Jim Whiteley stays perfect in Regional competition with Tulsa win Wife Annie scores w

Jim Whiteley stays perfect in Regional competition with Tulsa win
Wife Annie scores win in Top Alcohol Funny Car

TULSA, Okla. – Defending four-time NHRA Division 7 Top Alcohol Dragster driver Jim Whiteley scored his third regional event win in as many races during this past weekend’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Central Regional at Tulsa Raceway Park. His wife Annie Whiteley scored the win in Top Alcohol Funny Car to mark the second time this year the husband and wife duo won at the same event this year.

Whiteley, from Grand Junction, Colo., qualified his Norm Grimes tuned YNot Racing blown alcohol dragster second in the field with a 5.361 second elapsed time at 265.43 mph. In round one, he defeated injected-nitro heavy hitter Mark Taliaferro with a 5.390 at 264.91, and then defeated another injected-nitro racer James Thompson in the semifinals with a 5.344 at 267.37.

In the final, Whiteley would square off with No. 1 qualifier Randy Meyer. Whiteley grabbed the jump off the line and never looked back, recording low e.t. of the meet with a 5.340 at 265.90 mph.

“Norm and the guys just have this car running really well right now,” said Whiteley. “I really didn’t do a good job of driving the car until the final, so they definitely helped me out. We weren’t really happy with the speed the car was running, but it was really hot this weekend. There was a bump that really upset our car after the finish line in the right lane, so we took the left lane the last two rounds.

Although it was the second time the Whiteley’s won the same event, it was the first time they were able to share the winner’s circle. At the Las Vegas Regional earlier in the year, Jim had to re-run the Top Alcohol Dragster final a week later at the Las Vegas National due to a timing system malfunction. There was no such timing system drama to diminish their winner’s circle celebration this time.

“It was a really good weekend for both of us,” said Whiteley. “It’s pretty impressive what Roger [Bateman-Funny Car Crew Chief] has been able to do with that team. After the deal in Vegas, we hoped to be able to both win another event where we could share the winner’s circle, so this was pretty special. Hopefully it’s not the last time.”

The win vaulted Whiteley to first place in national and Western Region points standings. Under the new national/regional points system, competitors can only claim their best three regional events towards their national standings, compared to the five in the past. While he hasn’t ruled out attending more regional events this year, he now has a perfect scorecard of three regional wins to complement his two national wins so far.

The YNot Racing Team will head north to Chicago for this weekend’s O’Reilly Route 66 Nationals and Jegs Sportsman All-Star Race, which will be ran during qualifying. Whiteley has won the event for the past two years and will be looking to win an unprecedented third-straight Jegs All-Stars title.

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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 YNot Racing