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Tax Bracket Racing -- Frankie Cicerale The 2009 racing season will be Frankie’s ninth season behind the wheel of a full size race car for Tax Bracket Racing. This year will also be the 27 year old’s sixteenth season behind the wheel of a race car. His return full-time to the track in 2009 comes after abbreviated 2007 and 2008 seasons, the first time since 1994 that Frankie has not run the full season.
In 1996, Frankie won the first race of his career, and went on to win three more times on his way to finishing third in the points chase at Island Dragway. He once again qualified for the Jr. Drag Racing League National Championships, and was the only one from the Island Dragway team to make it past the first round. The 1997 season was a remarkable one, as Frankie finished second in points at Island Dragway, behind his brother Vinnie. He only won one race that year, but did so driving with a broken collarbone. He traveled to the Ziploc Indy Jr. Dragster Open held at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and went six rounds in the Friday night bracket race. 1998 was another spectacular year, with Frankie finishing second once again to Vinnie in the points chase at Island Dragway. Scoring five wins, Frankie again qualified for the National Championships and went three rounds before losing. 1999, his last year of competition in a Jr. Dragster, was a banner year for Frankie. He again qualified for the National Championships, and went out in the fourth round with 13 cars left, but not before capturing the Best Reaction Time Award. He finished out the season with six wins, and captured the Island Dragway Track Championship, his very first. He also tied Vinnie for the fourth position in points at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Frankie graduated to the full size ranks in 2000, and raced his 1968 Chevy Nova for the points championship in the Street class at Island Dragway and the Advanced Trophy category at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. At the end of the year, Frankie tallied up six victories, and finished fourth in Advanced Trophy points at Englishtown and sixth in Street class points at Island. In addition, he qualified for the 2000 Summit E.T. Racing Series Division 1 Bracket Finals, where he made it to the second round. Avoiding the dreaded sophomore jinx, Frankie had another great year in 2001. He debuted in Super Comp driving the Tax Bracket Racing 1994 Pro Start dragster, and also piloted his Nova in Street at Island Dragway. Frankie finished 22nd in Division 1 Super Comp points for the year, recorded the best package at the 2001 Matco Tools Spring Supernationals, and was a routine late round finisher at all divisional events. In addition, Frankie finished second in Street points, missing the title by a mere seven points. He also went four rounds at the Bracket Finals and won the Best Package Award at the event. The 2002 season was a career year for Frankie as he won two major races in the span of a month. After late round finishes at most divisional events, Frankie went a tough seven rounds to take home the Super Comp victory at Cecil County Dragway in August. He came back to the track a month later to win the Summit E.T. Racing Series Bracket Finals driving John Zulla's 1982 Chevy Monte Carlo. In addition, Frankie racked up seven wins at Island Dragway to finish third in Street points, and used the August divisional win to secure a seventh place points finish in Division 1 Super Comp points. In 2003, Frankie racked up only one win, but was consistent enough to finish sixth in Street Eliminator points at Island Dragway. Frankie handed off his divisional crown to his brother, who won the title in the same car Frankie drove to victory last year. While it was a frustrating year on the divisional circuit, Frankie did manage to score a semi-final finish at the Atco Open event in April, and used it as a springboard for a fourth place points finish in the Division 1 National Open Series Super Comp points hunt. While 2002 was a career year for Frankie, the 2004 season can be considered a close second. Behind the wheel of his Nova, Frankie became the sixth different Street Eliminator champion at Island Dragway and the first driver in Island Dragway history to win titles in the Jr. Dragster category and a full size category as he scored a class and career high seven wins while on his way to the 2004 Island Dragway Street Eliminator Track Championship, his second overall triumph. Frankie participated in his very first Race of Champions event, and came close to making it a three-peat win for Tax Bracket Racing at the Division 1 Summit E.T. Racing Series Bracket Finals as he made it to the quarterfinals. While he ran a limited schedule in the Super Comp car, Frankie did manage to score late round finishes at the Maple Grove LODRS event and the Maple Grove National Open Series event in April, and made it out of the first round at the K&N Filters Nationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in June. The 2005 season was a bit of a chore as mechanical woes landed Frankie sixth in points at Island Dragway. Frankie knocked down four wins in Street and a win in Pro, and made it down to twelve cars at the Division 1 Bracket Finals. Frankie also ran a limited schedule in Super Comp with the team’s dragster, and earned his Super Gas license. During the season, Frankie and the team also ran a 9/11 Tribute Helmet Raffle, with the $3,000 in proceeds being donated to the Mark Hindy Charitable Foundation. 2006 was a tale of two seasons as he opened the year with strong finishes in the Nova at Island Dragway. During the first half of the season, he also scored his only win of the season, a victory behind the wheel of the Nova in Street Eliminator. The second half of the year was difficult as round wins were scarce in both the dragster and the Nova. Frankie suffered a tough first round loss at the Summit E.T Racing Series Bracket Finals at Maple Grove Raceway, and recorded a 3rd round best finish in the dragster at the Lucas Oil Divisional Series event at Raceway Park. For the second year, Frankie and the Tax Bracket Racing Team held the 9/11 Tribute Helmet Raffle, with the proceeds once again going to the Mark Hindy Charitable Foundation. Thanks to fan support and generous donations on behalf of a few professional NHRA teams, another $3,000 was raised for the foundation. 2007 saw Frankie move out of his venerable ’94 Pro Start Super Comp dragster, which was sold in the off season, and into an Ed Quay four-link dragster. In his only race of the season, the Atco LODRS event in June, Frankie went out in the 2nd round. For the first time since 1994, however, Frankie did not run an entire schedule, owing to his marriage to Robin Bull in October of that year and an unfortunate accident involving his brother, Vinnie, and his Super Street car at the same event. It was at that time that Frankie and the rest of the Tax Bracket Racing team decided to take some time off and get back to basics. With the itch too strong to ignore any longer, Frankie came back from his year-long hiatus to race the last two months of the 2008 racing season at Numidia Dragway behind the wheel of his Nova. Frankie scored career win number 52 in only his third week back in action, following a runner-up the week before, and qualified for the 2008 Bracket Finals in Pro. At that event, Frankie went four rounds before losing. For 2009, Frankie plans to attack the track full-time for the first time since 2006. He will race his Nova in the Sportsman and Pro categories at Numidia Dragway, with an emphasis on taking home the Sportsman track championship. Frankie will also get back behind the wheel of the team’s dragster, competing regularly in Super Pro as well as in a few select races in Super Comp.
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