cars running .01 off their dial in, Gary Conte crossed the finish line first to go on to the finals.

In the final Dave Fenzel with his 41 Plymouth coupe left first, Gary Conte knew he was going to have to go for a great reaction time in the final and gave it a good shot but went a little too far and came up red with a -.006 and Dave Fenzel who had been consistent all day cruised to a 10.53 victory lap in the final.

Again this is the fourth race in a row with a new winner and runner-up for 2021, MANDRA has some of the best racing anywhere, great competition and great people, congratulations to all.

As for the Worst winning green light award the $25 went to Mark Fenzel with his '50 Pontiac “Running Bear” for his first round win with a .163 RT.

Next race will be the South Mountain Glory Days event Sunday September 26, always a great race.

Winner - Dave Fenzel

Runner Up - Gary Conte

Semi's - Marc English

Semi's - John Rose

MANDRA RACING - RECAP BEAVER SPRINGS - September 4, 2021

Saturday was a beautiful day for racing at Beaver Springs and a beautiful day for the MANDRA founders day picnic. A big thank you Kim Picone and everyone who helped make the picnic a success.

We were caught by surprise when the track announced that due to the large number of race cars on hand we would only get one time run. The picnic normally takes place between the second time run and first round of racing, but because of the surprise announcement the food wasn’t ready. Thank you to everyone who worked to get everything ready and to those who waited patiently and stayed away from the picnic area while preparations were being made.

Kim and everyone who helped with the picnic were the MANDRA heroes of the day.

The days sponsor was Team Ferraro, MANDRA had 29 cars on hand. Low reaction time for time runs was Carly Boyer who collected a $25 bonus from Team Ferraro with a .006 on her time run. One racer chose not to run in competition leaving 28 cars and no bye run for Carly. Pat Brewer, who is approaching “íf it wasn’t for bad luck he would have no luck at all” status had the steering rod break on his dragster on his way to the staging lanes for his first round.

In the first round Bill Wert collected $50 of Ray Blooms money when he defeated Marc English in the first round with the help of a .003 reaction time and Gary Scott sent Mark Longacre home with a .005 reaction time. Mike Fisher got the booby prize of the day with a .0001 red light in the first round.

Jack Stump started second round with a .001 reaction time to take out Ralph Ferraro, John Harris used a .007 to send Mike Volpe home and Frankie G defeated Mark Santee in a just plain good close race.

Round three Gary Scott defeated Frankie G, Carly Boyer beat John Harris, Randy Campbell won over Bud Poust and Jack Stump had the bye run due to that .001 reaction time in the previous round.

This left 4 cars for the semi-finals, the cool damp evening weather was making it difficult for competitors to predict their ET’s. Both semi-final races were determined by double break outs with Carly Boyer winning over Randy Campbell and Gary Scott won over Jack Stump.

The final was even stranger as it was determined by a double red light Carly left first with a .007 red and Gary Scott followed with a .054 red light. Making Carly the winner.

This gave MANDRA another new winner and runner-up for 2021.

Also a special thank you to Charlie Innerst for designing and making the winners trophy. Charlie designed an exceptional trophy honoring our founder Ralph Eberly and his fuel injected ’58 Chevy drag car.

Twelve MANDRA racers ran in the Consolation race with Mike Fisher and Merritt Snyder making it to the finals, Merritt left first with an .020 RT, Mike was close behind but with an .026 red giving Merritt the win.

Other notes, John Wise won $125 in the MANDRA 50/50, you have to play to win.

And in another pleasant side game Anthony Santee brought a glass candy jar filled with M&M peanuts. The game was, to win the M&M’s guess how many M&M’s were in the jar. The guesses went from about 200 to over 1500, Kim Picone won the contest with a guess of 726 M&M’s. The actual number was 725! WOW, what a great guess, how did she count all those M&M’s?

It was a long day, but as always seems to happen at Beaver Springs a good time was had by all.

The order for the MANDRA jackets will be placed Monday September 13th after the Cecil county race. This will be the last chance to get a jacket on this order.

Thanks to everyone for coming and participating, see you next Saturday, September 11th at Cecil County.

Merritt

Winner - Carly Boyer

Runner Up - Gary Scott

Semi's - Jack Stump

Semi's - Randy Campbell

MANDRA RACING - NUMIDIA DRAGWAY RECAP - AUGUST 21, 2021

If you didn’t go to Numidia because of the threat of rain, YOU MISSED OUT!

MANDRA had 24 cars competing, the days sponsors were Blue Oval Racing, Jim Mullin and Better Half Racing, Barbara Sommers. Bud Poust had the low reaction time in time trials with a .007 but as seems to be happening every week with the even number of cars there was no first round bye run.

Hot competition started in the first round, Bud Poust couldn’t repeat his low reaction time but Tm Milliron was ready for him with a .009 to defeat Bud in the first round. Chris Righetti won Ray Blooms $50 bounty for winning first round over Marc English. Mark Santee defeated John Wise in the closest race of the round.

The weather was changing during the second and third rounds giving everyone a problem as 7 of the 9 races in those two rounds were determined by break outs, we even saw about six drops of rain stopping the racing for just a few minutes.

The semi-finals brought Carly Boyer up against Randy Campbell, in the closest race of the year both cars ran .002 off their dial-in, giving Randy the win by .0001. Mark Santee had a bye run into the finals with low reaction time in the previous round.

The Finals pitted Mark Santee and Randy Campbell, Mark left first with a .013 light with Randy close behind with a .030. Marks quick start was too much for Randy to be able to catch him, Mark ran 10.500 on his 10.49 dial-in while Randy broke out with a 10.413 on his 10.43 dial-in trying to catch him.

Two weeks MANDRA will be at Beaver Springs for the Labor Day weekend, Saturday will be the MANDRA Founders Day in memory of MANDRA’s founder Ralph Eberly and the 12 others who started MANDRA in 1999.

Please contact Kim Picone (HYPERLINK "mailto:aklk85@yahoo.com" aklk85@yahoo.com) or (610-657-7922) to volunteer and to sign up to bring food, beverages or supplies. See you at Beaver Springs and have a great week.

Merritt

Winner - Mark Santee

Runner-Up - Randy Campbell

Semi's - Carly Boyer

MANDRA RACING - RECAP GEEZERS AT THE GROVE - AUGUST 7, 2021

MANDRA does it again with great racing at Maple Grove, thank you MANDRA racers we had 32 cars on hand for race day. Unfortunately Bud Poust had a radiator failure and Don Wood had a torque converter failure taking them out of competition in time trials. That gave MANDRA 30 cars for first round.

The days sponsors were Bare Bones Racing and Hansberry Enterprises sponsoring a payout to 22 racers, more payouts to more racers than ever before. The racers were chopping the tree down with 8 racers having better than a .020 reaction time in time trials but Bruce Thomas was the best with a .001 on his second time run. But again with 30 cars for first round there was no bye run.

There was also another new winner for 2021, with Brian Yarrison taking home the honors and a new runner-up Dennis Frymoyer, Dennis also won the MANDRA 50/50 drawing.

Close racing started with the first round of racing. Bruce Thomas ran 10.02 on his 10.02 dial in to defeat Marc English who broke out with a 9.53 on his 9.56 dial. This made Bruce a double winner as he also collects the $80 bounty for the first round win over Marc English. The Bounty which goes all season goes back to $50 for the next race.

Also in the first round, in maybe the closest race of the day Tim Hansberry defeated Mark Santee, Mark ran only .01 off his dial-in but Tim killed him on the tree giving Tim the win by .002.

Also in the first round Bill Wert assured himself of receiving the low reaction time bonus for the day with a perfect .000 reaction time in the first round.

In another close race Bob English left with a .004 reaction time against John Rose with a .016, but John ran closer to his dial giving him the win by .024.

Second round was bore by comparison with 5 red lights, one break out, a bye run when Ralph Ferraro had to drop out due to rear end noise and one pair with green lights so bad it looked like neither one wanted to win.

In round three Chris Righetti defeated Bill Johnson’s Falcon, Randy Campbell won a double breakout over Frankie G, Brian Yarrison beat Bill Wert and Dennis Frymoyer defeated Ken Hall in an all dragster race.

Both semi-finals were determined by break outs but Brian Yarrison was at the top of his game with a .025 reaction time and running a 12.71 on his 12.70 dial in to win over a break out by Chris Righetti, Dennis Frymoyer won the other semi-final with a 10.08 on his 10.03 dial over a break out by Randy Campbell.

The final pitted Brian Yarrison’s Checker against the dragster of Dennis Frymoyer, Brian had the head start but Dennis lost the final with a red light.

Anytime you have a 32 car field the racing is bound to be good, the Geezers race met that challenge. Congratulations to Brian, Dennis and all the days participants for a great race.

Special thank you to everyone who bought MANDRA t-shirts and hats, please see Christina and remember we are taking MANDRA jacket orders, we would like to get the order in by the end of August so we can have them by the time it gets cold. Christina does have a sample jacket, they are very nice.

Have a great week.
Merritt

Winner - Brian Yarrison

Runner-Up - Dennis Frymoyer

Semi's - Randy Campbell

Semi's - Chris Righetti

MANDRA RACING - Beaver Springs Dragway - Sunday July 25, 2021

WOW – YA SHOULD’A BEEN THERE!

Great day of racing at Beaver Springs, if you weren’t there you missed one of MANDRA’s best days of racing both in points competition and in the consolation race. The forecast for rain by late afternoon hurt the car count for all classes at the track. MANDRA had 18 cars on hand for the event and everyone was pleased to see Chris Righetti back racing.
MANDRA would like to thank Beaver Springs for their extra effort to keep the racing going as quickly as possible because of the threat of rain.
The days sponsor was Santee Racing, Mark & Brenda were on vacation so Anthony was on hand to help with the race, present the plaques and congratulate the winners.
Everyone got two time runs. In both time runs Bob and Marc English raced each other, can you guess what happened when washers were picked for the first round, yes they picked each other to race first round. Chris Righetti who said he “didn’t expect any great reaction times” due to his time away from racing had low reaction time of time trials with a .004. Of course with 18 cars on hand there was no first round bye run, however Chris did win the $25 posted by Santee Racing for low reaction time in time trials.
The big race of the first round of course was Bob and Marc English, remember there is still a price on Marc for anyone who can defeat him in the first round. Bob was unable to collect the prize as he left the line too soon giving Marc the first round win. The reward to defeat Marc in the first round is now $80.
Round two saw Bill Johnson defeat Ray Bloom, Randy Campbell beat John Wise, Bill Wert won over Jim Shearer, Marc English beat Brian Yarrison and Bob Maulick had a bye run.
Round three opened with Marc English taking out Randy Campbell, Bob Maulick winning over Bill Johnson and Bill Wert having the bye run.
With 3 cars left for the semi-final round, Bob Maulick and Bill Wert already had bye runs which gave Marc English a bye run into the finals, Bill Wert took out Bob Maulick making a Marc English, Bill Wert final.
Bill left the line first with the better reaction time and held on for the win, another first time winner for 2021.
All first round runner-ups were quick to sign up for the consolation race and this may have been the best consolation race ever. Bud Poust defeated Bob Calimer, rising starJack Stump defeated Gary Scott, Bob English won a close race over Mike Fisher, Chris Righetti beat Brian Wallace, while Ralph Ferraro had a bye run.
Second round of the consolation race saw Bob English use an 8.96 on his 8.95 dial to defeat Bud Poust despite Buds .008 light, when Bud ran out, Jack Stump ended Ralphs Ferraro’s day and Chris Righetti had a bye run.
This left three cars for the semi-finals in the consolation race. In the closest race of the day Chris Righetti left the line first with an .019 reaction time, Bob English was close behind with an .046 light, Bob ran 8.956 on his 8.95 dial in to defeat Chris’s 10.431 on his 10.39 dial in a .001 win for Bob English. Jack Stump had a bye run into the finals and posted a .0003 reaction time to show he was ready for the finals.
In the final Jack Stump left first with a 2-½ second head start but Bob prevailed at the finish line due to a better reaction time.
MANDRA racing seems to get better each week, this was two great races in one day, YA SHOULD’A BEEN THERE!
Next race will be ’s “Geezers at the Grove” Saturday August 7th, this will mark the middle of the MANDRA race season. Special plans are being made by the MANDRA race “sponsors”, looking for the best turn out ever.
Have a great week.

Merritt

Winner - Bill Wert

Runner-Up - Marc English

Semi's - Bob Maulick

Consolation - Bob English

MANDRA RACERS - South Mountain Raceway - Sunday July 11, 2021

Bad weather, rain, sunshine, crappy looking day, track equipment malfunction, disaster, round re-run, disappointment, good racing, great racing, shining stars, fantastic finish and more.

At the start, the day looked pretty ify, the day turned hot and humid with a short shower in the mid afternoon that didn’t even make the ground wet.

For the 26 MANDRA racers that made the trip to South Mountain Raceway the reward was a day with close racing and a first time winner and runner-up for 2021.

An early morning announcement of only one time run because of impending thunder storms wasn’t what racers like to hear but the time runs went without a problem with Bud Poust getting low reaction time with a .003, an even number of cars meant there was no first round bye run.

The first round saw an obvious high number of unexplainable red lights. As it turned out a photographers starting line strobe light interfered with the starting line staging lights causing the red lights. At the time there was no way to determine which runs were effected. The track operators decision was to rerun the MANDRA first round. Although not very popular it was the only way for the track to efficiently remedy the situation.

Second round saw the days stars start to shine as John Harris took out Marc English and Jack stump eliminated Eric Fenzel and Tony Picone had low reaction time with a .002.

Round three John Harris defeated Jim Shearer, Jack Stump defeated John Wise, Mark Santee sent Bruce Thomas home and Tony Picone finished the round with a bye run.

In the semi finals Tony Picone’s .005 reaction time was too much for Mark Santee to overcome. John Harris and Jack Stump faced each other, the two cars left the line with nearly identical reaction times, (although based on the reaction time number neither one wanted to win), John Harris ran closer to his dial in giving him the win.

The final saw John Harris leave first with an .014 reaction time to Tony Picone’s .027, at the finish line it was Tony’s race running 7.480 on his 7.46 dial in while John ran out with a 7.830 on his 7.84 dial in.

This was great racing, congratulation to Tony Picone for his first win of 2021 and congratulations to John Harris and Jack Stump on their outstanding performance.

Merritt

Winner - Tony Picone

Runner-Up - John Harris

Semi's - Mark Santee

Semi's - Jack Stump

MANDRA RACERS - Mason Dixon race recap - Saturday June 26, 2021

The sun was hot and the racing was hotter with 27 MANDRA racers on hand at Mason Dixon Dragway for the Gold Dust Rocking Chair Nationals Nostalgia race.

Mason Dixon had nearly 300 racers for the event and the race went well with very little breakage.

The days sponsor was John Hake’s Auto Service, Wrightsville, PA, although not racing John was on hand to award plaques to the event winners along with a Mason Dixon track trophy to the MANDRA winner.

Brian Wallace had the first round bye run with a .012 reaction time in time trials.

Bob English was on hand with his Fiat altered after chassis alterations the car was working well, Bob was asked by the Mori brothers Chev/Wagon, Volkswagen altered to run exhibitions runs with them. (The Mori Brothers Chev/Wagon was a top competition eliminator car in the late 60’s and early 70’s really cool to see them still racing the car. Gene Mori is 82 years young.)

Ray Bloom has placed a $50 bounty on Mark English (for the rest of the 2021 season) for anyone who can take Mark out in the first round of racing. Bill Wert gave it a try but wound up with a .0004 red light in the first round. The only other incident in the first round saw Bruce Thomas break a rear end on the launch in the first round giving Tim Hannsberry the first round win. Takes a bunch of people to push the Cookie Monster on to the trailer. Gary Scott had low reaction time of the first round with a .006.

Second round saw several close races with Bill Smith having low reaction time of the round with a .010.

Third round Had Mark Santee defeating Mark English in a very close race, Bill Johnsons Falcon beating Bud Poust, and Merritt Snyder taking out Brian Yarrison in the Checker in another close race, Bill Smith had the bye run.

The semi-finals saw Mark Santee win over Bill Johnson and Bill Smith win over Merritt Snyder.

That set up a Mercury/Ford final where Bill Smith left the starting line with a slightly better reaction time but ran .002 too fast at the finish line, Mark Santee was right on his dial in making this probably the closest race of the day.

This was a great day of racing maybe one of the best events MANDRA has had at Mason Dixon. The next race will be at South Mountain in two weeks Sunday July 11, see you there.
Merritt

Winner - Mark Santee

Runner-Up - Bill Smith

Semi's - Merritt Snyder

Semi's - Bill Johnson

MANDRA RACERS - post race recap
Saturday June 12, 2021

After the disappointing rainout for the Beaver Springs race MANDRA racers were ready to go at the Cecil County Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia race.

There were 36 cars on hand, two cars had to drop out due to mechanical issues leaving 34 cars for first round. Bill Johnson had low reaction time with a perfect .000 reaction time on his second time run, unfortunately as often happens with an even number of cars there was no first round bye run.

Paul Nevells Quarter Mile Farms, Inc was the days sponsor, a big thank you to Paul and Josh.

The first round went smoothly except for Chris Righetti who suffered a broken motor on his first round win. There were some very close races, Bruce Thomas got the bye run for the second round with a .001 reaction time.

Second round saw more close racing but with some controversy when Bob McAllister defeated Mark Santee when both cars fouled. (You will hear more about this in the next two weeks).

Third round saw John Wise defeat John Harris in a close double break out, Bud Poust won over Bob McAllister, Gary Scott beat Bruce Thomas in another close race and Marc English defeated Ray Bloom. Merritt Snyder had the bye run with low reaction time in the second round.

In the fourth round Marc English defeated Gary Scott’s dragster, John Wise won over Merritt Snyder when Merritt’s brain broke while staging the car, Bud Poust had the bye run.

Fifth round saw Bud post take out John Wise and Marc English had a bye run into the final.

The final saw both cars leave with only .008 difference at the starting line, at the finish line Marc English got the win by running closer to his dial in.

This was a great day of racing and gives Marc English a significant lead in the points after only 3 races completed.

In two weeks we will be at Mason Dixon, looking forward to more great nostalgia racing. Be there!

Merritt
6/13/21

Winner - Marc English

Runner-Up - Bud Poust

Semi's - John Wise

MANDRA RACERS - Racing recap for Island Dragway - Sunday May 16, 2021

Good morning, MANDRA race number two had 18 cars making first round at Island Dragway.

Thank you to our sponsors ABP Mechanical, (Tony and Kim Picone) and
D & M Engineering, (Dick DeMott).

It was a beautiful day for racing, the weather was great, the track was great which led to some close racing.

Chris Righetti had low reaction time in time trials with a .005 but with an even number of cars there wouldn't be a first round bye run.

Ray Bloom was showing off with his much improved Willis gasser using a perfect light to defeat Bob Jones in the first round.

Second round saw 2020 champion Mark Santee defeat Bruce Thomas, Brian Yarrison won over Tony Picone, Rob Maulick and Merritt Snyder had a close race going but Merritt lost by running out by .001, Marc English won over Carly Boyer and Ray Bloom advanced with the bye run.

Third round started with Mark Santee defeating Brian Yarrison in a close race, Ray Bloom took out Rob Maulick and Marc English had a bye run.

In the fourth round Marc English defeated Ray Bloom and Mark Santee had a single into the finals. The final was over at the starting line when Marc English red lighted giving the win to Mark Santee.

Two weeks until Memorial Day weekend, looking forward to a great weekend of racing at Beaver Springs.

Be there!.

Merritt

Winner - Mark Santee

Runner-up - Marc English

Semi's - Ray Bloom

MANDRA RACING RECAP - South Mountain Raceway - Sunday May 2. 2021

Was a great day for MANDRA’s first race of 2021, plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures, 26 MANDRA racers were on hand to get the season under way.
Dave Fenzel had low reaction time of time trials with a .0001 and received the first round bye run.

The days sponsor was Brian Wallace’s, Susquehanna Valley Insulators. Time trials went well and all 26 racers were ready for first round. First and second rounds went smoothly the only note was Brian Wallace’s .0004 reaction time in round two.

The third round saw Cliff Sebring (making a surprise guest appearance) defeating John Wise in a close race, Mike Volpe defeating Bud Poust (driving Old Yellow), and Marc English defeating new member Marvin Blume in his 57 Chevy. Brian Wallace had a bye run thanks to that .0004 RT in the second round.

Fourth round saw Brian Wallace defeat Cliff Sebring and Marc English defeat Mike Volpe in another very close race.

That set up a final between Brian Wallace and Marc English. This was an epic race with Marc leaving first and Brian chasing him down to win by a .0002 margin at the finish line.

The first consolation race of the season had six first round runner ups competing, with Merritt Snyder winning the final over Brian Yarrison.

There was one incident of the day, South Mountain Raceway disqualified a MANDRA racer because of excessive braking at the finish line. There was no intent to brake that hard, the driver did not expect the brakes to lock up the way they did creating a lot of tire smoke. The point is be aware, unexpected things can happen.

A special thanks to Christina Davenport for taking over t-shirt sales and taking care of 50/50 ticket sales at the South Mountain race. The t-shirt and hat inventory in low but should be back to normal by Beaver Springs.

Our next race will be at Island Dragway on Sunday May 16^th, look forward to seeing everyone there.

Merritt

Winner- Brian Wallace

Runner-up: Marc English

Semi's: Mike Volpe

Semi's:Cliff Sebring