NEW COLORS, SAME DESIRE BURNING AT INDY FOR JACKSON RACING
Indianapolis, Ind. - When it comes to racing at the historic Mac Tools NHRA US Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, the focus of Rick Jackson's highly successful Top Alcohol Funny Car team is kicked up a notch. Add in the fact this is the team's first race in over two months and debuting a brand new paint scheme of their 2010 Ford Mustang body equals a group of die-hard racers chomping at the bit for the annual Labor Day gathering at the race known simply as "The Big Go".
Jackson's TAFC team has taken the past few months off to regroup in preparation for the home stretch of the 2010 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. The second half of the season begins this weekend at the 56th running of the Mac Tools NHRA US Nationals presented by Lucas Oil. The Centre Pointe Collision Center Ford Mustang TAFC team enters this weekend's race currently occupying the 11th position in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series National point standings. However, the spirited bunch from Santa Clarita, Calif. along with their 31-time NHRA National Event champion driver Tony Bartone expect the new-look Centre Pointe/FireIce.com Mustang to compete for the event title at Indy.
"We've have not had our most sterling season to date in the first half of our 2010 campaign," noted Bartone, who has captured Indy victories in Top Alcohol Funny Car twice. "Our car has run exceptionally consistent in our Divisional races, but we just haven't been up to par at the National Events this season. Our boys always step it up when it counts, and as far as races are concerned, it just doesn't get much bigger than "The Big Go". With Steve Boggs making the tuning calls, and Lew, Chris, Scott, Javier and Rick turning the wrenches this weekend, we'll look to continue to improve each pass and hopefully walk out of here with another Wally."
Team owner Rick Jackson, is also ready to get back to competing with the best-of-the-best in the highly competitive TAFC division at Indy with the new-look Centre Pointe Mustang. "This color scheme is something entirely different for our race team," noted Jackson. "The car looks fast with this solid color. Our crew has done a wonderful job getting the car ready to compete for the second half of our season, and nothing would make me happier than to return to our winning ways at Indy as we did in 2008."
The Rick Jackson Racing team is proud to have partnered with several outstanding companies such as FireIce.com, Simpson Race Products, Hussy Copper, Red Line Oil, Goodyear Tires and ARP who proudly support the Centre Pointe Collision team. To learn more about the Jackson Racing team, please visit their website at http://www.rickjacksonracing.com.
CENTRE POINTE TEAM LOOKING FOR D-4 THREE-PEAT IN TULSA
Tulsa, Ok. - They say bad things often happen in threes. If the Santa Clarita, Calif. based Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team continues their winning ways at this weekend's NHRA Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Event contested at Tulsa Raceway Park it could be bad news for those also competing for the coveted D-4 title.
The Centre Pointe Collision Center / FireIce.com sponsored Mustang TAFC enters this event after capturing a wire-to-wire win at the previous D-4 event in Houston, Texas in May. It was the second Divisional victory for the Southern California based team and provided them with a solid lead in the NHRA Division 4 point standings. However, the So Cal invaders and their 31-time NHRA National Event Championship driver Tony Bartone from Long Island City, NY know there will be a target on their back as several of the best TAFC's in the south-central United States will be gunning to knock the Centre Pointe team off their current D-4 perch.
"The nice thing about having a competitive car is you have confidence in your equipment and your team," noted Bartone, who is currently fifth in the NHRA World Championship point standings. "The problem with having a competitive car is everybody else is gunning for you. These guys will bring their "A-GAME" against us this weekend in Tulsa for certain. However, our boys are used to pressure situations and I like our chances to walk away with another D-4 race win here in Tulsa."
The Rick Jackson Racing team got off to a good start today in the first of three qualifying sessions, as the Centre Pointe Collision Center / FireIce.com team landed the provisional pole position after recording a conservative 5.78 second elapsed time at 248 miles per hour. The team will receive two more qualifying attempts tomorrow before final eliminations begin on Sunday.
"This is going to be a tough weekend with tricky track conditions," noted Bartone. "Getting down the track in your first qualifying session is very important as it gives you and your team a chance to review the run data and make fine adjustments to these very finicky cars. With Steve Boggs making the tuning calls, and Lew, Chris, Scott, Javier and Rick turning the wrenches this weekend, we'll look to continue to improve each pass and hopefully walk out of here with another Wally."
BARTONE AND JACKSON BOYS TAKE BAYTOWN TITLE
Baytown, Texas - It's been said, consistency wins championships in the high-powered sport of NHRA Championship Drag Racing. After running 3-consecutive 5.66-second elapsed times at this past weekend's Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event contested at Houston Raceway Park, the Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team captured their second straight Division 4 event title.
Tony Bartone, the talented driver of Rick Jackson's potent Ford Mustang Centre Pointe Collision Center sponsored flopper qualified in the number one spot in a talented field of four TAFC's in Baytown, Texas. His pole position set up a round one match-up against the reigning NHRA Division 3 champion Chris Foster and his talented crew chief Will Hanna. Foster did his job at the flash of the green light, capturing a solid reaction time advantage, but he could not run with Bartone and the tuning talents of Steve Boggs. Bartone was in the lead by the time they reached the 330-foot marker and never looked back, taking the round one victory with a solid 5.668 second elapsed time.
On the other side of the ladder, Lee Calloway defeated Ro Yale, recording his best pass of the weekend, a 5.766 ET, while Yale struggled down the HRP quarter-mile recording a 6.948 ET. With Calloway's victory, the final round with Jackson's Santa Clarita, Calif. based team was set. Bartone entered the money round with a tenth of a second advantage, but in drag racing, past performance is no guarantee of success.
In this case, past performance was a perfect indicator for Bartone, running yet another 5.66, this time with a 3 while, Callaway chattered the tires hard on the launch and eventually crossed the center-line trying to step things up against the California invaders, then coasted to a 13-second ET, handing the Wally to the Centre Pointe / FireIce.com team.
"I am very proud of the efforts of our team once again this weekend," noted team owner Rick Jackson, the owner of Centre Pointe Collision Center in Southern California. "When you can run three elapsed times within 0.006 seconds in changing weather conditions during the weekend, your car is going to be hard to beat. And we accomplished this task. Racing in Division 4 against some very good racers challenges our team to provide their best efforts at all times. They always work very hard and I'm very pleased with our team effort once again."
Tony Bartone and the Rick Jackson Racing team realize their race victory is not without the efforts of their hard working crew of Chris, Lew, Javier and Scott, who put in count-less hours working behind the scenes to insure the Centre Pointe Collision Center's / FireIce.com TAFC is race ready no matter what conditions may hold. The next event for the Jackson Racing team will be held in Tulsa, Ok scheduled for June 25-27.
TEAM EFFORT PROPELS TONY BARTONE TO WIRE-TO-WIRE DIV 4 RACE WIN
Ennis, Texas - 31-time NHRA National Event champion Tony Bartone and the Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team is flying high tonight after the Centre Pointe Collision Center TAFC took home the title at the first Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event of 2010 at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.
The weekend did not start off great for the Santa Clarita, Calif. based team as the first two qualifying efforts produced less than fantastic results, however the experienced bunch lead by crew chief Steve Boggs reached down and produced a 5.608 second 256.70 mile per hour blast in the final qualifying session yesterday to capture the pole position. The number one spot lead Tony Bartone to a round one pairing against Channelview, Texas driver Lee Callaway; a rematch of the first round in Houston earlier this year.
The results were the same as they were at the O'Reilly Nationals in March as Bartone grabbed a starting line advantage, never looked back and sped to an event best 5.602 second elapsed time in the round one win. Due to a field of only 6 TAFC's entered at this event, the round one victory gave the number one qualifier Bartone a bye-run in the semi-finals. Bartone showed his skills on the single, the car was moving back and forth between the left and right edge of the groove, but he "kept it in the black" and ran 5.606 second ET. The quick and consistent win for Bartone set up a final round pairing of two veteran Ford Mustang TAFC drivers with FireIce.com on their side windows.
Hot off a National event victory in Las Vegas, Nev. last week, Jay Payne and his FireIce.com TAFC entered the money round against Bartone after dispatching Chris Foster in a very close race in the semi-final round. As the two left the starting line, Bartone captured a slight starting line advantage, but both cars had problems negotiating the quick all-concrete quarter mile. Bartone's Centre Pointe Collision Center car was the more fortunate of the two and after producing yet another low 5.6 second elapsed time (a 5.625 for the record) the Jackson Racing team captured their first win of the 2010 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing series.
"This was a complete team effort today," noted team owner Rick Jackson. "Steve, Chris, Scott, Javier and Lew are the best crew in the business and our driver is pretty darn good as well. We have been trying some different things recently and it was great to put together a string of consistent ET's today to take home our first NHRA Wally of 2010. I hope this is the beginning of better things for this team. I'm very proud of our efforts this weekend."
JACKSON RACING TEAM SEEKING CURE FOR GREMLINS IN DALLAS
Dallas, Texas - If there is a doctor in the house who has the cure for Gremlins, please consult Rick Jackson Racing.
It seems no matter what changes the Centre Pointe Collision Center group makes to their Ford Mustang Top Alcohol Funny Car, something always seems to pop up at the in-opportune time. The competitive group from Santa Clarita, Calif. is hoping to change this luck as they invade NHRA Division 4 and the Texas Motorplex in Dallas, Texas for their first official Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series appearance in the 2010 season.
The high-spirited Rick Jackson Racing, Centre Pointe Collision Center TAFC team heads into Dallas after a lack-luster showing at the recently completed Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals contested on "The Strip" at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 31-time NHRA National Event champion Tony Bartone drove the Centre Pointe Collision Center Ford Mustang TAFC to a number 4 qualifying position in the field of 16-cars and took on the painter, Mark "The Woz" Woznichak from Ontario, Calif. in the opening stanza.
Bartone was first off the line, and his off-pace 5.768 elapsed time barely held off the hard-charging Camaro of "The Woz" to capture the round one victory. "Hey a win is a win," noted Bartone. "Let's just say we used up a bit of Las Vegas luck in that win. We found something in the motor which should not have been in the motor after that pass. How it held together is a mystery." Bartone and the boys then advanced to the second round; losing to eventual runner-up Sean O'Bannon and the Jeff Lirones tuned Forest River sponsored TAFC team.
"I think we can say in all candor this Las Vegas race was not a good one for us," Bartone said. "We had mechanical problems on our first qualifying session, and as I've said a million times before, you get behind on your first qualifying effort, it seems to haunt you during the entire event. Our team is talented and there is no arguing this fact. With Chris, Lew, Javier, Scott, Rick and Steve working hard on the car there is no reason why we should be struggling like this. For other teams a second round showing would be quite an accomplishment and we respect that. However, it's our goal to be the best. To win races. We need to find a way to improve this weekend in Dallas. We have companies like FireIce.com, Simpson Race Products, Hussy Copper, Red Line Oil and Goodyear Tires standing behind our team. We owe them a good showing."
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JACKSON RACING READY FOR SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
Las Vegas, Nev. - 31-time NHRA National event Champion Tony Bartone and the Rick Jackson Racing Centre Pointe Collision Center Top Alcohol Funny Car team will be ready to play on Sunday after a first round victory over "The Woz" Mark Woznichak in round one of the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals held on "The Strip" at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
After qualifying in the forth position with a solid 5.686 second elapsed time recorded in the second qualifying session on Friday afternoon, the experienced driver from Boca Raton, Fla. via Long Island City, NY., matched up against Division 7 veteran painter Woznichak, from Onterio, Calif. in the first round on Saturday afternoon.
As the two cars left the starting line, Bartone grabbed nearly a tenth of a second advantage over "The Woz" in reaction time. Bartone'sneeded every bit of his stellar .047 combined with his off-pace 5.768 second elapsed time to beat Woznichek's quicker 5.70 effort to advance to the second round tomorrow.
"We missed the combo and had some issues down track," noted the round one victor Bartone. "Fortunately, the driver did his job for once, and our Centre Pointe Collision Center / FireIce.com car will have a chance to race on Sunday. Most of the time, Steve and his tune up make up for the driver's short comings. It was nice to repay the guys for once. We will need to step our game up against Sean O'Bannon tomorrow. That car is flat out hauling the mail, but I'm confident Steve will give us a good tune-up to match up against their team."
Tony Bartone and the Rick Jackson Racing team realize their round one victory is not without the efforts of their hard working crew of Chris, Lew, Javier and Scott, who put in count-less hours working behind the scenes to insure the Centre Pointe Collision Center's / FireIce.com TAFC is race ready no matter what conditions may hold. The team is also proud of their new Facebook page, where members of the social media giant can follow the activities of the Rick Jackson team during the 2010 NHRA season at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Santa-Clarita-CA/Rick-Jackson-Racing/285221759287?ref=ts.
RICK JACKSON TEAM HOPES TO DOUBLE DOWN IN VEGAS
Las Vegas, Nev. - Sometimes a city and a race team go together like apple pie and the 4th of July. The entertaining, high energy, top shelf and exciting Top Alcohol Funny Car team of Rick Jackson Racing will be defending their 2009 event championship at this year's NHRA SUMMITRACING.COM Nationals contested on "The Strip" at Bruton Smith's luxurious Las Vegas Motor Speedway located in Las Vegas, Nev.
Coming off a final round appearance and number two qualified position at last week's O'Reilly NHRA Springnationals in Baytown, Texas, the Centre Pointe / FireIce.com TAFC team is primed to improve on their runner-up results. And for team owner Rick Jackson, the owner of Centre Pointe Collision Center in Santa Clarita, Calif. the first Las Vegas race of the season would be the perfect place to take home the teams first Wally of 2010.
"We did very well at this race last season and we are ready to repeat at this year's Summitracing.com Nationals," noted Jackson, whose competitive TAFC team captured two National Event championships during the 2009 season. "The Vegas race always brings together several friends and marketing partners of our team and performing at our highest level for our friends is at the top of our team's priorities this weekend. The car ran very well last week in Houston, but we are still a few hundredths away from where we expect to run. We are learning more at each race and hope to put it all together at "The Strip" this weekend."
Jackson is not the only one hoping for positive results this weekend. His driver, 31-time National Event winner Tony Bartone, from Boca Raton, Fla. loves racing at Bruton Smith's Las Vegas race track. "This place is one of the nicest facilities in motorsports," noted Bartone. "The track is very smooth, the weather is usually chamber of commerce quality and the fans are always having a good time here. We had a great party after we won this event last season and would love to duplicate our efforts once again."
In the days following the Summitracing.com Nationals, Bartone will be testing his brother Michael's new Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragster at LVMS. "The car is brand new and I can't wait to strap into this wicked looking car. I love driving with Rick Jackson don't get me wrong, but to be able to drive a Nitro-powered front motored rail and working with my brother Michael will be awesome."
BARTONE BAGS BAYTOWN FINAL ROUND APPEARANCE
Baytown, Texas - The Rick Jackson Racing, Centre Pointe / FireIce.com Ford Mustang Top Alcohol Funny Car team came up just short against Mickey Ferro in the final round of eliminations at the 23rd running of the O'Reilly NHRA Springnationals contested at Houston Raceway Park located in Baytown, Texas.
Team driver Tony Bartone placed the Centre Pointe / FireIce.com TAFC in the number two qualified position earlier in the weekend and entered eliminations against the number 13 qualifier, Channelview, Texas own Lee Callaway. At the flash of the green, Bartone grabbed the starting-line advantage and never looked back, as his 5.539 elapsed time was good enough to take the win against Callaway's impressive 5.584 ET.
With only 13 TAFC's on the property, the round one victory gave Bartone a bye-run into the semi-finals. Crew chief Steve Boggs decided to go for the throat and lane choice in the semi's, however just barely missed the tune up and Bartone shook rattled and rolled his way to an off pace 10 second elapsed time into the semi-finals against Gainesville, GA based Steve Harker.
A match-up of titans in the competitive TAFC division, both of whom finished in the top 10 in the world last season wound up becoming anti-climatic as Harker lost traction at the hit of the throttle. Bartone drove his Centre Pointe / FireIce.com Mustang TAFC straight down the HRP quarter-mile and recorded a 5.600 second ET giving Bartone the round win and a final round appearance.
In the money round, Bartone raced against his buddy Mickey Ferro from Stamford, CT who had been dominating the class with low elapsed time recorded in every round. Ferro was out of the gate first and never trailed recording a solid 5.543 ET for his third National event win. Bartone recorded a 5.561 ET in a losing effort.During his sterling career in the TAFC division, Bartone has only failed to qualify once in 121 TAFC races. And that occurred at this event last season. To say the Rick Jackson team improved on last season's effort would be an understatement.
"We conquered some demons at HRP this weekend by making the money round," noted Bartone. "Our car ran pretty well, but we've at the end of the day we didn't get it done when it counted. We want to give our congratulations to Mickey Ferro and his crew for the great final round race and for their event wins. We'll take a look at our run data, fix our parts and be ready for Vegas next weekend. Hopefully we our results will be exactly the same as last year there."
To learn more about the Santa Clarita, Calif. based Rick Jackson Racing team, who won last year's Summitracing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, please visit their website at http://www.rickjacksonracing.com and http://www.crxmedia.com.
BARTONE'S CONSISTENCY PRODUCES NUMBER TWO SPOT
Baytown, Texas - 31-time NHRA National Event champion Tony Bartone and the Rick Jackson Racing Centre Pointe / FireIce.com Ford Mustang Top Alcohol Funny Car currently occupy the number two qualified spot after the first day of the 23rd running of the O'Reilly NHRA Springnationals contested at Houston Raceway park in Baytown, Texas.
Bartone and crew chief Steve Boggs un-corked a great 5.546 second elapsed time at a speed of 260.56 miles per hour in the first session. Steve Harker recorded an identical elapsed time after the first session however based on a speed difference of only 0.60 mph, Bartone and the Centre Pointe / FireIce.com Mustang grabbed the provisional pole after the first session.
"Boggsy had it set for a conservative run for our first session and that .54 was a great result," noted Bartone who lives with his family in Boca Raton, Fla. "When you come to any race it is crucial you get a good base-line run in your first session. If you don't, it seems you always get behind the curve and are chasing your tail all weekend long. We were very pleased with our first pass of the weekend and we'll hop it up a bit for Q-2."
The hop in the second session turned into a small stumble, as the Santa Clarita, Calif. based team slowed to a 5.567 second E.T. at 259.21 mph, which was good enough for the second quickest run of the session. Mickey Ferro's stellar 5.507 blast at 262.69 mph gave the Stamford, Conn. driver the provisional pole position after the first day of qualifying.
"We planned to hop it up a taste for Q-2 but we hopped a bit too much," stated Bartone. "We shook the tires a bit and I had to pedal it right before first gear. Even if the run was perfect, we would still be a little behind that great 5.50 ET our buddy Mickey Ferro put up on the board. We did great today and we should be good to go tomorrow for the last session and our first round of eliminations tomorrow."
The Rick Jackson Racing team will receive one more qualifying shot tomorrow morning prior to first round of eliminations tomorrow afternoon after the final professional qualifying session. To learn more about the Centre Pointe / FireIce.com TAFC, please visit their website at http://www.rickjacksonracing.com and http://www.crxmedia.com.
BARTONE AND JACKSON BOYS READY FOR BAYTOWN ASSULT
Baytown, Texas - After nearly 30 days away from a drag strip, the Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team is itching to return to NHRA competition this weekend during the 23rd running of the O'Reilly NHRA Springnationals contested in the oxygen-rich air environment of Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.
The Santa Clarita, Calif. based Centre Pointe Collision Center/FireIce.com TAFC team enters this event with a bit of a chip on their shoulder after a lack-luster DNQ at last year's event. And for team owner Rick Jackson, the lightning quick HRP facility is the perfect place for his team to seek some redemption.
"Quite frankly we really fell flat on our faces here last season," noted the owner of the potent Centre Pointe / FireIce.com Ford Mustang Alcohol burning flopper. "After we won the marathon 6-day NHRA Winternationals last year, we came into this race expecting to dominate, but we sure got a taste of humble-pie as we failed to qualify. The key with these cars is to get a good base-line qualifying effort right out of the box and last year we did not accomplish this goal. We will focus on hitting a few singles instead of swinging for the fences in qualifying and hopefully we will be racing on Sunday."
The Jackson Racing team is coming off the postponed NHRA Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Az. During this event the team experienced some mechanical gremlins which produced an off-pace number eight qualified position. The team began the season with a number one qualified effort at the 50th running of the NHRA Winternationals. However, a semi-final loss to eventual race runner-up Doug Gordon inspired 31-time NHRA National Event winning driver Tony Bartone and his crew chief Steve Boggs to get back on track at the teams next National event.
"When you lose a race by simply getting out performed, it bugs at you until you get back out there," noted Bartone, who returned to his roots in the NHRA's sportsman categories last year after a successful campaign as the driver Jim Dunn's AA / Funny Car. "Phoenix was cancelled thankfully so we'll just pretend it didn't happen. This weekend in Houston is our return to the track and we owe this place our best effort. I am confident Steve and the boys will tune our Centre Pointe/FireIce.com to performance we expect."
Jackson, Bartone, Boggs and the rest of the Jackson Racing team will begin their qualifying efforts on Friday, April 9th with two sessions scheduled for 11:00am and 1:45 pm local time. They will receive a final qualifying session on Saturday scheduled for 10:15am prior to the first round of eliminations on Saturday afternoon.
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.
Pomona, Calif. - Tony Bartone, the 31-time NHRA National Event champion, drove the Rick Jackson
Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car to a semi-final finish this past weekend at the 50th Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals contested in Pomona, Calif.
The Centre Pointe Collision Center / FireIce.com flopper captured the number one qualified position after their off-the-trailer 5.570 second elapsed time. The pole position matched them against number 16 qualifier, Brian Smith from Fullerton, Calif. in the opening stanza. Smith captured a slight starting line advantage over the Long Island City, N.Y. based driver, but the Steve Boggs tuned Mustang caught Smith by the 330 foot cones and sped along for the round one victory. The 5.556 second ET was low for the round of 16 cars.
In the second round, Bartone raced against Pleasant Grove, Calif.'s Brian Thiel, who was being tuned by Randy Anderson this weekend. His first round ET of 5.70 seconds gave up lane choice to Bartone and the Jackson Racing team. At the flash of the green, Thiel gathered a 0.012 starting line advantage, but once again, the Centre Pointe / FireIce.com car charged ahead of his competitor, crossed the finish line 5.600 seconds after the start and handing the round win to Bartone.
The semi-final pairing brought Division 7 hard-charger Doug Gordon up against the Jackson Racing team, with the winner set to match up against Sean O'Bannon in the money round. Bartone was on his game as he cut a 0.022 second reaction time and held the lead for the first 330 feet of the race. Unfortunately for the Santa Clarita bunch the race track is 1320 feet long and Gordon's 5.576 second ET was good enough to hold off the Centre Pointe / FireIce.com Mustang's 5.61 second run.
The weekend ended earlier than the team had planned, however the Jackson Racing group gathered some important run data in which they plan to take to their next scheduled event, The NHRA Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event to be held in Phoenix, Arizona in two weeks.
You can read a round by round update, including all archived elapsed times recorded during this event from our friends at http://www.dragracecentral.com.
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BARTONE CAPTURES NUMBER ONE QUALIFYING POSITION AT THE 50th
Pomona, Calif. - Vince Lombardi was fond of saying, "Being number one does not happen often, but when it occurs, you must capitalize the opportunity."
The inspirational words of the legendary football coach, which have become a source of inspiration of the Rick Jackson Racing Centre Pointe Collision Center / FireIce.com Top Alcohol Funny Car for the past few seasons, came to fruition today in Pomona. The Santa Clarita, Calif. based team captured the number one qualified position heading into final eliminations of the 50th Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals, the first event of the 2010 NHRA season.
The Centre Pointe / FireIce.com TAFC team's initial 5.570 second elapsed time recorded in the first qualifying session yesterday held up after two more qualifying efforts today. 15 of the best Top Alcohol Funny Car teams in the always tough NHRA Division 7 attempted to bump the Jackson Racing team off their top spot but were unsuccessful.
"I'm very proud of the way this car has run so far this weekend," noted 31-time NHRA National Event champion Tony Bartone, who returned to the seat of Jackson's potent Ford Mustang flopper for a second consecutive season. "Stevie (crew chief Boggs) had some good run data from last season which he put in the car for Thursday's initial run and it worked very well. That 5.57 was one of the smoothest passes I've ever had in a car. Today we backed up the first shot with another smooth pass, but missed the set-up by just a taste in the final session this evening. I'm pretty confident we'll be good to go tomorrow for the first round."
Bartone and the Jackson Racing team will begin to defend their Winternationals championship from last season in the first round of eliminations tomorrow at Auto Club Raceway, versus Brian Smith, the number 16 qualified car in the field. Team owner Rick Jackson is very well aware that any car in this tough class could step it up at any time.
"If you qualify in this class, you can beat anyone on any given race day," Jackson said. "Just because our car ran well in qualifying does not mean we can take anyone lightly. We've been doing this for a while and we are going to ensure we cross every ?T' and dot ever ?I' before tomorrow's first round. We are honored to be racing at this prestigious race. We will focus on round one tomorrow and take it one race at a time."
Bartone and the Centre Pointe / FireIce.com team's first round is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. For more information about the Rick Jackson Racing team please visit their website at http://www.rickjacksonracing.com or http://www.crxpromotions.com.
Santa Clarita, Calif. - Many racers would consider winning three NHRA events in one season a successful accomplishment. Not the Rick Jackson Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team however.
The potent Top Alcohol Funny Car team based in Santa Clarita, Calif. concluded the 2009 season with a sub-par, tire-rattling first round exit. The run was a microcosm of the entire season. "We did a great job last year finding out every possible way to lose a race," noted team owner Rick Jackson. "From breaking a few connecting rods in the engine, to a $0.50 cent part failing, we learned more how to lose a race than how to win. Several of these instances were not our fault, but the teams who always finish on top minimize their mistakes. I feel last season was a very solid learning opportunity, which we plan to implement for the 2010 season."
Jackson's Centre Pointe Collision Center / FireIce.com Ford Mustang TAFC captured victories at the season opening Winternationals, the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev., and the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Belle Rose, La., in route to a 4th place finish in the 2009 NHRA National point standings. With 29-time NHRA National Event champion Tony Bartone behind the wheel and legendary Alcohol tuner Steve Boggs turning the wrenches, the Southern California based team heads into 2010 with visions of a Lucas Oil World Championship in site.
"Last year was a learning experience for our entire team; especially myself," noted Bartone. "After driving the Jim Dunn Racing Nitro Funny Car for a few seasons, getting back into the groove of driving the Alcohol Funny Car took some time. Towards the end of the season, we started to gel as a team. And since we have nearly our entire team intact for 2010, I'm confident the Jackson Racing Funny Car will challenge for the season championship."
The crew of Chris Perl, Lew Larson and Javier Gonzales will join Jackson and Boggs in preparing the 3,500 horse-powered Blown Alcohol Funny Car for its mid-five second, 260 mile per hour assaults on the quarter mile. Combined with the continuing support of marketing partners, Centre Pointe Collision Center, FireIce.com, Hussy Copper, Simpson Performance Products, Weld Racing, ARP, Red Line Synthetic Oil, Moroso, Jaz Products and Goodyear Racing Tires the Jackson Racing team is planning on a very successful 2010 season.
