Bartone Bros Racing won Top Alcohol Funny Car at the Moduline Cabinets NHRA Power At The Park run at Virginia Motorsports Park on Saturday.
The team laid down the times to beat, setting the tone for the weekend in Friday’s qualifying runs. Sean Bellemuer and the Killer B’s were rewarded with a ladder bye in the semifinal round to take lane choice to the final with a run of 5.43 and 267 MPH.
Bellemeur lined up the Pirate Ship next to finalist D.J. Cox. The Californian drove the Steve Boggs-tuned and Tony Bartone-owned Top Alcohol Funny Car to a 5.41 and 267 MPH run to take the Wally in Virginia. The pass was the fastest time of the weekend in the Funny Car class.
“We didn’t want to take this one lightly,” Bellemeur said. “The game plan was the same. No matter who is in the other lane that is to go for the throat. Everything was just about perfect all weekend long. The car was fast, Steve was on point and the crew were doing their thing. It was about racing, the conditions and sticking to the plan. There were some good cars there last weekend.”
The last run in the final was the fastest of the weekend.
“The conditions called for great elapse times,” he continued. “Racing D.J. Cox, we knew he would be going for it too. He was within 100ths of us all weekend. I hadn’t been quite aggressive enough on the starting line. I got my act together and the conditions were great for a fast time. We got the win light. Now we have a little more pressure on Doug Gordon for the points.”
Team owner Bartone viewed success on the starting line.
“I always look into the left-side window of the car to see the oil pressure gauge just prior to the car staging,” said Bartone. “It read 111, won, won, and won. I took that as an omen. We have three wins in the month of September.”
“Thanks to Tony Bartone for the resources to win and the guys: Steve, Troy, Justin, Seth, Nick, and Matt.”
The win brings the team their third regional win to go along with those at Las Vegas and Norwalk, complemented by national wins at Charlotte, Indy, and Maple Grove.
The team will travel to Dallas, Texas, for the Texas NHRA FallNationals to run at the Texas Motorplex, Oct. 12-15.
The team would like to thank team sponsors Red Line Oil, Roger Dean Chevrolet, Talon Air, NGK Spark Plugs, and Mastercam along with product sponsors Simpson Performance Products and Taylor Motorsports Products.
This story was originally published on October 2, 2023. 
