Westerfield Having a Career Year in 2013

Courtesy of Todd Veney

Coming off a career-best season in 2012, when he finished in the Top 10 for the first time in his young career, Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Shane Westerfield has been even better this year, with a first career victory and already nearly as many round-wins at midseason as he had in all of 2012. 

Westerfield, who won the Houston Lucas Oil Series event with a string of 5.50s and a holeshot final-round win over John Lombardo, has a 13-6 win-loss mark so far this year. The 25-year-old is in the Top 5 in the national standings and his CP-Carrillo/Bullet Series Monte Carlo hasn't lost in the first round all year.

"After making the Top 10 last year, our goal for this season was to be in the top 7, and so far we're right on track," said Westerfield, of Lake Forest, Calif., who acknowledged sponsors CP-Carrillo, Fluid Sealing Products, Blake Bros. Racing, Lucas Oil, Coeste Design, Goodyear, and A1 Technologies. "Crew chief Bob DeVour and the entire team are doing a fantastic job, and we want to have a second half just like the first half."

Mission Accomplished: Westerfield Cracks TAFC Top 10

Courtesy of Todd Veney
Photo courtesy of David Smith

In just his third year in Top Alcohol Funny Car, 25-year-old Shane Westerfield joined Frank Manzo, Tony Bartone, Mickey Ferro, and Jay Payne in the prestigious NHRA Top 10. Needing to advance deep into eliminations in his final start of 2012 to make it, Westerfield reached the semifinals at the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., eliminating Bernie Harrington and Jirka Kaplan for his fourth semifinal appearance of the season.

 "It was a weird race, but we got it done," said Westerfield, who defeated Kaplan in the second round in a tractionless free-for-all, 7.16 to 8.03. "I've never won a round like that in my life. The second time I pedaled, the back tires were a foot off the ground and the whole car was in the air."

Westerfield's CP-Carrillo team made the Top 10 with consistent performances all season, including a second career national event final-round appearance, at the Summer Nationals in Topeka, and at least a semifinal finish at half the races – four of eight at national events and two of four in regional competition. Westerfield's team, led by crew chief Bob DeVour, established a career-high in round-wins this year by going at least a couple of rounds at nine of 12 events, with no DNQs and an overall record of 14-12.

"Getting into the Top 10 was the whole goal at the beginning of the year," Westerfield said. "I won one round my first year in Alcohol Funny Car, seven rounds last year, and 14 this year. I really have to thank all the people who back this team – CP-Carrillo, Fluid Sealing Products, American Real, Lucas Oil, A1 Technologies, Coeste Design, Goodyear, Mike Blake, and Juice Plus – and our whole crew: Bob, Dustin Yoho, Scott DeFransico, Jim DeFransico, my mom and dad, Tami DeVour, and my fiancé, Kayleigh. It was our best year ever, and it ended on a good note. We beat some great racers like Jay Payne, Doug Gordon, John Lombardo, and Clint Thompson for the first time ever this year and won a lot more rounds than in the first two years put together. We figured it would be a good year if we could get into the Top 10, and it's our best one ever."

TAN

Westerfield Signs Fluid Sealing Products

 Courtesy of Westerfield Motorsports

Hot off a final-round appearance in his most recent start, fast-rising Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Shane Westerfield is embarking on a three-race Western Swing – not the Denver-Sonoma-Seattle trifecta of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series tour, but Woodburn, Sonoma and Seattle.

Westerfield, best known for his lightning-quick reflexes, reached the final at the NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka his last time out, whipping perennial championship contender Jay Payne in the semifinals and strapping a holeshot on the top-ranked Alcohol Funny Car driver in the country this season, Tony Bartone, in the final. "The car is running well, and our goal is to be back in the Top 10 when we get home from Seattle," said Westerfield, who currently stands 17^th in the national standings despite having competed at just five events so far this year.

Led by crew chief Bob DeVour, who has worked with some of alcohol racing's all-time greats, including many-time world champions Frank Manzo, Brad Anderson, Gary Scelzi, and Billy Williams, Westerfield's team, backed by longtime major sponsor CP-Carrillo, has reached at least the quarterfinals in three of its four 2012 national event appearances. "Bob's always done well at Woodburn and Sonoma," Westerfield said. "He's got new stuff he wants to try, and we're always testing new parts for CP-Carrillo."

New associate sponsor Fluid Sealing Products Inc., a Houston-based manufacturer and distributor of gaskets, stud bolts, fasteners, and related sealing items, joins longtime Westerfield backers Coeste Design, Lucas Oil, MavTV, A1 Technologies, Goodyear, and Juice Plus. "Mike Blake from Fluid Sealing Products is going to be with us at Seattle, and we really want to do a good job for the Blakes and the company," said Westerfield, who also reached the final round at last year's Big O Tires Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.