43
Abruzzi to get NHRA award
Warren driver won Top World Dragster
By Greg Gulas
Warren native Marco Abruzzi will be honored tonight when the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series awards are presented at Hollywood’s Ray Dolby Ballroom.
Abruzzi will be recognized in the Top Dragster World Championship category. He earned the feat two weekends ago at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It’s the first time NHRA has had a category for national points.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long, long time,” Abruzzi said in a telephone interview. “This is the first time ever that they’ve run two classes for championships.
“The competition was tough, drivers came from all over the country and I just set my goal early, which was to win it all,” Abruzzi said.
Abruzzi is the owner of Abruzzi Transmissions and Torque Converters, located on Youngstown Road in Warren. He competes in its Top Dragster and Top Sportsman categories, two of NHRA’s fastest sportsman level classes. He finished first in national and divisional points in Top Dragster and placed second in divisional points in Top Sportsman.
“You go to five national races with your best three finishes counting,” Abruzzi said, adding that racers must compete in eight regional racers with the top five finishes counting.
Ryan Martino of Youngstown’s Martino Motorsports said Abruzzi ”has an incredible racing resume.
“He’s a great ambassador for the sport and we’ve competed against him for many years on both the local and national levels,” Martino said. “He’s a true sportsman.”
Abruzzi formerly raced in IHRA (International Hot Rod Association) and was its 2003 and 2006 world champion in Top Sportsman.
His road to winning this year’s Top Dragster title included two wins in the final four rounds of his championship run. He took top honors as the St. Louis national event and top divisional honors in Norwalk. He advanced to the divisional semifinals at Columbus, Chicago, Indianapolis and Las Vegas, finishing runner-up at national competitions in Bristol, Tenn., and Columbus.
He also raced divisionally at St. Louis; Reynolds, Ga.; and Bowling Green, Ky. He won nationally at Norwalk and Chicago.
Abruzzi had the lead before the final event in Las Vegas. Chasing him were Jesse Adams and Matt Driskell. Both dropped out.
Another driver, J.R. Baxter, had an outside shot but needed to win the event. He lost in the semifinals.
“I used someone else’s car to finish out the season,” Abruzzi said. “It was a little tense as four drivers had a chance to win.”
Abruzzi also helps service hundreds of customers that compete with his lines of racing transmissions and converters.
The awards banquet will be available for viewing via NHRA’s YouTube channel beginning Wednesday at 6 p.m.