National: Tony Bartone Baytown Friday report

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."

-source: rick jackson racing