Centre pointe team anxious to kick off 2012 campaign

CENTRE POINTE TEAM ANXIOUS TO KICK OFF 2012 CAMPAIGN

Santa Clarita, Calif. – Action speaks louder than words. This will be the mantra of the Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team who will once again kick off their quest to capture the 2012 National Hot Rod Association Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series World Championship this upcoming weekend at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. during the 52nd O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries.

After a 2011 campaign which netted Six NHRA National Event victories and a second place finish in the season point battle, the Centre Pointe Collision Center sponsored TAFC team returns to their home track in Southern California to once again battle perennial champion Frank Manzo and a highly-talented group of Alcohol Funny Car racers for the 2012 Lucas Oil World Championship. And as the 2012 season begins, the Centre Pointe Collision Center TAFC team and their driver Tony Bartone are ready to let their on-track performance prove the performance they showed in 2011 was not a fluke.

“We are primed and ready for another hard-fought battle to capture the World Championship this season,” noted team owner Rick Jackson. “Last year obviously did not end up the way we wanted with a second place finish, but I firmly believe the improvements we showed last season will continue in 2012. We have a great tune-up powered by Steve Boggs, a solid crew who have worked together for the past two seasons and a driver who needless to say is one of the best in the business. We opened up the season last year with a win, and we’ll do our best to repeat that effort and kick off the 2012 season just like we began 2011.”

In order to collect the 2012 NHRA Lucas Oil World Championship, the Top Alcohol Funny Car category will be introduced to a new Regional-Style point format. This newly created Regional level of events will be broken into four individual Regions: East, North Central, Central, and West and will include a total of 23 Regional events across the country. The Lucas Oil World Championship will change from the previous point structure of the best five of eight both at the national and divisional event level to seven of 10 for national events and three of five for regional events.

“We lost last year’s championship due to our less than perfect performance in the Divisional side of the season, so it will be interesting to see how we fair in the new Regional format,” stated Jackson. “Our team has been together in its entirely for the past few seasons and as a result we’ve got great chemistry, we work well together and have handled adversity very well. We are excited to kick it off in style this weekend in front of our friends, family and loyal marketing partners who have supported this team for many years. Enough talk – let’s get to racing.”

The Rick Jackson Racing team is ready for another great season thanks to the support of many longtime partners such as Red Line Oil, Simpson Race Product, Roger Dean Automotive, Hussey Copper, DMPE, Goodyear Tires and many more proud marketing partners. To learn more about the Rick Jackson Racing team and the partners who support their racing endeavors, please visit their website @ http://www.rickjacksonracing.com.