Courtesy of Todd Veney
Annie Whiteley will be in Gainesville this weekend for the Amalie Gatornationals after her team completed a massive rebuild following a tire explosion at the Lucas Oil Series regional event last weekend in Houston. In the first round of eliminations against eventual finalist Jay Payne, severe tire shake caused part of Whiteley's wheelie bar to break off and puncture the left rear tire, setting off a massive explosion that blasted a hole in the entire left rear of her J&A Service/YNot Racing Mustang body.
"I've never been through anything like that," said Whiteley, who has finished in the Top 5 in the NHRA national standings in each of her two seasons in Top Alcohol Funny Car. "It was shaking when I left and I was just trying to make it through low gear, and all of a sudden … BOOM. I didn't know what was happening. Then stuff started raining down on me. It felt like the whole car was coming apart."
Whiteley ended up in Payne's lane but kept the car off both walls and climbed out to discover that the chassis was completely intact. In fact, she'll be at the wheel of the same car days later in Gainesville – just not with the same body, though it, too, eventually will be back.
"The whole left rear of the body is pretty much gone, but that can be repaired," said crew chief Roger Bateman. "They'll stick it back in the mold, redo it, and it'll be as good as new." The Mustang body off her old car will be on the chassis from Houston when qualifying begins Friday in Gainesville.
Whiteley is slightly sore on her left side but otherwise completely uninjured. "It's a good car, and I'm fine," she said. "It was the loudest sound I've ever heard, and it took a minute to figure out what the heck was going on, but we're going to be in Gainesville, and I'll be ready to go."
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