Whitely wins career first NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series victory at AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals - Speedway Digest

Steven Whitely raced to his first NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series event win at their portion of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals Sunday at Gainesville Raceway. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing was presented by Jerry Bickel Race Cars, Inc. and is the first of 12 races on the season.

Whitley in his ’14 Cadillac faced series veteran Mike Castellana in the final round. Whitely was able to post a winning time of 5.791 seconds at 253.52 mph to the trailing run of 10.192 at 87.94 of Castellana.

The Whiteley family was able to celebrate the victory in style as his mother Annie won the Top Alcohol Funny Car event on Sunday as well.

“It doesn’t get any better than this. It’s such a blessing being in the winner’s circle with my mom,” Whitely said. “I can’t express how thankful I am. Not only for J&A Service on a couple of accounts. They sponsor this series, but it’s more intimate than that, at least for me. You know, J&A Service, that’s Jim and Annie Whiteley, that’s Mom and Dad. These guys don’t understand how much more this hits me. I just let the clutch petal go. My guys make this happen. I cannot thank them enough.”

Also during the course of the racing action Eric Latino recorded a national elapsed time record with his pass of 5.727 seconds in his losing run of semifinals.

The NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series returns April 21-23 at Royal Purple Raceway for the NHRA SpringNationals in Houston.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.