Old Bridge Raceway

Whitaker Upsets in Englishtown

by Andrea Barrack on June 16, 2009 at 07:16AM

The historic Old Bridge Township Raceway in Englishtown, NJ has been known for hosting upsets since the first cars ran the track back in 1965. Sunday, Rum Bum's Surf Bum, Bailey Whitaker, became one of those unexpected victors, astonishing everyone in the elimination semifinals.

Whitaker came into Sunday eliminations placed 16^th - dead last. But, because the top 16 qualifiers race in eliminations, Whitaker caught a break and competed by default. And by the end of the day, this default racer found himself tire-to-tire against the top-seeded racer.

The true upset of the day happened during Whitaker's race against Hector Arana, where Whitaker's almost-instantaneous reaction time off the line (about a twentieth of a second) trumped Arana's enough to snatch the victory. The Rum Bum Racer actually halved that remarkable reaction time during the next elimination round against high-ranked Doug Horne, but didn't beat Horne to the finish. He didn't have to. Horne false started that round and was eliminated, giving another break.

Thus, the racer who ranked last at the beginning of the day found himself competing in the semi-finals against current champ, Eddie Krawiec. Whitaker's pulsing adrenaline wasn't enough to beat the Krawiec's Harley and proceed to the finals though, but the once-underdog's recent appearances in the elimination rounds are sure to keep his competitors on their toes.

Whitaker, duly proud of his success Sunday, says he's grateful he can contribute his racing skills to the Rum Bum Race Team, and of course, has his eyes set on the next race. "I'm trying to make Rum Bum proud," he says.

Whitaker's Rum Bum Racing teammate, Shawn Gann, entered elimination placed 11th, and just barely lost his first elimination round by less than a tenth with a time of 7.04, his best time of the weekend. Rum Bum Racing's Manager, Mac McClure, says that once his currently exhausted engine is rebuilt, Gann will be performing with higher horsepower, resulting in even better times.