Marc White Route 66 wrap up

Broken belt ends White's day in round one.

JOLIET, Ill. - Sometimes it's the little things that jump up and bite you. Such was the case for Marc White and the Bars Leaks/Etterman Racing NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car team during this past weekend's Division 3 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago. White's supercharger drive belt broke, rendering him helpless as his opponent Dale Brand took an easy first round win.

White, from just down the road in Glendale Heights, Ill., qualified the Bars Leaks Firebird third in the field with a 5.683 second elapsed time at 246.93 mph. White cites the pass had more left in it.

"The front wheels were out of balance," said White. "It got in high gear and I couldn't see anymore the vibration was so bad, so I lifted. Looking back at the numbers, it looked like it was on a low .60 run since it still ran a .68 shutting off early."

Though disappointed about their first round loss, White feels the team's performance is an indicator of better things to come.

"I think we have a hot rod again," stated White. "The car is responding and running well. We found a few things. The blower belt just jumped up and bit us. Broken belts are going to happen from time to time, that's just a fact of life in drag racing. You just hope that the broken ones happen in qualifying and not during the race like happened to us here. It's a pretty easy problem to fix, and we'll be back on track in Indy."

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