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PRO MOD – ST. LOUIS 2015

September 29, 2015 /

In the finest performance of his young Pro Mod career, Steven Whiteley dominated qualifying at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, covering the entire field by the unheard-of margin of more than half a tenth for most of the weekend.

After an opening 5.83 at a career-best 249.07 mph earned the YNnot Racing/J&A Service team the early qualifying lead, Whiteley was on a single to close out the second session of qualifying. All he did was unload an unbelievable 5.820, the quickest run of his career, at an even better 249.35, the fastest speed of his career, that put him almost six-hundredths up on No. 2 qualifier Troy Coughlin Jr.’s 5.878.

“Both of those runs and this whole weekend was all about my guys,” Whiteley said. “We were struggling earlier this year, but they stayed with it and you can see the results. I didn’t know exactly what those runs were, but from inside the car I could tell they were really good because they felt just like a lot of great testing runs we’ve made this year.”

Whiteley just missed continuing the all-5.8 barrage with a 5.900 in the final session that actually was a positive despite being slower than previous efforts. “We tried to slow the car down that time,” he said. “We wanted to know that we could take a little out of it without getting into a weak-shake run that doesn’t make it down the track. The car did exactly what it was supposed to, and we felt ready for eliminations.”

Facing No. 16 qualifier Harold Martin, who was no slouch himself with a 5.94 that anchored yet another all-5-second field, Whiteley pounded out another 5.83, again at nearly 250 mph, for a train-length win. The weekend finally came to an end in the second round when he made his worst run of the weekend, a still-good 5.92, in a loss to eventual winner Mike Knowles’ nearly identical 5.91.

“He got out on me, and it screwed me up,” Whiteley admitted. “I short-shifted because I knew I was behind, or the car would’ve run another 5.80-something. That’s on me, but it was still a great weekend. I owe it all to my mom and dad and all my guys who’ve stuck it out and really got this car running the way it is.”

TAFC – WOODBURN 2015

September 22, 2015 /

Annie Whiteley’s march to her first Top Alcohol Funny Car championship continued at Woodburn, where she turned in yet another final-round performance, her seventh already this season. The only problem: with two wins and a runner-up already in regional competition, where only your best three finishes count toward your national points total, her lead would increase only with a win. Qualifying No. 1 and running low e.t. of all three rounds didn’t earn her a single point because she didn’t win the final.

Veteran Steve Gasparrelli, who surprisingly hadn’t won a round all year, came to life at the suburban Portland, Ore., facility for his first victory since he won this race in 2013, edging Whiteley by a few feet in the final, 5.63 to 5.60, and snapping her Woodburn win streak at five rounds. The margin of victory was just 15-thousandths of a second.

Whiteley, who ruled the first regional in Woodburn this year with both ends of the track record and low e.t. and top speed of all three rounds of eliminations, again qualified No. 1, this time with a track-record 5.53 at 265.40 mph. She dispatched veteran Randy Parker in the first round with a solid 5.61/262 and took out Topeka winner Brian Hough in a great semifinal race, leaving first and outrunning Hough’s otherwise fine 5.61/256 with low e.t. of all of eliminations, a 5.56 at 263 mph.

Another 5.56 would’ve done the trick in the final, but Whiteley’s YNot Racing/J&A Service entry slipped to a 5.60, which left her just short of Gasparrelli’s 5.63 and slightly quicker reaction time.

The final-round appearance may not have helped Whiteley in the national championship race, but it solidified her hold on the Western Region title. She now holds a commanding 95-point lead on Doug Gordon with one race left, at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which she has owned throughout her entire career, including a sweep of both the national and regional events there earlier this season.

 

PRO MOD – CHARLOTTE 2015

September 22, 2015 /

In the best overall performance of their Pro Mod careers, the father-and-son team of Jim and Steven Whiteley qualified solidly in the all-five-second field at the Carolina Nationals and advanced deep into eliminations – Jim reached the quarterfinals for the second race in a row, and Steven made it to the semifinals for the first time in his young career. “Finally,” Steven said. “What a relief. I was hoping Dad and I would race each other in the semi’s so that one of us was sure to be in the final, but it didn’t quite work out that way.”

Driving his popular YNot Racing/J&A Service ’14 Cadillac CTS-V, Steven went from outside the field all the way to the No. 4 spot in last-ditch qualifying with an outstanding 5.89 at 247.93 mph, one of the quickest runs of his career and his fastest speed all year. It was his second 5.80 qualifying effort in a row, including a 5.88 two weeks ago at the U.S. Nationals.

Jim clocked a 5.94 on his second qualifying attempt for the provisional No. 7 spot on the grid, slipped to 13th by the time he got back to the line for Saturday’s lone session, then picked up to a 5.92 at 245 mph to shoot back up to the 10th spot. Numerous past event winners – Don Walsh (No. 18, 6.00), Jay Payne (No. 19, 6.02), reigning series champ Rickie Smith (No. 22, 6.05), Kenny Lang (No. 23, 6.05), and Mike Castellana (No. 25, 6.12) failed to make the cut.

When eliminations for the third-to-last race of the 10-race 2015 J&A Service NHRA Pro Mod series kicked off, both Whiteleys powered through the first round, trailering a pair of “name” drivers. Jim got around Gatornationals winner and early season points leader Bob Rahaim in a great race, leaving first by a few thousandths of a second and leading Rahaim door handle to door handle right to the lights for a thrilling 5.93 to 5.94 win. The margin of victory was just 15-thousandths of a second. One pair later, Steven strapped a huge holeshot on veteran Chip King and drove away from him, not just winning but establishing low e.t. of the entire round with a 5.92.

Sunday in round two, Steven knocked off one of the biggest stars in Pro Mod, Englishtown winner Bill Glidden, son of legendary Pro Stock racer Bob Glidden, with the second-quickest run of the round, 5.93. Jim’s ’69 Chevelle dropped that round to eventual winner Danny Rowe, 6.08 to 10.11, after getting a slight jump at the line. Steven also left on Rowe in the semifinals but came out on the wrong end of a much closer race, 5.91 to 5.99.

“We just missed the setup that time,” Steven said. “It was way too soft, our worst full run of the weekend, and I could tell right away. I Tree’d him, and I still saw his fender right away. As soon as we got past the Tree, I knew. He never really did pull away from me, but I couldn’t get around him.”

With just a few days off before the penultimate event of the season, Jim and Steven head to Gateway Int’l Raceway in St. Louis with a ton of momentum eyeing the very real prospect of the YNot Racing/J&A Service team’s first Pro Mod title.

PRO MOD – INDY 2015

September 8, 2015 /

The 2015 U.S. Nationals represented a huge step forward for the entire YNot Racing/J&A Service team. Not only did Annie Whiteley runner-up in Top Alcohol Funny Car and Joey Severance win Top Alcohol Dragster, but Pro Mod drivers Jim and Steve Whiteley turned in some of their finest performances of the season.

To qualify for the quickest field in the history of the J&A Service NHRA Pro Mod series (5.94 bump), Jim ripped off a 5.92 for the No. 15 spot. Steven did even better, making his best run all year and qualifying No. 7 with an outstanding 5.882 – one-thousandth of a second quicker than his 5.883 last year at Englishtown. “It’s been a long time and a lot of work by this whole team, but I think our program is really turning around now,” said Steven, whose car was on rails throughout qualifying. After back-to-back 5.92s at 245 mph in the first two sessions, he wheeled his ’14 CTS-V to a 5.89 at 246 and picked up even further to a 5.88 at 247 in Sunday’s last-shot session.

Jim got his ’69 Chevelle on the provisional grid with an off-the-trailer 6-flat, spun on the next qualifying run and slipped to a 6.06 on the next one, but he came through with a clutch 5.92 at 244 in last-ditch qualifying to crack the final lineup. With more than twice as many cars (33) in attendance as there were spots in the 16-car field, everyone knew that making the cut would be a major accomplishment, but no one could have predicted that a record bump would be established in such hot and humid conditions. Former series champion Mike Castellana, past Indy winner Jim Bell, and incoming points leader Bob Rahaim all failed to qualify.

Steven’s weekend came to an abrupt end when he ran into tire shake in the first round against nemesis “Tricky Rickie” Smith, the defending NHRA Pro Mod champ. Jim whipped No. 2 qualifier Sidnei Frigo, the former Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Fuel driver, in their first-round matchup, drilling the Brazilian on the Tree and driving away from him for a 5.96 to 5.97 victory. He then strapped a holeshot on Smith Monday in round two but ran into trouble downtrack and fell to Smith’s subpar 6.08.

Just three races remain on the 2015 J&A Service NHRA Pro Mod tour – Charlotte and St. Louis on back-to-back weekends later this month, and Las Vegas Oct. 29-Nov. 1.

TAFC – INDY 2015

September 8, 2015 /

At the NHRA U.S. Nationals, the most prestigious event in drag racing, YNot Racing/J&A Service driver Annie Whiteley padded her already commanding lead in the Top Alcohol Funny Car standings with her sixth final-round appearance already this season.

“The car ran good all weekend, but not quite good enough in the final,” said Whiteley, who appeared in the Indy final for the second time in three years. Whiteley, who won national events in Seattle and Las Vegas and regional events in Vegas and Woodburn earlier this season, came out on the wrong end of a close final-round match with Andy Bohl, 5.62 to 5.63.

The incoming points leader’s road to the final began with a solid 5.65 in Friday’s first qualifying session. She opened eliminations from the No. 6 qualifying spot with an impressive 5.57 in last-shot qualifying Sunday morning and ran at least in the low 5.60s at well over 260 mph on seven of eight runs over the long Labor Day weekend.

In the first round of eliminations late Sunday afternoon, Whiteley dispatched four-time national event champ Dan Pomponio with a good light and a smooth, trouble-free 5.60, one of the best e.t.s of the round. Monday in round two, her consistent 5.66 knocked off Mike Doushgounian, who was at the wheel of the same car Frank Manzo drove opposite her in the 2013 Indy final. Reigning Top Alcohol Funny Car world champ Steve Harker was the next to go. After laying down the only run in the 5.50s all day Monday to win round two, he slowed to an 8.53 in the semi’s while Whiteley sailed to a winning 5.64. She picked up to a 5.63 in the final, but Bohl also found a hundredth for a close 5.62-5.63 win.

“Nobody likes to lose, but I’m happier to have been in the final round than I am disappointed that I didn’t win it,” Whiteley said philosophically. “The best part is, this was a great weekend for points.” With another runner-up finish and the season rapidly winding down, her lead has ballooned to more than 100 points over second-place Jonnie Lindberg.

TAFC – BRAINERD 2015

August 25, 2015 /

At Brainerd Int’l Raceway, where three years ago Annie Whiteley faced off against The Man himself, Frank Manzo, in the first national event final of her career, her YNot/J&A Service team had its first off weekend after months and months of one great outing after another.

Hot off back-to-back victories in Woodburn, where she annihilated both ends of the track record, and Seattle, where a dominant performance ended in the third national event title of her career, Whiteley qualified fifth in the Top Alcohol Funny Car field. The weekend began with promise when she ran a 5.68 at 261.17 mph Friday followed by a strong 5.61/261.62 later that afternoon that slotted her third in the field at the time. “We were behind on the track all weekend,” she said. “It just kept sticking the tire every time we went up there.”

Whiteley, who qualified No. 1 in five of her last seven starts (including the Jegs Allstars race), shook on her final attempt and qualified outside the top three for the first time since the West Region season opener at Phoenix way back in February. That that was no problem, though – she still landed in the fast half of the field and has won races already this year from three different rungs on the eliminator ladder.

The problem came when Whiteley’s jet-black Camaro fought for traction again in the first round of eliminations against a much tougher opponent than the No. 5 qualifier usually gets: many-time national event champ Jay Payne. In that round, which was postponed by rain from late Saturday afternoon until Sunday, Whiteley, who arrived in Minnesota ranked number 1 in the national standings, left on the eventual runner-up but slowed to an 8.59 while Payne advanced with a 5.55.

“That was a bummer, definitely,” Whiteley said. “On the first qualifier, it shook the tires almost right at the hit – I don’t know how it made it – and every time we went up there after that the car made it a little further, but we never did catch up to the track.”

Despite the unexpected early exit, Whiteley’s YNot/J&A Service team enters the U.S. Nationals, the biggest race of the season, still solidly atop the Top Alcohol Funny Car standings, with almost a full-race lead (82 points) on second-place Doug Gordon.

TAFC – SEATTLE 2015

August 11, 2015 /

Already solidly in first place atop the Top Alcohol Funny Car standings when she got to Seattle, Annie Whiteley solidified her increasingly likely bid for a national championship with a dominant performance at the Northwest Nationals.

After back-to-back-to-back 5.51s in the preliminary rounds, Whiteley whipped nemesis Shane Westerfield, who lost traction right off the starting line, with a consistent 5.54 in the final. “My guys have given me an unbelievable car, and I just try to do my job and not screw up on the lights,” Whiteley modestly said of her J&A Service/YNot team, led by crew chief Mike Strasburg. “The car just runs smooth every time.”

Coming off a storybook weekend at Woodburn, where she qualified No. 1 and set both ends of the track record en route to her third win of the season, Whiteley annihilated the track record in Seattle qualifying with a 267.59-mph blast, the fastest of her career. She held down the No. 1 qualifying position until the last pair of the final session, when Mike Doushgounian edged her 5.502 with a 5.489.

Starting eliminations from the No. 2 spot on the grid, Whiteley, who had qualified No. 1 at five races in a row, mowed down the opposition with one spectacular run after another, starting with a 5.512 at 265.90 mph Saturday afternoon against rookie Chris Marshall, who veered crossed the centerline. Sunday in round two, her best run of eliminations, a 5.510 at 267.48 mph, dispatched former national event winner Jirka Kaplan, who got sideways in low gear, fell behind, and lost with a 6.32.

In the semifinals, Whiteley put a tenth on two-time Seattle winner Clint Thompson at the Tree with a .038 reaction time and drove away for another train-length win, 5.518, 265.90 to an up-in-smoke 15.88. Whiteley then won the final in another walkover against Westerfield, who had been 5-0 against her until this weekend, including a final-round win last year in Houston,

With four wins and seven final-round appearances already in 2015, Whiteley holds a 62-point lead over second-place Doug Gordon, who lost to Westerfield in the semi’s at Seattle. Next up for the J&A Service/YNot team is the Lucas Oil Nationals Aug. 21-23 in Brainerd, Minn.

 

TAFC – WOODBURN 2015

July 20, 2015 /

At Woodburn Dragstrip just outside Portland, Annie Whiteley dominated one of the toughest regional events of the season to take over first place in the Top Alcohol Funny Car national standings. “This is the first time I’ve ever been number one,” said Whiteley, who scored for the third time in six final-round appearances already this season. “I’ve been as high as second, early in the season a couple years ago, but I have to say this feels pretty great.”

It was truly one of the great performances of her career, a clean sweep: She qualified No. 1, obliterated both ends of the track record, and set low e.t. and top speed of all three rounds of eliminations.

After traveling almost 2500 miles from Chicago, where Whiteley was runner-up at the Jegs Allstars, the J&A Service/YNot team topped all qualifiers for the fifth race in a row – Denver, Norwalk, the Allstars race, Chicago, and now Woodburn. Her outstanding 5.56 at 266.42 mph held up for low e.t. and top speed of the entire event and was backed up by a pair of 5.64s in the other two qualifying sessions, making her a prohibitive favorite going into eliminations. (With a 5.59 for No. 2, championship contender Doug Gordon was the only other driver to run in the 5.50s all weekend.)

Whiteley just missed getting back in the .50s in the opening round with a 5.601 that stood as the quickest pass of all of eliminations and was more than enough to eliminate newcomer Chris Marshall, who faded with a 6.14, 224 in the first round of his Top Alcohol Funny Car career. Marshall held down the bump with a 5.75 – quicker than defending event champ Mike Doushgounian and former Woodburn winners Brian Hough and Steve Gasparrelli, who all missed the cut.

In the semifinals, Whiteley’s consistent 5.62 knocked off rival Shane Westerfield, who lost traction on the tricky, slippery surface and slowed to a 10.21. Former national event winner Jirka Kaplan gave Whiteley her toughest race of the weekend in the final, but she drove away from him on the top end with a 5.69 to win it by a car length. “That was actually the worst run we made all weekend,” Whiteley said. “The car was trying to walk all over the track and I had to short-shift just to get it down there. That guy’s always so tough on the lights; I was just glad I never saw him.”

TAFC – CHICAGO 2015

July 13, 2015 /

With the greatest run of her Top Alcohol Funny Car career, Annie Whiteley cracked the 5.5-second barrier with a 5.488 for the No. 1 spot in both the Route 66 Nationals and the invitation-only Jegs Allstars event that’s run in conjunction with it.

“I knew it was a good run, but I didn’t know it was that good,” said Whiteley, whose previous best had been a 5.50 in Sonoma in July 2012. “It didn’t feel that much different from a low .50-something, but [crew chief] Mike [Strasburg] and the guys told me if I made it to the finish line without shaking the tires it was going to be my first .40, and it was.”

The 5.48 was just one of four great runs in a row for Whiteley’s J&A Service/YNot Racing Camaro in Chicago – just like her five consecutive passes last week in Norwalk, where she rattled off two 5.57s, a 5.53, and two 5.55s. Here, it was a 5.53, the landmark 5.48, and back-to-back 5.50-flats in the first two rounds of the prestigious Allstars race.

A 5.508 at 264 mph in the first round of Allstars eliminations took down many-time national event winner Mickey Ferro’s 5.58. Under the lights in the semi’s, an identical run – right down to the thousandth of a second – erased former Indy winner Chris Foster’s 5.65.

In the final, run on Sunday afternoon due to inclement weather Saturday, John Lombardo Jr., running a cylinder head borrowed from the YNot team, unloaded his own 5.48 for the Allstars title when Whiteley lost traction in low gear. It was a frustrating end to what had been a great weekend and only compounded the aggravation from the first round of the Route 66 Nationals, run earlier that day, when she was upset by No. 16 qualifier Kirk Williams.

Next up is a Western Regional event in Woodburn, Ore., which has already attracted a 17 entrants for just eight qualifying spots. Whiteley heads there ranked second in the West standings, with a victory and back-to-back final-round appearances in her last two regional starts.

PRO MOD – NORWALK 2015

July 6, 2015 /

At the SummitRacing.com Nationals at Norwalk, Jim Whiteley qualified higher than he ever has in his brief Pro Mod career – No. 5 – and then proceeded to run even better in eliminations. But, tired of watching turbocharged and supercharged clutch cars drive around him on the top end, he’s taking out his torque converter setup after this race and going back to a clutch for the U.S. Nationals.

The two-time Top Alcohol Dragster world champ backed up an out-of-the-box 5.91 with an outstanding 5.90 in the second qualifying session, just missing the 5.80s and claiming the provisional No. 4 spot on the grid. He ended up fifth, ahead of 23 of the 28 entrants in the typically huge Pro Mod field and in the first round faced Pro Mod rookie Troy Coughlin Jr., son of the 2012 NHRA Pro Mod champ and 2013-14 championship runner-up.

Whiteley cut a decent .089 light, young Coughlin was off like a shot with a .024, and Whiteley’s J&A Service/YNot Chevelle immediately overcame the Jegs car’s quicker start and sailed into a sizable lead. He was out front by more than half a tenth at the 330-foot mark, still held a noticeable advantage at half-track, and finally relinquished it around the 1,000-foot mark.

“I never saw him until the very end,” said Whiteley, whose reaction times usually are in the .030s and .040s. “Those turbocharged cars have 6 or 7 mph on the converter cars at the top end, and he got around me. When the converter slips like that, you just give away too much speed, and that thing’s about to come out of there. It’s not easy to make a change when the car runs as good as it did this weekend, but in the end, I think this will be for the best.”

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