Tony Bartone Returns to Funny Car Roots
December 20, 2008
Tony Bartone’s return to funny car racing is apparently being fueled by his desire to *gasp* spend more time with his kids and family. Running a business from N.Y. while the kids are in Florida makes it a little tough to stay in touch with family, even with a cell phone attached to his ear he’s missing the little things. Good move Tony! We can expect Mr Bartone to be competitive immediately, his team won the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis last season.
Read more on NHRA’s Polly Zimmerman Retires and Horsepower Calculator – ET and Trap Speed and Pro Stock Champ Krawiec Gets Married and Ford For Sale and Vertical Door Kits .
Tony Bartone will be driving a Funny Car again in 2009, though his new ride will not be of the nitromethane-burning variety. Bartone will return to his Sportsman racing roots by taking the wheel of Rick Jackson’s ‘08 Ford Mustang Top Alcohol Funny Car while reuniting with former tuner Steve Boggs. The 1996 TAFC champion left his post as the driver of Jim Dunn’s Canidae Pet Foods Funny Car at the end of the 2008 season to spend more time with his family after five full seasons of racing with Dunn in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
Bartone made headlines in 2008 when he notched his first national event win in Funny Car in Seattle. He became the third driver in NHRA history to win in both alcohol classes and Funny Car (Cruz Pedregon and Gary Scelzi are the others).
[source:NHRA.com, Image:Bristol Dragway]