NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Final Results from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

NHRA LUCAS OIL DRAG RACING SERIES - PACIFIC DIVISION
Monday, April 1, 2013

WHITELEYS SWEEP VEGAS REGIONAL AGAIN

LAS VEGAS -For the second year in a row, Jim and Annie Whiteley's YNot Racing team swept the Las Vegas Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Regional, Jim in Top Alcohol Dragster and wife Annie in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Jim dominated the dragster contingent from wire to wire, setting low e.t. of all three qualifying sessions and two of three rounds of eliminations. Annie came from the No. 2 spot to defeat Doug Gordon in the Top Alcohol Funny Car final with low e.t. of the event, 5.59.

Jim Whiteley, who beat Chris Demke last season in a final that had to be rerun after something blew through the lights in Demke's lane as they approached the finish line the first time, was a winner before he passed the Tree this time on Don St. Arnaud's red-light. Arnaud, who had killed the Tree in the first two rounds, left too soon with a -.131 reaction time, but with a 5.343 (low e.t.), Whiteley would have been hard to get around regardless.

Whiteley qualified his Norm Grimes-tuned YNot dragster on top with an almost identical run, 5.344, eliminated Megan McKernan in a much-closer-than-expected first-round match, 5.40 to 5.43, and took out Joey Severance in the semifinals, 5.35 to an early-shutoff 5.59. Severance had a realistic shot at unseating him after running slightly quicker in his first-round win over Demke (5.401) than Whiteley had in his win over McKernan (5.408)

St. Arnaud put away Ray Martin, driving Canadian Hugh Ridley's car, in the other semifinal match, 5.40 to 5.46. Martin, who won the West Region opener at Firebird Int'l Raceway in Phoenix, still holds a commanding lead in the Jegs Allstars standings.

In the Top Alcohol Funny Car final, Annie Whiteley got a slight jump on Gordon with her best reaction time of the young season, .044, and outran his consistent 5.67 with the only run all weekend in the 5.50s, a 5.59. With the entire field separated by just six-hundredths of a second and a bump of 5.67, it was one of the toughest fields in regional/divisional event history. Jay Payne, who has the second-most wins in divisional history and won the 2013 opener in Phoenix, didn't qualify.

Three-time Division 7 champ Gordon was consistent all weekend with three runs in eliminations within 19-thousandths of a second, from 5.659 to 5.678. He ousted former Division 7 champ Terry Ruckman, who's making his return to Alcohol Funny Car this season with Alexis DeJoria's old equipment, in round one and 2011-2012 championship runner-up Tony Bartone in the semi's. Bartone red-lighted by just four-thousandths of a second, voiding low e.t. at the time (5.620) and preventing a Whiteley-Bartone rematch of last year's final.

Whiteley won the other semifinal bout when Houston Regional winner Shane Westerfield had an even closer red-light than Bartone's, a -.003. Westerfield shut down to a 6.32 while Whiteley drove her Roger Bateman-tuned YNot Funny Car to a second straight 5.67. She also ran 5.67 in the first round to eliminate perennial Top 10 player Steve Gasparrelli.

With both drivers coming off 5.67s and Gordon's reputation as one of the best leavers in the country, he seemed to have an excellent shot at his first divisional/regional win since 2010, but despite a solid .066 light and another 5.67, Whiteley had it all the way with a 5.59. She now has three wins in three career regional starts in Las Vegas after sweeping this race and the fall race there last year.

A pair of local racers went the distance as Robert Cruzen and Al Alguire both of Las Vegas took the wins in Super Stock and Super Street respectively. Cruzen raced his '06 Cobalt past John Stock in 9.54 seconds as Stock left early with a red-light foul. Cruzen recorded a perfect 0.000 second reaction time in round four to beat series hitter Dan Fletcher on his way to the final. Alguire and Steve Lowe were identical off the line with Alguire better at the finish running 11.053 on the 11.50 index in his '68 Barracuda.

Richard Okerman held on to beat Chris Newman in Top Sportsman while Geneva Nash won over Dan Slatten in the Top Dragster class. Okerman, Torrance, Calif., used a big starting line advantage to hold off Newman, Lancaster, Calif., tripping the clocks at 173 mph in 7.41 seconds in his '89 Beretta. Nash, Visalia, Calif., covered the quarter-mile in 7.00 seconds at 192.28 mph.

Dean Carter lead the rest of the winners defeating Scott McClay in Comp Eliminator; Tony DeFrank defeated Las Vegas resident Dwight Machael in Stock; Matt Constant nipped Val Torres at the line in Super Comp; Luke Bogacki won on a double breakout in Super Gas over Tanner Haitt; and John Widmann, Garberville, Calif., ran better on both ends of the track to take the trophy in Sportsman Motorcycle presented by Harley Davidson.

Pacific Division racers return to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this coming weekend, April 5-7 for the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals where they will be joined by the NHRA Mello-Yello Drag Racing Series.

The following are the final results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER:

Round 1
3) Ray Martin, Anchorage, Alaska, 5.534, 264.18 def. 6) Greg Hunter, Sheridan, Wyo., 5.601, 257.43
2) Don St. Arnaud, Edmonton, Alb., 5.455, 261.22 def. 7) Garrett Bateman, Albany, Ore., foul
5) Joey Severance, Woodburn, Ore., 5.401, 262.90 def. 4) Chris Demke, Tujunga, Calif., 5.418, 264.65
1) Jim Whiteley, Grand Junction, Colo., 5.408, 266.58 def. 8) Megan McKernan, Sierra Madre, Calif., 5.430, 255.39

Semifinals
Whiteley, 5.357, 267.06 def. Severance, 5.592, 211.56
St. Arnaud, 5.405, 262.03 def. Martin, 5.465, 264.03

Final
Whiteley, 5.343, 267.00 def. St. Arnaud, foul

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR:
Round 1
5) Doug Gordon, Paso Robles, Calif., '11 Mustang, 5.659, 253.95 def. 4) Terry Ruckman, Grand Junction, Colo., '06 Monte Carlo, foul
3) Shane Westerfield, Lake Forest, Calif., '06 Monte Carlo, 5.707, 254.66 def. 6) Jason Rupert, Yorba Linda, Calif., '06 Monte Carlo, 9.156, 95.67
2) Annie Whiteley, Grand Junction, Colo., '10 Mustang, 5.677, 255.39 def. 7) Steve Gasparrelli, West Covina, Calif., '06 Monte Carlo, 11.976, 119.34
1) Tony Bartone, Long Island City, N.Y., '09 Mustang, 5.711, 257.92 def. 8) Jirka Kaplan, Calgary, Alb., '09 Mustang, 6.890, 170.02

Semifinals
Whiteley, 5.674, 254.71 def. Westerfield, foul
Gordon, 5.678, 252.99 def. Bartone, foul

Final
Whiteley, 5.590, 256.16 def. Gordon, 5.673, 253.14

COMP ELIMINATOR
Dean Carter, Glendale, Ariz., dragster, B/ND, 7.212, 159.23 def. Scott McClay, Tehachapi, Calif., dragster, C/ED, foul.

SUPER STOCK
Robert Cruzen, Las Vegas, '06 Cobalt, GT/AA, 9.542, 125.37 def. John Stock, Sandusky, Ohio, '92 Cutlass, GT/MA, foul.

STOCK ELIMINATOR
Tony DeFrank, Chatsworth, Calif., '68 Camaro, B/SA, 10.389, 118.29 def. Dwight Machael, Las Vegas, '62 Fury, B/SA, 10.608, 124.08.

SUPER COMP
Matt Constant, Stockton, Calif., dragster, 9.061, 170.41 def. Val Torres, Valinda, Calif., dragster, 9.075, 166.19.

SUPER GAS
Luke Bogacki, Carterville, Ill., '63 Corvette, 10.042, 155.99 def. Tanner Hiatt, Sparks, Nev., '02 Corvette, 10.031, 152.43.

SUPER STREET
Al Alguire, Las Vegas, '68 Barracuda, 11.053, 152.02 def. Steve Lowe, Langley, B.C., '68 Camaro, 11.072, 135.86.

TOP DRAGSTER
Geneva Nash, Visalia, Calif., dragster, 7.001, 192.28 def. Dave Slatten, Ft. Collins, Colo., dragster, foul.

TOP SPORTSMAN
Richard Okerman, Torrance, Calif., '89 Beretta, 7.413, 173.78 def. Chris Newman, Lancaster, Calif., '08 Cobalt, 7.009, 198.79.

SPORTSMAN MOTORCYCLE PRESENTED BY HARLEY DAVIDSON
John Widmann, Garberville, Calif., '97 Kawasaki, 8.778, 132.97 def. Jay Thompson, Whitman, Ariz., '73 Kawasaki, 9.991, 129.10.