Whiteley, from Grand Junction, Colo., qualified his Norm Grimes tuned blown alcohol dragster fourth in the field with a 5.369 second elapsed time at 255.29 mph. In round one, he defeated former Division 5 Champion Richard Putz with a 5.449 at 232.47 mph, and then took out recent Las Vegas winner Justin Davis in round two with a 5.372 at 266.00 mph. He then squared off with No. 1 qualifier Chase Copeland in the semifinals and took the win with another 5.372 at 265.74 mph.

Whiteley's final round opponent would be former two-time World Champion Tom Conway, who was making a rare appearance out of retirement. In one of the closest races of the day, Whiteley edged Conway's injected-nitro machine with a 5.361 at 265.74 mph to Conway's right-there 5.369 at 264.23 mph to take his seventh career national event win. The margin of victory was a mere .007 of a second.

"It was a great weekend for the team," said Whiteley. "It was a tough field. We tried a few things this weekend, and it will be interesting to see how Norm and the guys determine how it affected the car. We got our first win here two years ago, so it was really special to win here again. I guess we'll have to keep coming back here if we can win it at least every other year.

"The final against Tom was a heck of a race," Whiteley continued. "He said he dropped a cylinder on the big end. We've come out on the other end of those close races before, so we'll definitely savor this one."

There will be little rest for the YNot Racing team as they head north to Chicago for this weekend's United Association Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

"We're going back to our normal setup for Chicago," stated Whiteley. "Chicago is usually a fast track, so we're really looking forward to it."

For more information on the team, visit their website at http://www.YNotRacing.com

Courtesy of Will Hanna