Jackson racing tafc zooms to provisional pole in phoenix

JACKSON RACING TAFC ZOOMS TO PROVISIONAL POLE IN PHOENIX

<img src="http://www.insidetopalcohol.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=219&thumb=1&d=1271038484" align="right" borders="0"/>Chandler, Ariz. – A new season has begun for the Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team with the Santa Clarita, Calif. group producing mid-season performance. A solid 5.595 second elapsed time was good enough to capture the provisional pole position after the first day of qualifying during the opening NHRA Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event of the 2011 season contested at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz.

The Centre Pointe Collision Center Ford Mustang team kicked off their 2011 campaign with a test session yesterday at FIR, giving crew chief Steve Boggs and driver Tony Bartone the opportunity to shake down any off season rust which may have developed since their record shattering 266.00 mile per hour blast recorded in mid-November, 2010. It also provided crew members Chris, Lew, Javier, Scott and new tuning consultant Darren Mayer, the owner and operator or Darren Mayer Performance Engineering, (http://www.dmpeinc.com), a chance to warm up for the season opener today.

“Darren has come on board as a tuning consultant this season and we are very happy and honored to have him join us,” noted team owner Rick Jackson, the owner of Centre Pointe Collision Center in Santa Clarita. “He has established himself as an industry leader and his years of experience and countless laps made tuning cars on track will only help to expedite our racing program to success. We are trying some new parts and pieces in order to build off our record setting elapsed time and mile per hour last season and wanted to head into the first day of qualifying prepared to contend for the championship once again this year.”

The testing day paid off, as Bartone used his years of experience to skillfully guided the Centre Pointe Ford Mustang to a 5.595 ET at 258.57 mph effort, nearly half-a-tenth of a second ahead of second place Doug Gordon, of Paso Robles, Calif. Weather became an issue as rain moved into the Chandler area prior to the second qualifying session, ending the day and giving Bartone and the Jackson Racing team some confidence heading into tomorrow.

“The pass was a good baseline for us,” noted Jackson. “The car launched hard, carrying the front wheels well past the 60 foot clocks. The car veered towards the wall and Tony manhandled the car back into the groove. It’s on passes like that, I am glad we have an experienced shoe in the seat. The crew is very excited to begin the season and hopefully the weather will turn in our favor so we can begin our season on a winning note before Pomona next weekend.”

To learn more about the Rick Jackson Racing team, please visit their website @ http://www.rickjacksonracing.com.