The month of June has been kind to defending NHRA Division 7 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion Jim
Whiteley and his YNot Racing team. Whiteley put a punctuation mark on a perfect month of racing by
winning his fourth straight race in as many weeks during this past weekend's Division 5 Lucas Oil
Drag Racing Series event at Bandimere Speedway just outside of Denver. The win also gave Whiteley
the national points lead.
Whiteley, a Colorado native from Grand Junction, came into the event on the heels of wins at the
O'Reilly Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan., the United Association Route 66 Nationals in Chicago and
the Division 3 Lucas Oil Series event in Chicago the following week. Whiteley also won this event
in Denver last year.
The YNot Racing, Norm Grimes, tuned blown alcohol dragster jumped on top of qualifying and never
looked back. Whiteley took the top spot in the high altitude conditions with a 5.527 second
elapsed time at 259.21 mph. In round one, he defeated Geno Tumbarello with a 5.775 at 254.28 mph
which advanced him to the final due to a low car count.
Whiteley would face defending Division 5 Champion, Ed Schmeeckle to defend his event crown. The
race was all Whiteley as he took the starting line advantage with a stellar .016 reaction time and
never looked back, winning with a 5.580 at 259.26 mph to Schmeeckle's 5.649 at 252.85 mph.
"I can't say enough about the job John Bandimere and his staff has done with this facility," said
Whiteley. "The track was so good we couldn't throw enough at it. It's just a shame we can't run
more events at this track. It's been good to us; it's a great track, and the Bandimere Speedway
track knows how to treat their racers.
"At the same time, we wish more cars would have come," Whiteley continued. "I understand it's hard
to get a car count here. The A/Fuelers struggle with the altitude, there's only one race a year
here economy certainly doesn't help matters. We would have liked to win against a full field, but
we're not complaining either."
After finishing a close second in national points standings last year to Bill Reichert, Whiteley is
pleased with the way the first half of the year has turned out.
"We're definitely a good bit ahead of where we were this time last year," stated Whiteley. "We
started the year with a bang then fought some freak parts issues. Everything has kind of fell into
place with these last four wins. It's just been incredible. This team has done such a great job
making this car win these races.
"We can't rest on our laurels at all, though. There's still a lot of racing left to do this year,
and if I remember correctly, Reichert didn't get real hot until August last year. We have five
weeks off to regroup and recharge, then we'll hit the trail hard again in Brainerd."
The next stop for the YNot Racing Team will be the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., Aug.
13-16.
For more information on the team, visit their website at http://www.YNotRacing.com
