Tony Bartone - US Nationals Wrap Up

A TALE OF TWO EVENTS FOR THE JACKSON TEAM

Photo provided by Auto Imagery


Clermont, Ind. - “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” once said a 19th century novelist.

However, the man who wrote these words under the pen name “Boz” does not know Dickens about the experience the Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team had this past weekend during the 55th NHRA Mac Tool’s US Nationals presented by Lucas Oil held at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind.

The top running TAFC team from Santa Clarita, Calif. entered the first round of eliminations after recording a solid 5.60 second elapsed time run during the final qualifying session, which placed them in the fifth spot. It set up a first round rematch of sorts versus Division 3’s Chris Foster. The last time Jackson Racing paired up against Foster in Norwalk, Ohio, the Center Pointe Collision sponsored Ford Mustang Funny Car experienced a mechanical failure which eliminated the team from competition.

It appears lightning can strike twice.

After constant rain showers plagued the Indianapolis suburbs where ORP is located, the first round occurred after the sun had set. Lined up in the left lane, Two-time US Nationals championship driver, Tony Bartone, slapped a 0.058 second advantage in reaction time against his opponent, Foster. The Steve Boggs tuned TAFC appeared to be on their way to a first round win, when a $20.00 part failure caused the 3,500 horse-powered flopper to slow down considerably. Foster shot past Bartone to take the round one victory.

“It happens,” noted Bartone, who along with his brother Michael are the only siblings to capture US Nationals victories in the Top Alcohol categories in the 28-years contested at this historic race. “The car was charging hard through first and second gears but just nosed over as soon as we got to the 660 foot cones.”

“The engine broke a retainer on the number two cylinder head,” noted Mike Pavia, Jackson Racing’s team cylinder head specialist. “I believe had we had the final qualifying session and not gotten behind that old eight ball we would have discovered the problem. That car was on it’s way to running a .50-something on that pass. Boggs had the wick turned up.”

The round one loss aside, the weekend could not have been more perfect for the Jackson team. “We were honored to have Michael and Peter Cordani from GelTech Solutions Inc., along with several of their partners as our guests this past weekend,” commented team owner Rick Jackson. “We had many family friends here at the event and truly were blessed to be able to race at this historic event. We will move upwards and onwards from here. We’ll get them next year.”

The Jackson Racing team of Chris Perl, Pavia, Pat Feely, Lew Larson, Javier Gonzales, lead by Boggs and followed-up by their driver Bartone will be looking to cook up some ‘Cajun Cooking’ as they invade Division 4 in two weeks for a Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event held in Belle Rose, LA.

You can stay up to date with round-by-round results posted on http://www.dragracecentral.com

For more information about the Championship winning team at Rick Jackson Racing visit their website at http://www.rickjacksonracing.com

Courtesy of CRX PROMOTIONS