Las Vegas II: Mark Whisnant preview

Whisnant takes his chances at the strip.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Mark Whisnant, driver of the RW Performance Pro Stock Cavalier, will travel to Las Vegas, Nev. this week for the 2nd Annual AC Delco NHRA Nationals.

This will be Whisnant's second attack on the Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In his first visit to the Strip, Whisnant and his RW Performance team encountered a multitude of mechanical failures, which caused them not to qualify for that event. Coming into this race, Whisnant has put his spring race experience behind him, and he feels confident about his chances of qualify for Sunday's race.

"Our first trip here to the Strip with a Pro Stock car, was really a comedy of errors," said Whisnant. "We had so many problems here in the spring that I was surprised that we qualified as high as 25th. We really should have been 35th, as bad as we were.

"We came here fresh off of going all the way to the semi's at our first race with a Pro Stock car in Gainesville. We thought we were invincible, but we really were put in our place that weekend. But that is just what we needed.

"We need to DNQ here in the spring to bring us down to earth and set our minds to the work, we now know, you have to do to race competitively in this Pro Stock class.

"This class is not for the weak of heart. You can go from a hero to a zero in about six seconds, with no problem at all. Every car entered at any event is quick, and every driver good enough to have his Pro Stock license, can beat you on any given day. If you have a self-esteem problem, do not race Pro Stock, because it can be a humbling experience. We have learned that this year the hard way.

"The upside to the spring race is that we gathered good data on this race track. The altitude and dry conditions are not great for Pro Stock racing. The key here is to get as much as you can out of the car without hurting it, and that is our plan this weekend.

"James (Crew Chief James Reichard) and the guys plan to finesse this car down the track. We know that at this altitude we will be down on power, and what we do have we will have to make it work in our favor.

"These guys give me a great racecar to drive every week. I am confident that we will have a car fast enough to qualify here. Now all we have to do is make good runs, in the good lane, at the right time; and we will be in the show. Simple."

Qualify at the 2nd Annual AC Delco NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev., will begin on Friday Oct. 25, and continue on Saturday Oct. 26. Eliminations will begin at 11:00 AM EST on Sunday Oct. 27.

-wr-