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Las Vegas - Tony Bartone experienced a harrowing dilemma in Friday night’s qualifying while powering his Jim Dunn-owned Lucas Oil Chevrolet Monte Carlo Funny Car to the finish line in earning the No. 8 qualifying position for the eighth annual Summitracing.com Nationals at the Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Bartone, whose only professional No. 1 qualifier came last year at the Englishtown (N.J.) race, was marching down the quarter-mile gaining speed when suddenly, his car went into a violent shake just after crossing the finish line. What occurred was the right rear tire delaminated with the tire tread partially separating resulting in a flapping situation near the driver’s area.
“I was beat up in the cockpit a little bit,” said Bartone. “The car made a nice 4.79 pass at 314 miles per hour. In the shutdown area as soon as I lifted off the gas pedal 20 to 25 per cent of the tread came off the tire causing a severe out of balance scenario and the roll cage specifically by my right fore arm was shaking and vibrating so hard that it was like getting punched in the arm by a bunch of people at the same time. That’s going to happen with today’s current situations with the tires and down force. The biggest problem we have is on a cool, tight racetrack where it seems to happen more frequently than if you were on a hot, middle of the day racetrack. I know Goodyear is working hard in trying not to let that happen anymore, but it’s something we have to live with and we just have to be careful out there.
“The car did run well, made a nice lap, and put us in the No. 8 qualifying position. The motor looked exceptionally well and we were happy to have that level of performance.”
The Dunn Racing team passed on the first session of Saturday’s qualifying to make the necessary repairs to their Chevrolet Funny Car body and in the evening time trials; Bartone shut off early and coasted the rest of the way to wind up in the No. 8 position racing Scott Kalitta in the first round on Sunday.
Bartone tells a harrowing tale to qualify No. 8
Las Vegas - Tony Bartone experienced a harrowing dilemma in Friday night’s qualifying while powering his Jim Dunn-owned Lucas Oil Chevrolet Monte Carlo Funny Car to the finish line in earning the No. 8 qualifying position for the eighth annual Summitracing.com Nationals at the Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Bartone, whose only professional No. 1 qualifier came last year at the Englishtown (N.J.) race, was marching down the quarter-mile gaining speed when suddenly, his car went into a violent shake just after crossing the finish line. What occurred was the right rear tire delaminated with the tire tread partially separating resulting in a flapping situation near the driver’s area.
“I was beat up in the cockpit a little bit,” said Bartone. “The car made a nice 4.79 pass at 314 miles per hour. In the shutdown area as soon as I lifted off the gas pedal 20 to 25 per cent of the tread came off the tire causing a severe out of balance scenario and the roll cage specifically by my right fore arm was shaking and vibrating so hard that it was like getting punched in the arm by a bunch of people at the same time. That’s going to happen with today’s current situations with the tires and down force. The biggest problem we have is on a cool, tight racetrack where it seems to happen more frequently than if you were on a hot, middle of the day racetrack. I know Goodyear is working hard in trying not to let that happen anymore, but it’s something we have to live with and we just have to be careful out there.
“The car did run well, made a nice lap, and put us in the No. 8 qualifying position. The motor looked exceptionally well and we were happy to have that level of performance.”
The Dunn Racing team passed on the first session of Saturday’s qualifying to make the necessary repairs to their Chevrolet Funny Car body and in the evening time trials; Bartone shut off early and coasted the rest of the way to wind up in the No. 8 position racing Scott Kalitta in the first round on Sunday.
