Rookie Annie Whiteley wins third regional event in Sonoma

Rookie Annie Whiteley wins third regional event in Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. – Rookie NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Annie Whiteley and her YNot Racing team scored their third win of the year during this past weekend’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Western Regional in Sonoma, Calif. The win gives her a 95 point lead over second place Steve Gasparrelli.

Whiteley, from Grand Junction, Colo., qualified her Roger Bateman tuned 2011 Mustang in the No. 1 spot with a 5.627 second elapsed time at 262.44 mph. In round one, she defeated Clint Thompson with a consistent 5.627 at 258.57. She then blistered the track to run her first 5.5 second run, almost leap frogging into the 5.4’s with a track-record 5.508 at 263.62 mph to defeat Gasparrelli. She then ran a 5.532 at 262.54 mph to defeat John Lombardo to take her third regional event win of her young career.

“It was definitely a nice weekend,” said Whiteley. “For some reason I was having a problem with the right lane. Roger and Jim [Whiteley – husband and Top Alcohol Dragster driver] asked me why I was short shifting the car. I told them for some reason, there was just a spot in that lane where it felt like the rear end was washing out on me and I would shift the car. They changed lanes, I was able to make my shift points, and we ran the 5.50. None of us were expecting that. Roger thought it would run a .57 or .58. Roger told me I almost missed the 5.50s and went straight into the 5.40’s.”

While her rookie season was slotted to just be a learning year, her success has the YNot team starting to look at points a little more closely.

“This win was just another step in a dream season,” stated Whiteley. “We said going into this year we weren’t going to worry about chasing points. We were just going to get me experience and seat time. Now we have to look at the schedule to see if there are some other races we should pick up.”

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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 James Drew Photography