NHRA
Joliet II: Mark Whisnant preview
Whisnant returns to Chicagoland. Joliet, Ill. -- This weekend the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing series returns to the Chicagoland Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., for the running of the 2nd Annual Craftsman 75th Anniversary NHRA Nationals. Mark ...
Published: Sep 26, 2002, 12:29 PM
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Whisnant returns to Chicagoland.
Joliet, Ill. -- This weekend the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing series returns to the Chicagoland Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., for the running of the 2nd Annual Craftsman 75th Anniversary NHRA Nationals.
Mark Whisnant, driver of the RW Performance Pro Stock Chevrolet Cavalier, is looking forward to his return to the windy city. He hopes to take advantage of the cool fall weather conditions, and the excellent racing surface provided by Chicagoland Raceway to place his Chevrolet in the top half of the qualifying order.
"It is going to be fast this weekend in Chicago," said Whisnant of Stockbridge, Ga. "If we get the cool weather they are predicting for this weekend, you could see some record runs on Friday night. And I feel like we could be one of the cars out there with a good chance of breaking the record.
"This is the first track that we have been back to since the beginning of the season. We ran well here in the spring, so we have some good data to fall back on. That data gives us a starting point. As a rookie team, our lack of track data, up until this point, has given the older teams a slight advantage over us. Having an idea what the track will be like before we get there gives a chance to prepare.
"The cool weather is also going to work to our advantage. James (Crew Chief James Reichard) has a good cold weather tune up for this Cavalier. We ran very well in Seattle in conditions similar to what we should see here this weekend. He consistently gives me a great racecar to drive every weekend; I don't know why this race should be any different.
"When you get right down to it, there will be fourty other cars here try to do the same thing that we are going to be doing, and that is to qualify for this race. As always, that is our first priority. You have to qualify first, to go rounds on Sunday. A record book run, it would be nice, but really it would just be icing on the cake."
Qualifying at the 2nd Annual Craftsman 75th Anniversary NHRA Nationals will begin on Friday Sept. 27, and continue on Saturday Sept. 29. Eliminations will take place at 11:00 AM EST on Sunday Sept. 29.
-wm-
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