Brainerd: Marc White summary

White loses the battle, but gains ground in the war.

BRAINERD, Minn. - NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Marc White may have lost in the second round of this past weekend's Rugged Liner Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, but feels the team learned valuable information that will make the Etterman Racing Team that much stronger in the long run. The team made a change in their tune-up that resulted in a substantial gain, but hurt the engine and gave the win to their opponent Jay Payne.

White, from Glendale Heights, Ill., qualified the Etterman Racing Firebird third with a 5.864 second elapsed time at 246.89 mph. In round one, White took out his opponent Larry Bakke with a 5.796 at 251.25 mph. In round two, with his opponent Payne nearly a tenth ahead of them, the team decided to try something new in the tune-up. The car responded smartly to the changes and stepped up, but hurt some parts. White took a sizable starting line advantage and was ahead of Payne to half track with matching incremental times. Payne went on to take the win with a 5.687 at 254.95 mph to White's ailing 5.776 at 237.34 mph.

"The car really responded to the changes we made," said White. "It ended up burning a few pistons, but we know what to change to compensate for that, and it really shouldn't hurt it, matter of fact it will go faster if it's not eating itself up. Even though we lost, we're pretty pumped. According to our numbers, had it not hurt itself, we would have ran about a .69."

The next event for the Etterman Racing Team will be the Lucas Oil Nationals in Reading, Pa., Sep. 12-15. With their newfound knowledge, the team is looking forward to the outing.

"We're pretty excited about Reading," stated White. "We usually get excited about going to Reading anyway because you always have awesome air and an awesome track; you can really haul the mail there. Now that we've found something new, we're really excited about it."

For more information on the team, visit their website at EttermanRacing.com.

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