Todd Veney

In the Top Alcohol Funny Car final, both cars were all over the track as Veney edged national championship contender Mickey Ferro in the closest race of the day, 5.665 to 5.668.

"Jay Blake and tuner Tom Howell really got this thing turned around this weekend," Veney said. "We haven't run that great lately, and we made the three best runs we've made in months at exactly the right time. 5.60s on a track like this is really hard to do, and they got it done."

Ferro burned a piston in a 5.79 first-round win over alternate John Headley, then ran low e.t. and top speed of the meet – a 5.62 at 256.31 mph – in the semifinals against Richmond runner-up D.J. Cox, who lost with his second of back-to-back 5.60s at his home track. Veney beat Marie Ferriolo in round one, 5.67 to a career-best 5.69, and pulled to within one point of East Region points leader John Anderika with a semifinal win over Anderika, 5.67 to 6.04.

Veney passed Anderika with the final-round win over Ferro and assumed the lead when Frank Manzo, who had won this race in each of the past nine years, went to the Brainerd national event instead of Cecil County. Manzo, who won both of his appearances in the Eastern Region – Maple Grove and New England – dropped out of contention because drivers must run at least three events in their home region to be eligible for regional championships.

Sal Biondo

Defending event champion Sal Biondo collected his second Northeast division win of the year in Comp Eliminator as the Middle Village, N.Y., racer defeated Steve Szupka to move into third in points.