Frank Manzo has won the Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship every year since 1997 - and he is going to keep on winning the Championship until the world comes to an end. Or so it seems. The last time Manzo wasn't the champ, nobody had heard of Britney Spears, people were wondering if the World Wide Web was just a fad, and former President Clinton was two years from being impeached.

It's an incredible string not only for the performance required over such a long haul but also for the fact that plain bad luck has not intruded on Manzo enough to give any racer those extra few wins necessary to clip him for the title. Here is the list of good racers, in order beginning with 1997, who have finished second to Manzo: Tony Bartone (1996 Champion), Bob Newberry (1992 Champion), Bartone, Pat Austin (1987, 1988, 1990, 1991 Champion), Jay Payne (1995 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion), Steve Gasparrelli, and Bucky Austin (runner-up to Pat Austin in 1991). So the question is this: When will Manzo, who also won the sport's first Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship in 1981 and again in 1986, not be number one?

"It might be very shortly," said the 51-year-old utilities contractor from Morganville, N.J. "It could be next year. I don't know what is in store for me. I'm not a guy who stops and thinks about stuff like, "Well, I've won seven [in a row] and I've won this and that." I've had some great years. I've realized that my competition is not too happy with me winning all the time and that I have to keep working harder and harder to improve."

Two keys to Manzo's continued success are crew chief John Glade, who has been with him for more than 20 years, and Manzo's wife of 25 years, Michele, who has been racing with him since the third year he raced anything, in 1973. Glade brings to the party a wealth of experience, and Michele, from standing back and watching and listening for so many years, sometimes offers an opinion based on an intuitive sense that has been responsible for a turnaround in the car's performance on more than one occasion.

Unlike some of his competitors, who have more money or the supposed advantage of racing for a living without the distraction of keeping a business running during the week as Manzo does, Manzo and his loyal crew only work on the car after spending days working elsewhere. Those who join Manzo and Glade in Manzo's garage each evening from 5 to 9 are Fred Bauer, Ed Hofmann, Bud Donato, Mike and Barry Howardson, and John "Hopper" Halasz.

They worked in earnest beginning in December to assemble another winner. Manzo, having had his fill of racing late in 2002 after another long year of working and racing, sold his car turnkey and put racing out of his mind. He said at the time he was unsure whether he would race in 2003 or, if so, whether he would try to defend his title one more time. Then he got his second wind.

"One morning I was going to work, and I thought, 'You're going to become an old, miserable person just working all the time.' " Manzo said. "So I picked up my cell phone and called Murf [McKinney] and Brad Anderson."

The last-minute calls prevented Manzo from his traditional debut at the Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals, making his first race the fifth national event of the season, in Houston. He runner-upped to longtime divisional and national nemesis Bob Newberry when he red-lighted. Newberry had won in Gainesville on the way to one of his best seasons ever - until the Manzo of old appeared on the scene.

Manzo defeated Newberry in the final round at the next three national events Manzo attended: Atlanta, Englishtown, and Columbus.

After Columbus in mid-June, Manzo forsook the national event trail as it headed west and focused his attention on earning his usual five wins in Division 1's seven-event Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. He had already won the first event, at U.S. 13 Dragway, after the scheduled opener, at Maple Grove Raceway, was postponed by rain until late September. He lost in the second round at Atco Raceway a week after Columbus, then won the next one, at Lebanon Valley Dragway, in early July, before hitting his lowest point of the season at the next stop, Numidia Raceway. There, Manzo proved he is human when he left before the Tree was activated to lose in the first round. He had two Lucas Oil Series wins at the time, but only three events remained after Numidia - and he had to win them all. Bucky Austin, racing in the Northwest, would finish second to Manzo by only 32 points and win all five of his Division 6 races.

Manzo, up to the task, secured the big prize when he got a fortunate cakewalk win at NHRA's national event at Maple Grove Raceway two weeks after winning the divisional event there. Had Austin attended the Reading national event, he may have won the Championship because Manzo never found the tune-up there but won anyway when all four of his opponents broke or fouled against him.

"If next year I happen to finish third, or fifth, or second, I'll take it and like it," Manzo said. "If I don't win next year, I'll be the first or second guy to congratulate the guy who wins." [bug]

Manzo's 2003 track record
829 points
O'Reilly Spring Nationals: Runner-up
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals: Won event
K&N Filters NHRA SuperNationals: Won event
U.S. 13 Dragway (Div. 1): Won event
Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals: Won event
Lebanon Valley Dragway (Div. 1): Won event
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park (Div. 1): Won event
Cecil County Dragway (Div. 1): Won event
Maple Grove Raceway (Div. 1): Won event
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals: Won event