Jim Whiteley builds points lead with Brainerd win

Jim Whiteley builds points lead with Brainerd win

BRAINERD, Minn. – “There are no ugly wins, and there are no pretty losses,” is a saying that holds true for just about every sport with a winner and a loser. NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver Jim Whiteley may not have scored his most convincing win of his career during this past weekend’s Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, but he was still found a way to put the YNot Racing entry in the winner’s circle and solidified his lead in national points standings.

Whiteley, of Grand Junction, Colo., qualified his Norm Grimes tuned blown alcohol dragster second in the field with a 5.267 second elapsed time at 272.34 mph. He was able to hold off former National Champion Alan Bradshaw with a pedal-job 5.872 at 265.80 mph, then had to do the same against defending Division 5 Champion Randy Meyer with a 5.892 at 268.12 mph. Both of those drivers smoked the tires off the line, giving Whiteley the break he needed.

That set the stage for a monster matchup for this year’s national championship as he squared off with former five-time National Champion Bill Reichert, who is a currently third in national points. Reichert held lane choice after Whiteley’s early round struggles, but the championship hopeful dug down and got the jump off the line and was able to hang on for a holeshot win with a 5.327 at 270.7 mph to Reichert’s quicker-but-later 5.314 at 267.43. The margin of victory was a mere .006 of a second.

Whiteley’s final round opponent was Chase Copeland, driver for the legendary Gene Snow’s A/Fuel Dragster. Copeland carded a perfect .000 reaction time, but went up in smoke, while Whiteley streaked away to a 5.400 at 266.37 mph for his fourth national event win of the year.

“It certainly wasn’t pretty but we’ll take it,” said Whiteley. “We definitely struggled getting down the right lane in the first two rounds. Not to take anything away from the NHRA track crew, the track was stellar for most of the weekend. In the first round, I had to pedal the car three times to get it down the track, and the second round wasn’t much better. Luckily for us the other guys had more problems.

“After struggling the first two rounds, Norm and the guys put it together just in time for that race with Reichert. That was a big one. There’s still a lot of racing left to do for the Championship. We needed this win. There’s a few guys that can still make a run at us.”

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Attached photo courtesy of YNot Racing