Madison: Mark Whisnant finals summary

Whisnant advances to semi finals in St. Louis.

MADISON, Ill. -- Mark Whisnant, driver of the RW Performance Chevrolet Cavalier, today entered eliminations at the 5th Annual Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., holding in the fourth position on the Pro Stock eliminations ladder.

The young driver from Stockbridge, Ga. met Number 13 qualifier Larry Nance in Round 1.

When the lights went green, Nance took the advantage, but gave the win to Whisnant when his car became loose and he had to shut it off. Whisnant ran a 6.925 / 199.49 mph defeating Nance with a 13.54 / 62.93 mph.

Luck was once again on Whisnant's side in Round 2. His opponent Tom Lee left the starting line much sooner than Whisnant, but a mechanical failure caused him to abort the run, handing the round win to Whisnant. Whisnant ran a 6.958 / 199.20 mph to defeat Lee who ran a 12.747 / 69.38 mph.

"In Pro Stock racing sometimes you need to have a little luck," said Whisnant. "That's not the way I like to race, but we will take it."

In Round 3 Whisnant's day would end when he red lit against NHRA Pro Stock Champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. Jeg ran a 6.96 / 198.98 mph to Whisnant's 6.96 / 198.67 mph.

"Red lighting is a tough way to go out, but I'm not unhappy.

"I am very pleased with the way we ran this weekend. I was impressed with the way my crew read the track and adjusted the car so we could be as good as we could be. We are going rounds and gaining points. All those things are good, and are definitely the direction we need to go to get to another final round.

"We will get him next time, you can be sure of that."

The next race on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing series will be the 23rd Annual Mopar Parts NHRA Miles High Nationals in Denver, Co. July 18 -- 21.

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