[coverattach=1]Win secures second-place national finish
POMONA, Calif. – Despite losing a close points chase with Bill Reichert for the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster National Championship, Jim Whiteley and his YNot Racing Team scored the last ‘blow,’ closing the year out with a win over Reichert in the finals of this past weekend’s Automobile Club of Southern California Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. Whiteley’s first round win over challenger Marty Thacker also secured a second-place national points finish.
Whiteley, from Grand Junction, Colo., qualified his Norm Grimes tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster tenth in the field with an off-pace 5.408 second elapsed time at 265.74 mph. Grimes and the YNot team found the problem after qualifying to run a 5.358 at 269.46 mph to defeat a red lighting Thacker in round one, and then took out Mark Niver in round two with a 5.324 at 269.19 mph. In the semifinal, Whiteley took out young Cody Perkins with a 5.326 at 269.08 mph to set up a final round showdown with Reichert.
In the final, Whiteley took the jump off the line with a .045 to .085 holeshot and never looked back, scoring the win with a 5.317 at 267.91 mph, while Reichert encountered problems and slowed off his earlier pace.
“We definitely caught a break in the final,” said Whiteley. “I went across the finish line and kept looking for him and couldn’t believe he wasn’t there. One of the announcers, Alan Rinehart gave me a quote from his mother about playing cards. When it’s not looking good, just hang tight, sooner or later your opponent will beat themselves.
“We struggled in qualifying, but we made some changes before the last qualifier and got the car back to center,” Whiteley continued. “From there Norm and the guys had the car dialed into the low .30’s and we just ran our own race. We caught the break in the final and it worked out for us.”
Whiteley is happy to score the win at the final race of the season and take the momentum into next year.
“It was definitely a nice way to finish the year,” stated Whiteley. “We’re getting a new Chip Nielson car built over the offseason and we bought Del Cox’s Top Dragster for my wife Annie to run next year. We’re getting an identical car built for her twin sister, Anita Olsen, so the girls will be running dragsters next year instead of the altereds. We’re looking forward to making a hard run at it again next year.”
For more information on the team, visit their website at The Home of Y Not Racing - Home
POMONA, Calif. – Despite losing a close points chase with Bill Reichert for the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster National Championship, Jim Whiteley and his YNot Racing Team scored the last ‘blow,’ closing the year out with a win over Reichert in the finals of this past weekend’s Automobile Club of Southern California Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. Whiteley’s first round win over challenger Marty Thacker also secured a second-place national points finish.
Whiteley, from Grand Junction, Colo., qualified his Norm Grimes tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster tenth in the field with an off-pace 5.408 second elapsed time at 265.74 mph. Grimes and the YNot team found the problem after qualifying to run a 5.358 at 269.46 mph to defeat a red lighting Thacker in round one, and then took out Mark Niver in round two with a 5.324 at 269.19 mph. In the semifinal, Whiteley took out young Cody Perkins with a 5.326 at 269.08 mph to set up a final round showdown with Reichert.
In the final, Whiteley took the jump off the line with a .045 to .085 holeshot and never looked back, scoring the win with a 5.317 at 267.91 mph, while Reichert encountered problems and slowed off his earlier pace.
“We definitely caught a break in the final,” said Whiteley. “I went across the finish line and kept looking for him and couldn’t believe he wasn’t there. One of the announcers, Alan Rinehart gave me a quote from his mother about playing cards. When it’s not looking good, just hang tight, sooner or later your opponent will beat themselves.
“We struggled in qualifying, but we made some changes before the last qualifier and got the car back to center,” Whiteley continued. “From there Norm and the guys had the car dialed into the low .30’s and we just ran our own race. We caught the break in the final and it worked out for us.”
Whiteley is happy to score the win at the final race of the season and take the momentum into next year.
“It was definitely a nice way to finish the year,” stated Whiteley. “We’re getting a new Chip Nielson car built over the offseason and we bought Del Cox’s Top Dragster for my wife Annie to run next year. We’re getting an identical car built for her twin sister, Anita Olsen, so the girls will be running dragsters next year instead of the altereds. We’re looking forward to making a hard run at it again next year.”
For more information on the team, visit their website at The Home of Y Not Racing - Home
