5th NATIONAL EVENT VICTORY KEEPS BARTONE IN TITLE HUNT

5th NATIONAL EVENT VICTORY KEEPS BARTONE IN TITLE HUNT

Ennis, Texas – After a devastating first round loss at the recently completed NHRA US Nationals, Tony Bartone and the Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team entered the AAA NHRA Fall Nationals contested at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas with one mission; victory or bust. A final round win today over Roger Bateman gave Bartone his 5th National Event title of the season and improves his season points total in the team’s quest to claim the 2011 Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Funny Car World Championship.

The Rick Jackson Racing team from Santa Clarita, Calif. began eliminations on a great note, recording low elapsed time in qualifying to supply Bartone with his 33rd career pole position. This set up a first round pairing against Billy Davis, who was the 159th driver Bartone had faced in eliminations. The Steve Boggs and Darren Mayer tuned Centre Pointe Collision Center TAFC laid down a smooth 5.605 ET to defeat Davis and advance to a second round race against Division 7 hitter John Lombardo Jr. After beating Lombardo in round two, Bartone defeated Division 1 competitor Mickey Ferro in the semi-finals to advance to the money round.

His final round opponent, Roger Bateman, beat Steve Gasparelli, Jay Payne and Thomas Carter en route to the finals. Bartone held a 2 - 0 advantage against Bateman in prior events and was 1 - 0 against Bateman in prior final rounds. At the flash of the green light, Bateman grabbed a slight 0.006 reaction time advantage first and slowly extended his lead to the 330 foot mark. From that point, the DMPE and Boggs tuned Mustang started to reel him in. Bartone drove around Bateman a little past halftrack, and then pulled away for his 35th career win and 303rd round win of his career.

“This was an unbelievable and amazing wire-to-wire weekend for the Centre Pointe team,” noted Bartone, who holds a 54% winning percentage in final rounds in his storied career. “After the debacle during the first round at Indy, as a team we were bound and determine to show how good this car can be at our next event. We came down here to win – period. We have maximized our National Points total with one race left to claim. There were a bunch of quality cars and drivers at this event and to hoist this Wally is very special for our team.”

The Rick Jackson Racing team has had an amazing season so far, and would like to thank all of their Marketing Partners, friends and fans who have stuck with them and supported the team from day one. To learn more about the Rick Jackson Racing team and driver Tony Bartone, please visit their website at http://www.rickjacksonracing.com. You can also keep up to date by following them on Facebook @rickjacksonracing.