Top Alcohol Dragster-34th annual K&N Filters NHRA SuperNationals: Bartone gets back on winning track

National Dragster, Jun 6, 2003 by Waldron, Steve

Displaying the same performance and consistency that he used to win his first three races this season, Tony Bartone broke out of his three-race mini-slump in a big way at the K&N Filters NHRA SuperNationals presented by Pep Boys.

"We ran high .20s and low .30s, and no one else ran better than a .43. That's pretty stout," said the former Top Alcohol Funny Car champ, who won his fourth race of the season and third national event with a final-round victory over Doug Foley.

After getting off to a 3-0 start with wins at the K&N Filters Winternationals, the Division 2 opener in Gainesville, and the Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals, Bartone had won only two rounds in his previous three races. He lost in the second round in Las Vegas and in the first round in Houston before reaching the semifinals at the Division 3 race in Joliet, Ill.

"[I was] No. 1 qualifier at two of the three [Las Vegas and Joliet], but we got into a little trouble and couldn't keep the tires hooked up," said Bartone. "I think maybe sometimes we try too hard to run fast. Maybe we need to concentrate on doing what we need to do to win races and not worry about trying to run low e.t. all the time. Sometimes you get caught up in that."

Bartone, who set NHRA's national e.t. record at 5.227 at the Winternationals and made the fastest run in class history when he went 277.94 mph at the Gainesville divisional, struggled in rain-shortened qualifying in Englishtown. After shaking the tires violently on his first run, Bartone shut off and coasted to a 9.16 on his second and final attempt.

"They called us up early [for the second session], and everybody got caught with their pistons out of the sleeves," said Bartone. "We had a lot of damage to the car from tire shake after the first session, and we concentrated on fixing that, so we didn't have a chance to service the engine properly. The bottom line is that we went to the line for the second session basically unprepared."

It was a much different story in eliminations, however. Bartone ran a 5.32 Saturday to take an opening-round win over Fran Monaghan and ran 5.29 and 5.28 in Sunday's first two rounds against Rich McPhillips and Steven Cantrell, both of whom had -.001 red-lights.

"The air was some of the best we've run in, the track was exceptional, and [crew chief] Steve [Boggs] was able to come up with a race day tune-up that gave us a performance advantage over the rest of the field," said Bartone.

Foley, who ran a third-best 5.60 on his only qualifying lap, didn't run quicker than 6.35 in eliminations, but he didn't need to. He got a freebie in round one when Bruce Horner was a no-show and won his second-round race on Bob Leverich's red-light. In the semifinals, Foley got another break when Mark Albert didn't show.

"[Boggs] has been with me since Atlanta last year, and we do a fair amount of racing, but we really don't have a baseline tune-up yet," said Bartone. "We're still trying to figure out what this car needs and what it wants. We've been lucky enough to win some races and set some records, but we're still learning. These A/Fuel cars are difficult animals to tame."

The key race: "The opening round," said Bartone. "Prior to that we had no tune-up."

The runner-up: Foley, who owns and operates a drag racing school, was appearing in his third national event final and first in three years. The former Super Comp racer also runner-upped in Reading in 1999 and in Atlanta in 2000. Foley enjoyed his best season in 1999, when he finished second in Division 2. His biggest win came at the Snowbird Nationals in 1997. In his only other national event appearances this season, Foley lost in round one in Gainesville and in round two in Atlanta.

Fast facts: Cantrell made the 16-car qualified field as an alternate for Dave DeAngelis, who was disqualified for crossing the centerline on his only run. Cantrell never got down the track on his two attempts, but because he staged and received the starter's signal, both runs were considered valid and given a time of 28 seconds, per the NHRA Rulebook. ... Defending event champion Duane Shields was scheduled to compete but went to Bakersfield, Calif., for the Division 7 event instead. Shields set the national e.t. record for the class here last year at 5.263. The record has been reset twice since, by Morgan Lucas at last year's season finale (5.239) and by Bartone at this year's season opener (5.227). ... Bartone's victory is his fourth at this event and first in Top Alcohol Dragster. All three of his previous victories (1992, 1996, and 1999) were in Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Did you know? In addition to the national e.t. record in Top Alcohol Dragster, Bartone holds the Top Alcohol Funny Car e.t. record (5.549), which he set in September 2000 at the national event in Reading. ... Bartone competed in Top Alcohol Funny Car for 10 seasons, winning 25 national events, four division titles, and a national championship in 1996. ... In 2001, Bartone drove a fuel Funny Car for Jerry Toliver at 12 races. ... In 1996, Bartone won the first nine races he entered before losing in the second round of the Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals in June. His streak reached 37 rounds, including three in the invitation-only Allstars competition. Counting his season-ending victory in 1995 at the national event in Reading, Bartone won 41 consecutive rounds, which is second only to Bob Glidden's 50 straight in Pro Stock in 1978 and 1979.