Bartone begins divisional series in phoenix

BARTONE BEGINS DIVISIONAL SERIES IN PHOENIX

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Chandler, Az. – Oscar Wilde was fond of saying, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” However, Mr. Wilde never drove a 260 mile per hour Top Alcohol Funny Car in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series either.

One week after the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series invaded the valley of the sun, the Santa Clarita, Calif. based Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team and their top-shelf driver, Tony Bartone, bring their highly competitive car to the first Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event of 2010, contested this weekend at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Az.

The Centre Pointe Collision Center / FireIce.com team began their 2010 NHRA season with a semi-final showing at the season opening NHRA Winternationals a few weeks ago in Pomona, Calif. After qualifying number one in the 16-car field team driver Tony Bartone took out Brian Smith and Brian Thiel in the first two rounds of eliminations en-route to a semi-final round loss to Doug Gordon. It was a round loss which did not sit well with team owner Rick Jackson and the entire team.

“We flat out got beat,” noted Jackson, whose team has captured six NHRA National Event championships in the past two years. “If you lose by making a mistake that is difficult to accept, because you basically shoot yourself in the foot. But, when another team out performs you it is like Doug Gordon did to us in Pomona, that leaves a bad taste in your mouth and you can’t wait to get back to the track to prove you are better and capable of a higher level of performance. We need to do well this weekend to start off the divisional series on a good note.”

The team ended last year’s NHRA LODRS divisional series with a win at the Division 4 event in Belle Rose, LA.

However, racing against some of the world’s most competitive Alcohol Funny Cars this weekend at Firebird will be a much more difficult task.

“These guys are very tough racers and if you qualify in the top 8, you can win this race in Division 7,” stated driver Tony Bartone, a 31-time NHRA National event champion in three different categories. “We’ve got a good thing going here at Rick Jackson Racing. Our car ran very well in Pomona and I’m optimistic we can run well this weekend.”

Bartone’s confidence was up to par as the team entered the first qualifying session today. Bartone launched hard, recording a solid 0.944 second 60-foot time and was on track to recording a low 5.60 elapsed time in the quarter mile, however a parachute malfunction deployed the laundry 320 feet before the finish line, causing the car to slow down dramatically. The end result was a sub-par 6.185 E.T., good enough for the number7 spot.

Bartone and the Rick Jackson Racing team will receive two more shots to improve their qualifying position tomorrow at Firebird Raceway.