Lombardo Races to Route 66 Nationals for Third JEGS Allstars Appearance

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
Photo courtesy of Auto Imagery

CHICAGO (June 25) – NAPA Auto Parts/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Funny Car driver John Lombardo Jr. is making the annual trip from his Brea, Calif. home base to Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. to compete at the Route 66 Nationals this weekend, June 27-29. While racing at the national event, he will also take part in the JEGS Allstars specialty race, featuring eight of the best alcohol-burning Funny Cars in the country.

Lombardo is one of twenty-two Top Alcohol Funny Car drivers entered to compete at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, which is considered to be one of the best national events for Sportsman racing. Though the JEGS Allstars field is limited to eight cars – two from each of the NHRA's four regions – the competition will be just as grueling, as John explains.

“The Jegs Allstars eight-car shootout format, where each team needs to earn their place during the prior year's regional points, gathers the toughest in the country. And if we're fortunate enough to go rounds in the Jegs eight-car show on Saturday and the Lucas Oil Series national event on Sunday, we may see the Christmas tree nine times in one weekend – you won't hear any complaints coming from the cockpit!”

The unique Jegs Allstars format allows each region or division to compete as a team, with each driver accumulating points for his or her region. Lombardo previously raced for the Division 7 team. This year, he'll race under the Central Region banner.

“Everyone touches on the team competition, and rightfully so. I've been fortune to represent my region and compete twice in the past, enjoying a Division 7 victory and trophy touring rights,” noted Lombardo, who is the reigning Central Region TAFC champion.

In addition to the prestige of racing in the Allstars event, John Lombardo Jr. and his Rick Jackson-led team are honored to participate thanks to the support of event sponsor JEGS Performance and series title sponsor Lucas Oil. The opportunity to race in front of Chicago-area fans is also a yearly highlight for the West Coast group.

“Jegs and Lucas Oil are the official corporate partners of NHRA's sportsman drag racing program; they are the cornerstone of all that we build on, in both regional and national event competition. Their commitment is significant and consistent.

“Route 66 Raceway is one of the best facilities and Chicago is one of the best markets on tour, so I always look forward to this race. We will be ready to slug it out with the nation's best and put on a stellar show in Chi-town!” John exclaimed.

Racing at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, June 27-29, kicks off on Friday with qualifying sessions at 11:30 AM and 3 PM. JEGS Allstars activities begin with driver introductions at noon on Saturday, followed by first round at 1 PM. National event eliminations start at 9 AM on Sunday.


Jackson Lombardo Racing is a NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car team owned by California businessman Rick Jackson and 2013 Central Region champion John Lombardo Jr. The team's NAPA Auto Parts/Lucas Oil Mustang is driven by Lombardo and tuned by Jackson. Jackson Lombardo Racing receives support from NAPA Auto Parts, Lucas Oil, Centre Pointe Collision Centers, NAPA Batteries, NAPAFilters.com, NAPA Power Supreme, Arvada Excavating, NGK Spark Plugs, NAPA Belts and Hose, CP-Carrillo, MAHLE, Midtronics, Mechanix Wear, NYNY Hotel and Casino, Gatorwraps, Raymond's Trophy, and Twin Palms.

For more information on John Lombardo Jr. and the Jackson Lombardo Racing team, please visit www.jackson-lombardo.com. Keep up with John and the team on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lombar...50?ref=profile) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/lombardoracing).

Lombardo Ready for 2014 with New Car, Team

Courtesy of LuAnn Bishop
Photo courtesy of Bob Johnson Photography

Greetings and welcome to 2014. Much of the country is beyond freezing cold and we would certainly be thankful for a few inches of rain here in Southern California, but a few (perfect) 70 degree days were exactly what we needed to run our brand new NAPA Auto Parts Lucas Oil Ford Mustang through it's paces. The last time I suited up at Famoso, Bakersfield's home of the famed March Meets and Hot Rod Reunion we qualified #1, went low e.t. and top speed, won the race, and set the track record-we like it here!

From the moment we received the first rendering to the day Rick Jackson's Centre Pointe Collision Center color magicians allowed us a few spy photos, the subtle but gorgeous black to blue fade has consistently impressed. Now proudly decked out with our partners logos, countless hours of tinkering yields a special balance of taste and national branding. Set the body and brand new Hadman Chassis in place by it's 80 foot transporter/rolling workshop with matching Gatorwraps graphics, and you're forced to take a moment and let it sink in. It's no wonder folks love to be around these cars.

We budgeted a few days to methodically work through all that has to be just right to be prepared for Pomona. We arrived with a brand new car, all new data logger, ignition, and fuel systems, new driver and crew combination-all of whom have been absent from a drag strip since November. Plain and simple, Rick Jackson, Chris Perl, Lew Larson, Scott Manning, and Jim Adolph made this a successful outing, each new system was sorted out. We will arrive at Pomona next week for the Winternationals with an invaluable familiarity and comfort level with our new program, ready to start 2014 by attacking one of the quickest, fastest, and shortest drag strips in the country.

NAPA Filters, having lead us to back to back Pomona victories here just a year ago, has the car book ended with their rightful place on the hood and (the driver's best friend) parachutes. The anticipation is essentially expiring and the excitement of the new season is ours to enjoy! We hope to see you at an upcoming event and thank you very much for supporting our program on and off the track!

We are so excited to be racing this year with our sponsors: NAPA Auto Parts, Lucas Oil, Centre Pointe Collision Centers, NAPA Batteries, NAPA Filters.com, NAPA Power Supreme, Arvada Excavating, NGK Spark Plugs, NAPA Belts and Hose, CP Carrillo, Carlyle Professional Hand Tools, Mahle, Midtronics, Mechanix Wear, NYNY Hotel and Casino, Gatorwraps, Raymond’s Trophy, and Twin Palms!

www.jacksonlombardoracing.com

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2013 Year in Review

2013 was one of the most exciting years of alcohol racing in recent history for a variety of reasons. Presenting some of the top stories from 2013.


Shawn Cowie Returns with Dominating Wins
Returning to the seat after a two-year recovery from a life-threatening motorcycle accident, Shawn Cowie completed the most impressive comeback in drag racing, possibly any sport. Shawn drove his Bill Moore-tuned blown alcohol dragster to the No. 1 qualifying position at the first Woodburn regional, going on to win the race with a final round victory over friendly rival Chris Demke, 5.41 to 5.43. Cowie did it again at the Northwest Nationals, where he qualified No. 4 and defeated Garrett Bateman in the finals.

First-Time Winners
Of the sixteen national event TAD winners, four were first time winners - Gord Gingles, Brandon Booher, Robin Samsel, and Johnny Ahten. Five TAFC drivers received their first big Wallys in 2013 - Dan Pomponio, Jirka Kaplan, Annie Whiteley, Shane Westerfield, and Paul Noakes.

Troy Case photo

 



Rule Changes
Torque converter-equipped cars started the season with a 50-lb weight break, new for 2013. That break was rescinded earlier this month. Also announced earlier this month was an adjustment to the fuel-related limits for A/Fuel cars. The new rules will allow nitro-injected entries to run 95% nitromethane (up 1%), chilled to 40 degrees F (down 10 degrees), through an insulated main fuel line.

Parity Achieved
The Top Alcohol Dragster class saw extremely close competition in 2013, with the blown alcohol and injected nitro cars claiming eight national event wins each. The two combinations are also equal in national Top 10 finishers and regional championships. Season-best performances are also very close - 5.215/275.9 for blown and 5.227/276.58 for A/Fuel. For a complete look at the 2013 parity in TAD, check out Brad Littlefield's comparison for National Dragster.

Manzo and Whiteley go out on top
Eventual national champions Jim Whiteley and Frank Manzo both announced their retirement from Top Alcohol driving late in the season. Whiteley won an outstanding eight of twelve final rounds in 2013, locking up the national title at the Toyota Nationals and the West Region title a week later at the Vegas regional. Manzo started a midseason charge with a win at Brainerd, going on to win Indy, Charlotte2, Las Vegas2, and the Finals at Pomona. He finished the season with a 151-point lead over John Lombardo in the national standings.

New Crop of TAD Drivers
Several new faces joined TAD in 2013 - Rishi Kanick, a Top Dragster driver from Trinidad and Tobago, Jeff Ashwell, who previously drove TAFC, Ashley Sanford, a young sand dragster standout, Kyle Michalek, winner of Champion's Search for a Champion contest, JP Gutierrez, a Top Dragster driver and former nitro crew guy, and Jonathan Pickett, driving his family's blown car. Corey Michalek, Megan Meyer, Sadie Floyd, and Jake Sanders also started or completed the licensing process during the season.

Severance's Save
A broken oil line sent Joey Severance's blown alcohol dragster towards the centerline during eliminations at the AAA Texas Fall Nationals, close to barrel-rolling. The clip of Joey's near miss went viral and made ESPN2 highlight reels for the balance of the season.

Booher, Anderika Win Regional Titles with Converters
Brandon Booher (TAD) and John Anderika (TAFC) continued to show the potential of torque converters in 2013. Booher qualified No. 1 at five regional events, winning three of them. He broke through to win his first national event at the Carolina Nationals at Charlotte, also running one of the fastest blown alcohol speeds in history (275.39). Brandon secured the North Central region TAD title and finished No. 3 in national points. Anderika won two of five finals to win the East Region TAFC title. Jirka Kaplan also experienced success with his automatic TAFC, winning the Topeka national event.

Bartone, Jackson split
National championship contenders Tony Bartone and team owner Rick Jackson decided to go their separate ways towards the middle of the season, leaving Bartone looking for a new ride and Jackson looking for a new driver. Tony and longtime tuner Steve Boggs were back at the Topeka regional with Mickey Ferro's car. Bartone and Ferro shared the driving duties at the remaining races. Jackson finished the season with Von Smith driving at the Vegas and Pomona races.

Lombardo, Jackson Form Alliance
Top 5 driver/team owner John Lombardo Jr. announced an alliance with Rick Jackson Racing during the fall Las Vegas national event. The Jackson-Lombardo Racing team will debut a new Hadman-built Mustang at the 2014 Winternationals, with Lombardo behind the wheel, Jackson making the tuning calls, and primary support coming from NAPA Auto Parts and Lucas Oil. John's 2013 Central Region championship-winning car will be used for displays and appearances in national and regional event markets.

Lombardo and Jackson Join Forces for 2014 TAFC Title Chase

Courtesy of LuAnn Bishop/Lombardo Racing

Two of Top Alcohol Funny Car's perennial championship contenders join forces as NAPA driver John Lombardo Jr. merges with Rick Jackson's Centre Pointe team. "Teaming with Rick Jackson will virtually double our resources and increase our ability to promote JLR, the class, and the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series," Lombardo said. "Rick's results speak to his commitment to performance, as do ours."

Both partners in the new JLR team already have multiple national event victories, including a combined three this year, and both are among the quickest and fastest ever, with all-time bests in the mid-5.40s. Lombardo, currently second in the national standings, opened the season with a victory at the Winternationals, claimed his second regional championship in the last three years, and led the national rankings multiple times with a 25-11 win-loss record.

"NAPA, Lucas Oil, and the rest of our great partners are coming with me to Rick's already strong program," said Lombardo, whose professional approach and considerable marketing acumen has made him one of the top promoters in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. "My equipment will be retained to work displays and customer events for NHRA and our marketing partners, bringing a "Big Show" feel to many of our national and LODRS regional appearances."

Read the full story at www.LombardoRacing.com. 

 

Bartone Looking for More This Year

Courtesy of Pro Sportsman Association/Todd Veney
Photo Courtesy of Bob Johnson

Guess who had more national event wins than anyone in Top Alcohol Funny Car last year? It's not Frank Manzo, who won the NHRA championship for the sixth straight year, like you'd probably think; it's rival Tony Bartone, who pushed Manzo harder than he's been pushed in years.

In 10 starts at the wheel of Rick Jackson's Center Pointe Collision Mustang, Bartone reached the final round seven times and won six. "For the first three-quarters of the season, we were number 1," says Bartone, who, as late as September, was further ahead of the third-place driver than the third-place driver was to the guy in 29th place. "You can't look at that as anything but positive."

Unless you're Bartone. Then you can wonder why a car that racked up a 31-4 win-loss record in national competition, which, theoretically, should be harder than divisional racing, won just twice in seven divisional starts. "We were weak, to say the least, at the divisional level," Bartone says. "What are you going to do? It was Murphy's Law all year."

It continued last weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Bartone was upset in the final by Top Alcohol Funny Car rookie Annie Whiteley. Bartone had low e.t. of both qualifying sessions and every round of eliminations until the final, where he appears to have lost for a reason that he'd never lost a race before: because of the wind.

"I know how that sounds," Bartone says. "If somebody ever told me that, I'd probably look at him kind of funny, but the wind was blowing so hard that it really did have a lot to do with the car getting out of the groove. On paper, we had the car to beat all weekend, but the wind was blowing across the track from right to left in the final, I was in the left lane, and the car left with the front end in the air. The gusts were so strong that they pushed the car a foot and a half to the left, the left rear tire got out of the groove, the car got a little stupid, and Annie Whiteley spanked our asses."

It's one of the few times in recent years that the 33-time national event champ hasn't prevailed in Vegas. Why? "Two words come to mind: 'Steve' and 'Boggs,' " Bartone says of his longtime crew chief. I've been doing this for 20 years, and since 1993 or 1994, it's been with Steve. When you've got him, you're always going to have one of the fastest ponies in the park. He understands the totality of it. He knows the engines, knows the tracks, knows the chassis, knows the setups, and knows how to make power when you get into a little altitude, like at Vegas."

Bartone swept both national events at the desert track last year. He also won the season opener in Pomona, both Texas races, and Chicago. His only runner-up in seven final round appearances came in Topeka, where he lost to his nemesis, Manzo. "You know what it takes to beat Frank Manzo?" asks Bartone, who won the 1996 championship and finished second to Manzo in 1997, 1999, and 2011. "I'll tell you: nothing short of perfection. Frank builds the engines, tunes them, and drives the car, and, obviously, he does it very well."

Bartone is one of the few drivers in history to hold his own against Manzo, going 10-10 in 20 head-to-head battles over their careers - the exact same record that Manzo had against Pat Austin. He also has three national event victories in Top Alcohol Dragster (all in 2003) and one in nitro Funny Car, over Ron Capps in Seattle in 2008, his last of five years driving for "Big Jim" Dunn.

"It doesn't matter if I'm going 260 mph, 270, or 320-plus, I love racing," says Bartone, 55, who has lost about 50 pounds in the last few years and is in the best shape of his life. "I don't know how long I'm going to do this, but I can tell you that there's no end in sight. I still love it, and I'm content where I'm at. Rick, Boggs, and the guys on Rick's team are the best group I've ever raced with. It just works. I still love the power, love the cars, and love driving fast. I got goose bumps when I just said that - no [kidding]."

Rookie Whiteley Takes TAFC Win, TAD Final Delayed

Courtesy of Pro Sportsman Association/Todd Veney
Photos by Bob Johnson

In just her fourth start in a Top Alcohol Funny Car, rookie Annie Whiteley got her first win, upsetting heavily favored Tony Bartone in the Las Vegas regional final, 5.67 to 5.78. Whiteley's husband Jim and Chris Demke were charging to the finish line side by side in the Top Alcohol Dragster final, but something blew through the lights in Demke's lane, giving him the bogus 4.92 e.t. and nullifying the race, which will be re-run next weekend.

Bartone wheeled Rick Jackson's Center Pointe Mustang to low e.t. of both qualifying sessions (5.59 and 5.62) and low e.t. of both preliminary rounds of eliminations, but he lost traction in the final and slowed by more than a tenth. "I didn't know I'd won," Whiteley said. "I try to just concentrate on staying in my lane and getting stopped, and my eyes never wander. I didn't see him, but I never look."

Whiteley's Roger Bateman-tuned car was the picture of consistency all weekend; she qualified No. 3 with a 5.68 and ran back-to-back 5.68s in the early rounds and a 5.67 in the final for the breakthrough win. "There was a spot on the track that we couldn't get through when we were testing before the race, and the same thing happened in the first qualifying session," Whiteley said. "We only had one more shot to get in, so Roger did something to settle the car down, and it made it right down through there. We were thrilled just to make the field - there were 16 cars trying to qualify - and we were ecstatic to get by the first round. That was my first round-win, and when we went up for the semi's, Roger told me 'OK, now you're playing with the big boys.' "

Each of the other three drivers left in contention - Steve Gasparrelli, Jay Payne, and Bartone - has double-digit national event victories and has finished in the top two in the national standings. Bartone took out Gasparrelli with a 5.60 and Whiteley edged Payne, 5.68 to 5.69, for the biggest win of her young career to that point.

In the Top Alcohol Dragster final, Demke's Peen Rite dragster had a slight lead at the 1,000-foot mark, but the outcome was too close to call, so a rerun is scheduled to be held in conjunction with qualifying for the national event at Las Vegas this weekend.

"I saw my win-light come on," Demke said. "Jim and I rolled around the corner, he came over to me to congratulate me, and I was just wrapping up my parachutes when somebody came up on a scooter and asked both of us who we thought had won. I said 'I did - I never saw him.' But Jim never saw me either. It was close."
Going into the final, Whiteley appeared to have the advantage. He qualified No. 1 with a 5.30 and ran a 5.31 to eliminate James Butler in round one and a 5.32 against Don St. Arnaud in the semi's. Demke, who has swept both national events so far this year, was right behind Whiteley, qualifying No. 2 with a 5.35 and defeating Garrett Bateman and Joey Severance with times of 5.32 and 5.35, respectively.

Whiteley and Demke left almost simultaneously in the final, with Demke in the lead, .030 to .040, and then both drivers went into shake in low gear and slowed to their worst runs all day. "All the numbers to the 1,000-foot mark were accurate," Demke said, "and for me to lose, I would have had to have had an .854 split from the 1,000-foot mark to the finish line, and I don't think I did. I thought the motor might have hurt itself right at the end, but looking at the G-meter after the run, it didn't. Jim ran a 5.40 and, looking at our computer, I think I ran about a 5.39, so I should have gotten there first by 15- to 20- thousandths of a second. The computer doesn't lie, but rules are rules. I don't expect NHRA to use what's on my computer to declare me the winner, so we'll just have to try again next weekend."