Bartone Bros. Racing Win Regional at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Bartone Bros. Racing and driver Sean Bellemeur won Top Alcohol Funny Car at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, running the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Regional.

The team stayed over to run the regional between last weekend’s Vegas national and next weekend’s season ender at Pomona to keep the edge sharp running in the regional. Bellemeur had to do the driver thing in round one of eliminations yesterday when he shook the tires, peddled the “Pirate Ship” and still took the win. From there he defeated Ulf Leanders with a with a 5.41, low ET of the weekend, and beat Ray Martin in the final with a pass of 5.45.

The win gives Bellemeur 27 regional wins to go along with 42 national victories and the 2024 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship.

“First round was a product of making lemonade out of lemons,” Bellemeur said. “The car shook and smoked the tires but anytime you’re in eliminations you have to try until you can’t try no more as they say. I got it to hook back up and I could tell we were catching him. I kept looking at the finish line and looking at his car – we were reeling him in pretty fast. I thought, if this thing doesn’t blow up I think we’ve got him! I went whizzing by and saw the win light come on. It wasn’t pretty but we got it done.

“The track in Vegas was unreal. Every run Steve (Boggs) and the gang went up there with low ET on their mind. It was a lot of fun to go out there the past couple weeks and see the ‘Pirate Ship’ really stretch its legs after a long summer of hot, nasty conditions.

“This team that Tony Bartone has put together is something special. With Steve Boggs on the tune, and Troy Green, Nick Stoms, Justin Taylor, Garret Bateman, Seth Shebester, Matt Krebs, and Lauren McMaster all pulling in the same direction is what makes the Pirate Ship go.” 

Bartone Bros. Racing 2024 Top Alcohol Funny Car Wins:

·     WON NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (national)

·     WON NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX DRAGWAY (national)

·     WON 18th Annual University Hospitals Cavalcade of Stars presented by Budweiser at Summit Motorsports Park, set TAFC track record with a pass of 5.393 and 269 MPH (regional)

·     WON 18th Annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park (national)

·     WON JEGS SPEEDWeek NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at National Trail Raceway (regional)

·     WON Cornwell Tools Night Under Fire at Summit Motorsports Park (regional)

·     WON 70th TOYOTA NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (national)

·     WON NHRA Carolina Nationals run at zMAX DRAGWAY (national)

·     CROWNED NHRA North Central Region Top Alcohol Funny Car Champions

·     CROWNED NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Funny Car National Champion

·     WON JEGS Allstars at Texas Motorplex

·     WON Texas NHRA Fall Nationals Stampede of Speed at the Texas Motorplex (national)

·     WON at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series (regional)

The team will travel to Pomona for next weekend’s In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. In addition to running the last race of the season, the Killer B’s will also line up against Maddi Gordon to run the postponed final from two weeks ago in Vegas.

The team would like to thank team sponsors Red Line Synthetic Oil, Roger Dean Chevrolet, Talon Air, LLC, NGK Spark Plugs, and Mastercam, along with product sponsors Simpson Performance Products and Taylor Motorsports Products.

For more information on Bartone Bros Racing, including race recaps and photos, please visit the team site at www.BartoneBrosRacing.com.

This story was originally published on November 12, 2024.

The post Bartone Bros. Racing Win Regional at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway first appeared on Drag Illustrated.