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SWS: Mesa Marin: Brandon Whitt preview

Rookie-of-the-Year leader Brandon Whitt heads to Mesa Marin April 1, 2002, El Cajon, CA: Nineteen year-old stock car racer Brandon Whitt heads to Mesa Marin Raceway this Saturday as the new leader in Rookie-of-the-Year points after two rounds of ...

Edited: Dec 21, 2003, 10:27 PM

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Rookie-of-the-Year leader Brandon Whitt heads to Mesa Marin

April 1, 2002, El Cajon, CA: Nineteen year-old stock car racer Brandon Whitt heads to Mesa Marin Raceway this Saturday as the new leader in Rookie-of-the-Year points after two rounds of Southwest Featherlite competition. Racing at his home track in El Cajon on March 23rd, Brandon started and finished fifth, collecting valuable points and banging wheels with a few of the region's stock car racing legends.

A third generation racer, Brandon follows in the footsteps of his Grandfather Jim, his Uncle Tobin, and his father Dan Whitt, who runs the Clean Line Racing team. Performing well at El Cajon was a must for young Brandon, racing in front of a hometown crowd filled with family and friends. "It was a big sigh of relief when I finished the race in a good position," Brandon said.

The race marked Brandon's best qualifying performance in his young Southwest Featherlite career, and also his best finish. His goals for the season are "to make every race, and win the Rookie-of-the-Year award," and so far he is right on track, ranked ninth in the overall standings and ahead of all ten of his rookie competitors.

According to Dan Whitt, "There will be a lot of cars competing for a limited number of starting positions this weekend. Our team was able to run quite well at Mesa Marin in the Super Late Model Series, and we're hoping that what we learned last year can be applied to the more difficult Featherlite cars."

After nine months of specialized training in open-wheel cars in Le Mans, France, Brandon returned home to California in early 2001, and received his High School diploma last June. To celebrate his return to the fold, the Whitt family reformed their Clean Line Racing team and commissioned a new paint-scheme for Brandon's #28 car, featuring a huge green "W" on the hood to commemorate the Whitt heritage of racing. Brandon and the team ran a limited series of Super Late Model events in 2001, culminating in his first career win at the Las Vegas bullring last November 4th

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