Bowling Green, Kentucky - June 20, 2015:

In a spectacular return to form, 74-year-old Bill Dunlap captured Top Fuel Eliminator in his California-based High Speed Motorsports entry at the 13th Holley National Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, Ky. Dunlap defeated defending event champion Tony “T-Bone” Bartone and upended Bartone’s unprecedented domination of the NHRA Heritage Series Top Fuel Dragster class.

In the NHRR final, Dunlap laid down an exemplary 5.73-second quarter-mile blast at 251 mph to stun the New York-based Bartone, who encountered tire shake in his Steve Boggs-tuned dragster while falling short with a losing effort of 6.15 seconds. In victory, Dunlap snapped Bartone’s six-event undefeated streak and fired the first volley in a quest for what could be called “regime change.”

“We are going to keep knocking on his door,” Dunlap said post-race, after advancing to 2nd place in current Heritage Series Points, two rounds behind Bartone. “We want him to feel our breath on his neck. We want to give him a bad time the rest of the year.”

Dunlap’s remarks were a follow-up to a gauntlet thrown down prior to the Reunion. “We feel that it's time to put an end to (Tony) Bartone and (Steve) Boggs’ winning streak,” HSM’s crew chief Tom Shelar had said last week, before towing his Top Fuel dragster 2000 miles from Anaheim to Bowling Green in pursuit of his quarry. That declaration went viral on the Internet and piqued old-school drag racing fans everywhere, whether in Beech Bend’s packed grandstands or among those following the event on the web.

All things in account, Bartone was considered the favorite in the final round. Even after setting Top Speed of the Meet at 255 mph, Dunlap was unsure about his chances. “I was thinking, ‘We got a tough one here, I don’t know,’” Dunlap recalled. “But the best thing is that Tom (Shelar) kept us cool. He said, ‘We are going to do our thing, they are going to do their thing and he is just going to have to outrun us.’”

Unfortunately for Bartone and the status of his unprecedented record (22 rounds of racing without a loss), he never got the chance to “back door” it. His mount shook the tires 200 feet into his final-round race against Dunlap and, despite some deft back-pedaling, the New York-based champ never caught the hard-charging Dunlap.

“Honestly, I thought he was going to run a .50 and blow our doors off,” Dunlap admitted. “But when you don't see him and you don’t hear him and the win light comes on, it’s unbelievable.”

This makes for 6 out of 7 event wins for Shelar’s team in Bowling Green. (A 7th NHRR title was claimed by “High Speed” the year it was contested in Columbus, Ohio.) This was their first, however, with Bill Dunlap as the team’s driver.

“I am 74-years old, how much longer am I going to be able to do this?” Dunlap asked rhetorically, responding to a query about the meaning of this win. “When the team got down (to the shut-off area), I was jumping around like I was lost.”

“The team kicked ass,” Shelar stated. Despite the usual daunting heat and humidity in Kentucky, the HSMS crew fulfilled Tom's vision of reclaiming Bowling Green and upending Bartone by swapping engines between every round of eliminations. “I'm the lucky one that gets to turn the knobs and Dunlap drove his ass off,” Shelar explained.

Thursday morning was bright and sunny, with the first qualifying session scheduled for 3:00 pm. But we're in Bowling Green where bright and sunny in the morning doesn't mean squat. Just after noon the clouds rolled in and with them came rain......

After the first storm, the staff set about drying the track. It was another wait.Just as the track was close to ready, round two hit. Not a bad as its predecessor, but enough to eventually cancel any racing for Thursday.

With rain predicted for the entire weekend everyone was expecting a repeat of Thursday, but the drag racing gods would have none of that. With the exception of a couple of drizzles, the Friday program would be completed.

For their first shot at the superbly prepped Bowling Green track, Bill Dunlap was paired with Jason Greenwood. The car was awash with the distinctive HSMS uniform tops.

A nice tune-up run of 5.897 at 235.76 would put them in the #2 qualifying spot.

The second session went off about 4:00 pm the #1 and #2 qualifiers from the first session. Dunlap was paired with the defending champ, Tony Bartone.

Before the 330' mark Dunlap had also shut off knowing he could not improve on his previous run. From the first session the final order would he Bartone and Dunlap 1 & 3 setting up the epic final round on Saturday.

1 - Tony Bartone, Long Island City NY, 5.770 @ 228.92
2 - Dusty Green, Pleasant Hill CA, 5.870 @ 242.45
3 - Bill Dunlap, Capitola CA, 5.897 @ 235.76
4 - Dave Hirata, Lowell IN, 5.922 @ 223.99
5 - Jim Young, Salem WI, 6.054 @ 204.73
6 - Adam Sorokin, Glendale CA, 6.058 @ 203.71
7 - Jason Greenwood, Racine WI, 6.272 @ 201.43
8 - Brendan Murry, San Jose CA, 7.063 @ 134.74

------------ Not Qualified ------------

9 - Jerry Kumre Jr, Rohnert Park CA, 7.178 @ 216.03
10 - Paul Schultz, Tulsa OK, 9.646 73.78 @ 76.18
11 - Tim Cullinan, Des Plaines IL, 29.785 @ 278.12