2022 NHRA New England Nationals Sportsman Preview

2022 NHRA New England Nationals Lucas Oil Sportsman Preview from New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire

Cover photo courtesy of NHRA.tv

EPPING – The NHRA national event tour continues it’s journey up the East Coast as it moves from Richmond, VA to New England Dragway. The eighth stop on the 2022 schedule will showcase the talented Division 1 Lucas Oil series racers. Joe Santangelo and John Labbous Jr. struck gold last year along with a host of veteran racers.

After coming up short on our predictions for the 4-Wide Nationals, we redeemed ourselves at the Virginia Nationals by correctly picking David Eaton to win Comp Eliminator. We look to build on that momentum this week.

The NHRA New England Nationals will showcase over 220 Lucas Oil sportsman racers competing in six different classes. The schedule includes Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, and Top Sportsman.

Before we look ahead to the 2022 NHRA New England Nationals, let’s look back at the 2021 event champions.

2019 NHRA New England Nationals Champions

Super Stock – Joe Santangelo

Stock Eliminator – John Gray

Super Comp – Amanda Boicesco

Super Gas – John Labbous

Super Street – John Harper

Top Dragster – Nick Meloni

2022 NHRA New England Nationals Predictions

With each NHRA national event DragChamp’s sportsman preview includes an overview of each class. In addition, we select the DragChamp Picks to win the race. Here are this week’s picks.

Super Stock – 40 Car Field

Defending event champ Joe Santangelo will make another run at the title on Sunday but will outlast an onslaught of veteran class racers including Bryan Worner, Joe Lisa, Byron Worner, and Michael Iacono.

DragChamp picks to win:

Kyle Cultrera – Big money bracket racing ace could hurt some feelings in Super Stock this week

Mark Alvey – Division 2 ace has a knack for making final round appearances

Stock Eliminator – 60 Car Field

Stock Eliminator is by far the largest field this week and may also be the most talented. Joe Santangelo, Matt Lisa, Todd Bednaz, and Allison Doll stand out when reviewing the entry list. Former Comp world champ Vinny Barone may be the most interesting name on the entry list. After running Comp for decades, Barone is entered in Q/SA this week in Jeep Comanche! Should be interesting to watch.

DragChamp picks to win:

Anthony Bongiovanni – Talented class racer is overdue for a big win

Donald Pires – Has enjoyed tons of success on the LODRS level, should give him an edge over the field this weekend

Super Comp – 49 Car Field

Amanda Boicesco exerted her dominance over the class last year and by the way she finished the season, a return trip to the winners circle could be in the cards. Mike Robilotto, Ken Moses, Jack Sepanek, Kyle Cultrera, and Doug Foley will look to unseat her as the New England Nationals champion.

DragChamp picks to win:

Two-seater Doug Foley – Veteran big money bracket racing star knows how to index race too

Amanda Boicesco – Feeling a repeat coming on

Super Gas – 26 Car Field

John Labbous Jr. will not return to New England to defend his 2021 title which means we’ll have a new champion this weekend. The field is led by Mike Sawyer, Iggie Boicesco, Charlie Kenopic, and Michael Handras.

DragChamp picks to win:

Mike Sawyer – The Sawyer family has dominated this event for years, I expect more of the same this weekend

Frank Altilio – Look for the Division 2 ace to show out this week

Super Street – 35 Car Field

The Super Street class is always one of the toughest to pick since it’s typically a very regional group of racers. With that said, Brian Sawyer has practically owned this class for the last several seasons.

DragChamp picks to win:

Brian Sawyer – Gotta go with a winner here, he rarely loses at the New England Nationals

Keith Mayers – This dude has driven his Porsche to back-to-back D1 Lucas Oil victories, thinking it could be three straight after this weekend

Top Sportsman – 22 Car Field

Nick Meloni returns to New England looking for a repeat performance of 2021 but in a different class. Meloni captured the Top Dragster crown last year but will chase the Top Sportsman title this week.

DragChamp pick to win:

Robert Fortuna – This guy has been a terror in his S-10 over the last year, expect to see more of the same this week

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