Annie Whiteley records low elapsed time en route to semifinal finish

Annie Whiteley records low elapsed time en route to semifinal finish

ENNIS, Texas – Rookie NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car pilot Annie Whiteley and her YNot Racing team continued to show progress in the national event spotlight with a semifinal finish during this past weekend’s AAA Texas Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex just south of Dallas. Despite not getting the win, the YNot team was all smiles as her husband Jim clinched the Top Alcohol Dragster National Championship with a win in his class.

Whiteley, of Grand Junction, Colo., qualified her Roger Bateman tuned 2012 Mustang fifth in the field with a 5.620 second elapsed time at 258.57 mph. In round one, she took out Steve Burck with an impressive 5.558 at 260.46 mph, which stood for low elapsed time of the meet. She then took out Bryan Brown in round two with a 5.589 at 259.16 mph.

In the semifinals, a distraction while she was staging lead to a chain of events that resulted in an easy win for her opponent Clint Thompson’s 5.597 at 258.67 while she slowed to a 5.741 at 256.16.

“I just made a mistake,” said Whiteley. “I thought the car was rolling through the beams, so I grabbed more brake. Right when I did that, the light turned green so I was really late. Then I went out and short shifted the car, which hurt us more.

“It still wasn’t too bad of a weekend,” Whiteley continued. “It was pretty special seeing Jim win the race and clinch the Championship. Considering this is my first year in the car, I’m definitely not disappointed with what we have accomplished and the performance of the car. We had my Mom and some family with us this weekend, so to have a good weekend like we did made it even more special.”

The next event for the YNot Racing Team will be the Big O Tire Nationals at “The Strip” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

To find out more about YNot Racing’s promotional partners, visit the websites below:

RaceGoodyear.com - Goodyear's position as the leading tire maker in drag racing is unquestioned. The quickest, fastest and most powerful earth-bound machines in the world look to Goodyear for tires that generate enough traction to take advantage of their stunning ability to go fast in a straight line.

NGKSparkPlugs.com - When performance counts, the fastest teams on two wheels or four, on land or on water choose NGK Spark Plugs.

The team would also like to thank the continued support of J&A Services and Advanced Oilfield Services.

Contact: Pro Race Communications 979.415.4959
Attached photo courtesy of James Drew Photography