Topeka: Whisnant preview

TOPEKA, Kan. (Pre-race) - Mark Whisnant, driver of the PiranaZ Chevrolet S-10 Pro Stock Truck, arrives at the 13th Annual Advance Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Topeka, Kan. with an upbeat, optimistic attitude.

"I don't know why," said Whisnant, "but I feel good about Topeka. We have never really done well in Topeka; but then again, we have never raced Topeka in the spring.

"The last two years this race has been held in the fall. The conditions then were cold, damp, and windy. With cloud cover the track was cold and hard to get down, when the sun came out it was greasy and hard to get down; but that was in October.

"Now it's May an everything will be different. The only thing that I can see that will be the same is that it is going to be windy. Other than that, nothing will be like it was last year. Because of that all the run data we have on the track is basically useless. The upside of that is that also means that no one else has useable data for this racetrack. So, everyone is coming into this race even. Maybe that's where my good feeling is coming from.

"We do know a couple things coming into this race. It is going to be hot. It is going to be windy, and there will be no barometer. Knowing that, we decided to test here in Atlanta last week.

"Last week here in Atlanta we had temperatures in the high 90's with relatively low humidity. The corrected altitude was about 3000 feet. That is not the same as what we will see in Topeka, but it is similar. We are hoping that testing here will give us a place to start when we get to Topeka.

"I think we can do well in Topeka. We just need to make a good opening lap, and then build on what we have. If we can do that I think that Topeka will be a good race for us."

Pro Stock Truck qualifying at the 13th Annual Advance Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Topeka, Kan. will begin on Friday May 25 and continue on Saturday May 26. Eliminations will take place on Sunday May 27 at 11:00 AM CST.

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