NHRA
Indianapolis2: Mark Whisnant Saturday summary
Whisnant misses the cut in Indy INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- In August, after a poor showing at the Fram Autolite Nationals in Sonoma Calif., Mark Whisnant took a short hiatus from competition to reform and reevaluates his Pro Stock racing ...
Published: Sep 7, 2003, 3:50 PM
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Whisnant misses the cut in Indy
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- In August, after a poor showing at the Fram Autolite Nationals in Sonoma Calif., Mark Whisnant took a short hiatus from competition to reform and reevaluates his Pro Stock racing program.
Whisnant, driver of the RW Performance / Snap-On Tools Chevrolet Cavalier, came to Indianapolis for the 49th annual Mac Tools US Nationals with a new team and a refreshed attitude.
The starting point for reforming the RW Performance team was the rehiring of Julius Hughes. Hughes worked with the Whisnant last season as team engineer on the Team RW Chevrolet. Hughes returned to the team the first week of August and will serve as crew chief for the remainder of the season.
In the third session of qualifying on Friday night Whisnant made his best pass of the weekend: a 6.836 / 201.28 mph placing him 19th on the Pro Stock qualifying list. Although he did not make the cut for tomorrow's race, Whisnant is encouraged with the advances his team has made in a few short weeks.
"Even though we did not make the race, I am still very happy with our performance here this weekend," said Whisnant of Stockbridge, GA. "Right now we are rebuilding and restructuring our race team. We are only .003 of a second from the making the show. That is a huge improvement over where we were back in August."
"After Sonoma my Dad (former Pro Stock racer Reid Whisnant) and I knew that we had to make a change. We felt that this season was a wash, but we owe it to our sponsors Snap-On Tools and Chevrolet to make as good a showing as we could in these last six races."
"We decided to clean house and start over with our focus on next season. We rehired Julius Hughes to act as crew chief. He did a great job for us last year. He has all the qualities that we feel will make him a great crew chief. He has only been with us a few weeks and already we can see a difference. He has a lot of ideas and enthusiasm; and is just what this team needed."
"We didn't qualify here this weekend, but it looks like we are headed in the right direction. For the first time in months I am looking forward to the next race."
The next race on the 2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing schedule will be the 19th annual Lucas Oil Nationals in Reading, Pa. Sept 12-14.
Whisnant Quick Facts
Currently 18th in 2003 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Points (342 pts.)
Finished 10th 2002 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Points
Career Best ET 6.772 (Houston 2003)
Career Best MPH 202.73 (Englishtown 2002)
49Th Annual Mac Tools US Nationals
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