WHITELY RACES TO FIRST ROUND VICTORY AS NO. 1 QUALIFIER IN J&A SERVICE PRO MOD ACTION AT AAA INSURANCE NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS
MADISON, Ill. – Steven Whitely powered to a first round victory over Harold Martin Saturday in J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series action at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals. This is the ninth of 10 events in the 2015 season and the racing this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park is presented by Precision Turbo and Engine.
Earlier in the day, Whiteley raced his 2014 Y-NOT Racing/J&A Service Cadillac CTS-V to his first No. 1 qualifying position of the season and second in his career based on his Friday run of 5.820 seconds at 246.35 mph.
In the first round, Whitley faced Harold Martin in his Martin Motorsports ’15 Corvette and continued his dominating performance with a winning run of 5.833 at 249.10, to Martin’s trailing run of 9.484 at 99.970. Whiteley will face Mike Knowles when eliminations continue Sunday at 12:45 p.m.
Points leader Mike Janis was outside the 16 car field going into the final qualifying session but raced to the second qualifying position and he went on to win his first round matchup as he defeated Pete Farber. Janis will face Bob Rahaim in the second round.
“Indy, Charlotte and here we have been having a lot of trouble on Friday,” Janis said. “We have been saving the best for last on Saturday. This is our lively hood we are trying to win this championship and bring it home to Buffalo, New York.”
Troy Coughlin, Knowles, Rickie Smith, Bob Rahaim, Gerry Capano and Chip King were also among the first round winners. Coughlin trails Janis by 48 points and will race King on Sunday.
“Another round for us,” said Coughlin. “A lot of the guys that are way up in the top of this thing are still going so it will be a good fight clear to the end for sure. Janis is pretty strong right now and the hottest guy on the tour and a bunch of us have to take him out.”
Charlotte winner Danny Rowe, who crashed his new Corvette yesterday and qualified with his ’68 Camaro today, lost when his car failed to fire at the start of his first round pairing.
Second round pairings will also feature Capano vs. Smith.
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MADISON, Ill. — First round-by-round results from the Fourth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park, the ninth of 10 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.
PRO MODIFIED:
ROUND ONE — Mike Knowles, Ford Mustang, 5.883, 240.59 def. Mike Castellana, Chevy Corvette, 5.875, 242.93; Gerry Capano, Corvette, 5.947, 240.29 def. Troy Coughlin Jr., Corvette, broke; Troy Coughlin, Corvette, 7.068, 160.35 def. Steve Matusek, Chevy Camaro, foul; Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.917, 245.90 def. Danny Rowe, Camaro, broke; Bob Rahaim, Corvette, 5.954, 239.48 def. Bill Glidden, Mustang, foul; Mike Janis, Camaro, 5.851, 246.21 def. Pete Farber, Dodge Daytona, 5.926, 246.80; Steven Whiteley, Cadillac CTS-V, 5.833, 249.12 def. Harold Martin, Corvette, 9.484, 99.97; Chip King, Dodge Charger, 5.889, 243.55 def. Eric Latino, Camaro, 5.876, 247.70;
MADISON, Ill. – Final order after 3 rounds of qualifying in Pro Modified at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, Fourth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals:
Psn—Num-Driver, Home Town, Car Type—————Qual-ET–Qual-Spd-Top Spd
1 5200 Steven Whiteley, Grand Junction CO, ’14 CTS-V 5.820 249.35 249.35
2 4 Mike Janis, Lancaster NY, ’13 Camaro 5.848 246.39 246.39
3 394 Troy Coughlin Jr., Delaware OH, ’14 Corvette 5.878 253.61 253.61
4 2 Troy Coughlin, Delaware OH, ’15 Corvette 5.882 254.57 254.57
5 213 Chip King, Semora NC, ’70 Charger 5.888 243.94 243.94
6 1 Rickie Smith, King NC, ’15 Camaro 5.889 246.48 246.48
7 324 Bill Glidden, Whiteland IN, ’10 Mustang 5.889 243.77 243.77
8 5011 Mike Knowles, Grand Junction CO, ’67 Mustang 5.893 238.17 238.17
9 9 Mike Castellana, Muttontown NY, ’15 Corvette 5.897 240.77 240.77
10 360 Bob Rahaim, Grosse Pointe MI, ’15 Corvette 5.899 244.83 245.09
11 5 Danny Rowe, Laguna Hills CA, ’15 Corvette 5.901 247.79 247.79
12 1938 Eric Latino, Port Perry ON, ’69 Camaro 5.917 243.46 245.36
13 6 Steve Matusek, Olathe KS, ’68 Camaro 5.918 247.20 247.20
14 1109 Gerry Capano, Greenville DE, ’63 Corvette 5.927 241.54 241.54
15 8 Pete Farber, Baldwinville MA, ’69 Daytona 5.933 247.34 247.34
16 377 Harold Martin, New Hudson MI, ’15 Corvette 5.944 230.57 241.89
———— Not Qualified ————
17 5012 Kenny Lang, Grande Pointe MB, ’69 Camaro 5.950 245.27 245.27
18 327 Khalid alBalooshi, Doha QA, ’69 Camaro 5.958 245.05 245.05
19 6718 Shane Molinari, Battle Ground WA, ’70 Camaro 5.977 249.95 249.95
20 701 Clint Satterfield, Albuquerque NM, ’68 Firebi 6.015 242.36 242.36
21 303 Dan Stevenson, Lisle IL, ’13 Camaro 6.139 244.43 244.43
22 2105 Doug Winters, Pleasant Garden NC, ’69 Chevelle 6.232 238.72 238.72
23 3382 Don Walsh, Wixom MI,t’14 Camaro 7.096 144.95 144.95
24 5087 Jim Whiteley, Grand Junction CO, ’69 Chevelle 7.928 120.01 120.01
25 210 Jay Payne, Ontario CA, ’13 Camaro 7.985 115.82 115.82