To close out round one Bartone took a single and got under White’s 5.684 with his own 5.680 to have lane choice in round two.

There were no surprises in the second round as Bartone, White, Dunlap and Young all advanced to the semifinals. Bartone and White both in the .6s -- Bartone at 5.63 and White running another 5.68.

In the semifinals, White and Dunlap were up first. Dunlap, knowing he had to cut a light, was just too amped up and was -.130 red, which allowed White to motor on to the victory. However, the victory came at a cost as White was running his 5.85 the motor absolutely blew itself apart. There was stuff everywhere.

Jim Young in the “Nitro-Hemi”

After a cleanup, it was time for Bartone and Young. Young was again at the wheel of Steve Harwood’s “Nitro-Hemi”, formerly the Jack Harris “Nitro Thunder” Neal & Parks dragster. Young was in the same predicament as Dunlap, knowing he needed to cut a light. Young was on the positive side of the tree with a .032 light and was five hundredths quicker than Bartone. Young held the advantage to about half-track, when the Boggs power started to come to life and Bartone started to reel Young in. As the pair got to the stripe Bartone stuck a wheel in front of Young and held on for the victory.

Bartone had also provided a rare sacrifice to the aluminum gods as smoke enveloped the dragster at the finish line.

Both teams were allotted some extra time to get the cars ready for the final.

Nevertheless, the final was anti-climactic as White first went in deep, and then left before the tree came down, giving Bartone the win.

Tony Bartone (left) and brother Michael share the loot.

New Yorker Bartone was elated after the victory. “We know those guys (Neal and White) are going to be formidable opponents in the finals,” he said. “Those guys had been running strong all weekend and we weren’t gonna take them lightly.

“Steve Boggs has an absolute handle on this tune-up, and he is the key to this deal and he is the reason for this accomplishment,” Bartone explained as the team won all NHRA Hot Rod Heritage events of the 2014 season and had already clinched the championship before the final event. “It is unbelievable.” He also expressed his gratitude to the entire team for their hard work and dedication over this season.