Semifinal finish boosts Whiteley’s points lead in Norwalk

Semifinal finish boosts Whiteley’s points lead in Norwalk

NORWALK, Ohio – Despite snapping his three-race win streak, four-time defending NHRA Division 7 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion Jim Whiteley and his YNot Racing Team padded their national points lead with a semifinal finish during this past weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. Whiteley now holds a 170 point lead over second place Chris Demke.

Whiteley, from Grand Junction, Colo., qualified his Norm Grimes tuned blown alcohol dragster second in the field with a 5.383 second elapsed time at 266.69 mph. In round one, he defeated Dave Hirata with a 5.435 at 265.01, and then defeated Robin Samsel with a 5.341 at 267.27 mph in round two.

In his semifinal matchup with Dan Page, Whiteley encountered heavy tire shake which lead to the studs that hold the supercharger to the intake manifold shearing off. With no boost from the supercharger, Whiteley slowed, handing an easy victory to Page.

“It shook hard enough it broke the blower studs,” said Whiteley. “I tried to drive through the tire shake, so I guess that’s where I made the mistake. A lot of times if you stay with it, it will drive through the shake; these cars shake quite a bit. It’s a split second decision you have to make whether you are going to stick with it, shift it early or pedal it. You never want to give up on getting it all the way through low gear, so it’s a hard one to make.

“We definitely would have liked to get the win, but we sure aren’t complaining,” Whiteley continued. “We have had a good year and the car is running great. So far we have been to six national events, and we have three wins and two semifinals. Hopefully we can keep this up.”

After a grueling four straight weeks of racing, the YNot Racing team will regroup and hit the track in August at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., Aug 17-19.

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 YNot Racing