Photo credit: Ken Hughes

Forty-two time national event winner, Tony Bartone and his long-time tuner, Steve Boggs, have ended their relationship with Rick Jackson Racing after Boggs and Jackson came to an impasse, as confirmed by Jackson. Bartone and Boggs, who have driven and tuned Jackson’s Center Pointe Collison-backed Ford Mustang Top Alcohol Funny Car to 13 NHRA wins, are thought to be making a move to past championship contender Mickey Ferro’s Monte Carlo, based out of Connecticut, for the remainder of the season.

In addition to the 13 wins with Jackson, including two races in Las Vegas and Houston this year, Bartone has been runner-up in the NHRA championship points race in 2011 and 2012 to longtime rival Frank Manzo. The Long Island City, New York native is also currently leading the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series (LODRS) national standings in 2013, with sights set on scoring his first national championship in the class since 1996.

As soon as he is licensed in Jackson’s TA/FC, Team Manager, Chris Perl will take over driving duties for the balance of the 2013 season and is expected to pilot the car in 2014. Jackson, who has a new Brad Hadman chassis on order that Perl is in the process of picking up, will assume the tuning duties of the car. Lew Larson is the cylinder heads specialist and Scott Manning is the transmission and clutch specialist.