K&N's Madison Whitten Ready to Compete in Jr Dragster, Jr Comp and Wicked 330 in 2013
- 12 Jul 2013
"One day I'll make my dreams come true and until that day I'll say over and over again that I'm going to drive Top Fuel," Whitten declares. That's where my heart is set and I wouldn't want to do anything else, that is my priority in life and it will never change. I'm trying to race what I can, as much as I can, whenever and wherever I can." Whitten has already spent half her life working towards making that dream a reality. When she was eight her dad, Doug, who works in the race shop at K&N, took her to Pomona to see the best top fuel racers in the country run and on the spot she told him - "that's what I want to do." Wanting and dreaming are one thing, having the dedication, work ethic and talent, is an entirely different matter and Whitten has consistently proven she has plenty of all the above. In April of 2010 Whitten began her race career, and even though it wasn't a full race season, she still managed to win five times. The following year in her first full season of racing, Whitten won the 2011 Fontana Dragway Track Championship for 13 to14 year-olds. And last year, she successfully defended her division 7 championship and added yet another.
"Last year we caught more than we could ask for," Whitten says. "Going head-to-head with some of the best Jr. racers around, we won the Barona track championship, which came down to the last race battling it out with Brandon Seraphine. He has been racing for 10 years so I have learned a lot from racing him. It seems like no matter what race or track we're at, somehow we meet up with him first round or in the finals. He has the drive to race just as well as I do, and I can't wait to hopefully compete with him in big cars as well." Understandably Whitten was eager to get 2013 underway, as this season she accelerates her learning curve further by competing in three different dragsters. "Including my Bracket Jr. Dragster, Jr. Comp and Wicked 330," she adds. "I was lucky enough to have been recognized for my passion for racing and chosen to drive for two other people, Keoki Desa and Bud Fizone." "The year started out great with all three cars and we were going rounds at every race. I was runner-up at the first two 330 races along with driving my bracket car as well. There were a few races where I ran two cars and I got worn out through the day running between both cars. My dad and I both realized that I needed to get in shape and start going to the gym. We got a personal trainer and I trained hard before the first two divisional races in Sacramento." The training proved successful, Whitten is clearly physically and mentally tougher, although racing on Saturday in Sacramento didn't go as planned, with all three cars experiencing problems. Whitten was excused in the first round in all three classes, but then Sunday was entirely different story. "We proved that we can come back from hard losses. I won the race in my bracket car racing past champions, lost in the semis in Jr. Comp because of a minus .004 red, and I lost first round in 330 because the car was still having issues. The following race in Irwindale we clenched another two wins on Saturday, as I was good on the tree, and my dad had the car running right where it needed to be. I couldn't begin to tell you how close the majority of the rounds I've won and lost have been, but those races are the ones that help shape me for the next level in racing, and that's the way I like it. To be a competitive racer you can't let stress or pressures get to you, and that's one of the main things I try to avoid." "I sincerely want to thank everyone who supports me and believes that I can make my way to the top. Top Fuel is more than a few years away but I get closer every weekend that I race and that's all that matters at this point. I'll soon be licensing for the quarter-mile and driving a front engine dragster in the NE3 class at ANRA races, and hopefully running other track races in another car. There's no telling what the future holds, but I'm working towards my dream, and I understand that I still have plenty more to work on." |
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