Records were broken this past weekend at the
2009 NSDA Dan Chittenden Fall Nationals in After some great passes on Friday and Saturday, top fuel eliminations began on Sunday with #1 qualifier, Whipple and Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL setting a new world record ET of 2.278 at 162.75 mph on their first pass. Whipple went on to break that record in round two with a 2.273 ET defeating Jeff Janoe. Heading into the final round, Whipple and the Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL crew were pitted against Geoff Gill and his excellent crew. Blasting off the line, Whipple again broke his own world record for the 3rd time on the day while winning the championship with an astounding ET of 2.239 at 164.16 mph to beat Gill's performance of 2.343 ET at 148.41 mph.
Congratulations
to Whipple and the rest of the top fuel crew including "Famous" Amos
Satterlee, Carl Boley, Amos Satterlee Jr., Scott Gailey, Daran Rupp, Bill
Parks, Greg Henley and "Big E" for a fantastic team effort!In the Top Alcohol class, Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL driver Mike DeNunzio was narrowly defeated on Sunday by Nick Januik. DeNunzio ran a 2.611 ET to Januik's 2.603. DeNunzio's best ET of the weekend was a solid 2.569 during Saturday's eliminations. While a points championship was not in the cards for DeNunzio, he ran some great rounds in a tough field of competitors. Mike and the Team finished 2nd in points in this 2009 season
A big thank you to the Top Alcohol crew of Steve and Tony DeNunzio, Lee and Ron Gutierrez, Steven East, Tony Carbone, David Rice, Dennis Bartholomay, Carl Smith, and the rest of our families and friends that made it out to support both teams in 2009.
As another exciting sand drag season closes out, Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL would like to extend our gratitude to the NSDA and everyone else involved for their dedication, hard work and commitment putting these events together for racers and fans alike to enjoy.