Dirt
Dan Northrop scores
third consecutive NHRA
Summernationals Super Gas win
By Nate Van Wagnen
T
hree-time NHRA Division 1 Su-
per Gas champion Dan Northrop
has long been a threat in a variety of
sportsman racing circles. He’s won
national events in NHRA and IHRA
competition over the last two decades. His big-
money bracket racing winnings are estimated to
be well over $300,000 in total. But the Pipersville,
Pennsylvania, driver has been nothing short of
unstoppable in Super Gas competition at the
NHRA Summernationals at New Jersey’s famed
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, winning the
race in his last three attempts.
Northrop, who chalked up his Englishtown
dominance to simply being comfortable at the
track just over an hour from home, finds a greater
challenge in running national events. English-
town is usually the only national event he runs
lately, filling out the rest of his schedule with divi-
sional events and bracket races across the country.
“In my opinion, it’s harder to dial at national
events,” Northrop said. “It’s more of a driver’s
race than it would be at, say, a divisional where
you’re making runs every hour, where at national
events you’re making runs every 24 hours. That’s
why you always see the cream of the crop win-
ning national events because you’re driving by
the seat of your pants. You don’t really have time
to get dialed in like you do at a bracket race or
a divisional.”
The 2000 NHRA Super Gas world champion’s
trip to the winner’s circle started with round wins
over Kelli Barbato, Edward Alessi Jr, Rich Price
and Stephen Paquin. He then received a semifinal
bye into the final round. Meanwhile, national
points leader John Labbous Jr. had defeated
Ralph Musi Jr, Don Knoblick, Jake Barbato,
Brenda Hunter and Tom Stalba to earn his spot
in the final. It was a rematch of last year’s final
and 2015’s quarterfinal race between Northrop
and Labbous.
“He and I have butted heads for probably 15
or 20 years,” Northrop pointed out. “We’re very
close in age and we’re actually pretty good friends.
Like I said, the cream of the crop usually rises at
national events, and he’s always there late in the
rounds and I like to think I’m always there late
too. It definitely feels good to beat somebody of
his caliber because he’s one of the best there is
in the bracket racing world. As far as pure talent
drivers, he’s by far one of the top 10 best ever.”
Labbous grabbed a narrow starting-line advan-
tage, his .021 light to Northrop’s .027. Northrop
crossed the finish line in 9.921 seconds, just
nine ten-thousandths of a second ahead of Lab-
bous’ 9.927.
“I was a little lucky in the final this year,”
Northrop admitted. “Nine ten-thousandths; both
of us were out of it. It was more luck than skill.
It easily could’ve gone either way at less than a
thou. There was a lot of luck involved in that one.
“I was trying to go an .85 or .86 and I was basi-
cally tryin g to kill five-hundredths to go dead-on
.90. It looks like both of us were a little bit slow
from what I can tell by looking at the numbers.
I was just trying to make it as tight as I could
and kill what I got. You’re always setting up to
be able to cover yourself if you miss the tree. We
were within six thou on the lights, so it was a coin
flip at that point.”
While he’s experienced his fair share of incred-
ibly close races since starting his racing career in
his early twenties, even Northrop was amazed at
the margin of victory.
“Did I mean to take nine ten-thousandths? No.
I was trying to take five-thou or ten-thou. Less
than one-thou? That’s pretty much luck.”
Northrop, whose 2017 winnings also include
a 25-grander at Memphis and a trailer race at
the Spring Fling Million in Las Vegas, went on
to thank his supporters.
“I’d like to thank my family’s companies, ISC
Racers Tape and ISC Salesmaster Corporation;
my girlfriend, Jeannie Linke; my family and her
family; James Antonette at JA Performance; Se-
lect Performance Transmissions and Converters;
and Nickerson Carburetors. I couldn’t do this
without their support.”
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