In the motorsports world of drag racing, time is measured in thousandths of a second. But it took 15 years since the last time Beaver Springs resident John DiBartolomeo visited the winner’s circle at a National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national event.
But that’s what happened last weekend when the owner of DRC Race Products and editor of Drag Racing Action magazine scored his fourth NHRA national title with his win at the NHRA Super nationals in Englishtown, N.J.
“In 2007, my son Franklin won this same event,” DiBartolomeo said, “and it marked only a small number of times when a father and son had national event victories to their credit.”
John DiBartolomeo had previously won events in Gainesville, Fla., Indianapolis and Reading. The victory at Reading — which came in 1994 — was the last for DiBartolomeo until his victory at Englishtown.
DiBartolomeo is a native of New Jersey and cut his racing teeth competing on the quarter-mile facility in Englishtown, which is one of the most famous race tracks in the country.
DiBartolomeo, who presently lives within earshot of the Beaver Springs Dragway, said, “I’ve been very fortunate to win a lot of races over the 30-plus years I’ve been racing but I never won a national event at the Englishtown track. In 2007 when my son won there, it was like old home week in the winner’s circle and this win felt the same.
“Fifteen years is a long time between major wins,” he added, “but I’ll take it none the less. I was thrilled my wife Dot and daughter Christina were there to celebrate, but my son had to return back early in the weekend to the University of Kentucky where he works and attends classes towards his PHD in engineering. But we talked on the cell phone between every round of eliminations and discussed our tune-up. He was a big help in this win and I’m sorry he wasn’t there. But we’ll just have to do it again next week when he drives at the NHRA national event in Norwalk, Ohio.”
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DiBartolomeo wins NHRA event
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