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Anthony Bertozzi

Funny Car star John Force has often joked that he "hired his own assassin" when he brought Tony Pedregon onto his Castrol GTX team. One Sportsman racer who can relate to Force's predicament is former Super Stock champ Peter Biondo. After winning the 2001 NHRA Super Stock championship, Biondo encouraged his good friend, IHRA star Anthony Bertozzi, to pursue an NHRA title. Twelve months later, Bertozzi has supplanted Biondo as the top Super Stock racer in NHRA competition.

"In a way, I almost feel bad for Pete," said Bertozzi, whose résumé includes more than 60 events and 10 championships in IHRA competition and a host of major E.T. racing titles. "He's the one who convinced me to try NHRA racing this year. Originally, I was just going to run the first few [NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series] races in order to get some grading points for national events, but then I got off to a pretty good start and decided to stick with it. I've always liked NHRA races, but I run a business, and sometimes it's hard for me to take so much time off from work. Obviously, though, I'm happy that I took Pete's advice."

Once the season began, Bertozzi wasted no time establishing himself as a legitimate championship contender. Before many racers in the Northern states had even cleared the snow from their driveways, Bertozzi had banked a pair of Division 2 LODRS victories in Orlando, Fla., and Montgomery, Ala. Bertozzi's win in Orlando featured what might be the best driving performance of the year; he used a string of incredible reaction times, none worse than a .511, to take his Parts Pro Grand Am to the winner's circle.

"That was my best race of the year, without a doubt," said Bertozzi. "My first five lights were all .50s, and then I had a .499 on my bye run in the quarters. I lowered the rpm for the last two rounds and cut a .510 and a .511."

Despite his fast start, Bertozzi never contemplated winning the championship until midseason, when he suddenly found himself atop the points standings.

"I usually don't pay too much attention to points, but after I got to the semifinals in Englishtown and Columbus, I opened National DRAGSTER and saw that I was leading. I still didn't think I had a real shot, but Pete kept telling me to stay after it."

Bertozzi began to think his opportunity had passed after Biondo won the Super Stock title at the Rugged Liner NHRA Nationals in Brainerd.

"Once Pete won in Brainerd, I thought he'd just keep on winning," Bertozzi continued. "Other guys, like Dan Fletcher and Lincoln Morehead, were also in the mix."

In early October, Bertozzi took over the lead for good with a clutch performance at the Division 4 LODRS event at Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Okla. Though he claims Division 2 as his home division, Bertozzi elected to pass on Darlington Int'l Dragway's LODRS event, which was being held the same weekend, in order to go to Noble.

"Pete and I decided that in advance," Bertozzi noted. "We were both in contention for the championship and we just decided that one of us would go to Darlington [in Hartsville, S.C.,] and the other would go to Noble, and whatever happened, happened. That way, we wouldn't have to run against each other. I was already going to Dallas the following weekend for the national event, so I chose to go to Noble.

"Once I got there, we had a long rain delay," Bertozzi continued. "I just wanted to get it over with. In Noble, my goal was just to win the second round so that I would pass Lincoln [Morehead] for second place. After I got to the final, my crew chief, Rodney Eades, asked me, 'If you win the final, will you win the championship?' I wasn't sure, so I double-checked the [NHRA] Rulebook to make sure I had the points figured out correctly. After I won the race, I found out that Peter had lost in the quarterfinals at Darlington, so I was in first place. That was a big relief."

Though Bertozzi won the title without the benefit of a national event victory, he later won the Super Comp title at the O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec in Dallas and capped the season with a Super Stock win at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, where he drove John Coughlin's Jeg's Cavalier to the title. He had previously appeared in two final rounds and had taken a lot of ribbing from his fellow racers after his wife, Malinda, won the Super Comp title at the 2001 Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville.

"I feel like I should have won one or two national events in Super Stock earlier this year," Bertozzi said. "In Englishtown, I had a .499 red-light in the semifinals, and in Columbus, I was .497 in the semi's against Mike Walter. Obviously, I wanted to win in Super Stock, but the [Super Comp] win in Dallas was great. It was good to finally get that over with.

"I couldn't have won this without Peter's help," continued Bertozzi. "Most people won't help you when you're racing against them, but he went out of his way for me. I also have to thank my father, Sonny, who lets me off work to race; my mother, Brenda; my wife, Malinda; my daughter, Brittaney; and my crew chief, Rodney Eades. My sponsors, Parts Pro, Holley, and B&M, have also been great to me. I've been lucky enough to win a lot of races and a lot of championships, but this is right up there at the top."

Bertozzi's 2002 track record 661 points
Orlando Speed World Dragway (Div. 2)	Won event
Montgomery Motorsports Park (Div. 2)	Won event
Mac Tools Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals	Quarterfinals
Matco Tools SuperNationals	Semifinals
Maple Grove Raceway (Div. 1)	Third round
Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals	Semifinals
Bristol Dragway (Div. 2)	Semifinals
Thunder Valley Raceway Park (Div. 4)	Won event