Mission Accomplished: Westerfield's 3 Straight Semifinals

Courtesy of Todd Veney

With back-to-back-to-back semifinal finishes, Shane Westerfield is back in the Top 10 in the NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car standings. Westerfield, who came within a round of the final at the western region events in Sonoma, Calif., and Woodburn, Ore., and the Northwest Nationals in Seattle, is now ranked ninth in the country.

"Our three-race swing easily could have been better, but it was still really good," said Westerfield, who slipped out of the Top 10 only because he hadn't competed for more than two months. "Our goal when we started this swing was to be back in the Top 10 when we left Seattle, and we did it. The car ran well, we didn't hurt any parts, and we went a bunch of rounds. We put Goodyears on the car, and it's not shaking the tires. A lot of people were switching to them in Seattle."

Westerfield had an outstanding .013 reaction time to defeat No. 1 qualifier Annie Whiteley in the first round in Seattle. He got the jump on quick leaver Doug Gordon in round two with a .049 but red-lighted in the semifinals against Steve Gasparrelli, who was upset in the final by veteran John Evanchuck, who scored for the first time in his career. "I got up there against Gasparrelli, did a long burnout, and was just too fired up when I put it to the wood and staged," Westerfield said. "That could have been our race."

The team's next appearance will be at the prestigious U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend. "We'll have a new wrap on the car, something that really highlights CP-Carrillo but also accents our new associate sponsor, Fluid Sealing Products, and MavTV," Westerfield said. "Mike Blake from Fluid Sealing Products was with us in Seattle, and I think he really loved it. He was up on the starting line with us, and every day he got to the track earlier and earlier. We're really looking forward to running Indy with this new look."