RC Whitwell Sets the Desert on Fire in Wild West Shootout

jdearing

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Silver City, NM (01/19/11) – Entering the 5th Annual Wild West Shootout, Open Wheel Modified standout, RC Whitwell from Tucson, Arizona, had only made a few Super Late Model starts, but he made his presence known by powering his #002 Jeff Sires Motorsports/EDG Motorsports/Evisions/GRT By Phillips Super Late Model to several strong performances during the course of the six race series.

After starting the series off with bad luck as contact with the wall ended his day early in the opener, Whitwell went on a tear recording three second place finishes and a total of five top ten finishes.

Below you will find blog-style summaries of the team's series' performances:

January 8th, 2011 - Jeff Sires and RC Whitwell opened the 2011 season on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the 5th Annual Wild West Shootout. Forty-nine Super Late Models entered the event, and in heat race action, Sires would start at the back via the pill draw and would spend much of the event chasing the handle on the car. He would fall short of qualifying for the feature, which left him in the b-main event. In the b-main, he would fail to reach a transfer spot bringing his afternoon to an early end.

RC Whitwell saw his afternoon come to an early end as well as he was battling for the lead in heat race action, when he made hard contact with the backstretch wall, bringing his day to an abrupt end. The team will try again on Sunday with Round #2 of the series.

January 9th, 2011 - EDG Motorsports was back in action on Sunday afternoon at USA Raceway (Tucson, Arizona) for the second round of the 5th Annual Wild West Shootout. With 52 Super Late Models entered, the day began with RC Whitwell making an impressive drive in heat race action as he advanced from his sixth starting spot to claim the win and earn more points than any other driver along the way. At the redraw for the feature, Whitwell drew the pole position. Whitwell battled at the front of the pack for much of the event as he dueled with Terry Phillips and Pat Doar. On a late race restart, Whitwell drove past Doar to claim the lead only to have Doar charge back to the top spot half a lap later. Whitwell went on to chase Doar to the checkered flag to finish second.

Jeff Sires was also in action again, and for the second straight day luck would not be on his side as he failed to advance from preliminary action to the main event.

January 12th, 2011 - It was back to business for RC Whitwell and EDG Motorsports on Wednesday night in Round #3 of the 5th Annual Wild West Shootout at USA Raceway (Tucson, AZ). With forty-four Super Late Models, RC was the top point's earner once again in heat race action to earn a spot in the redraw. The redraw would present him with the fourth starting spot for the feature. Early in the event, he would advance to the second position as he began to challenge Ray Moore for the lead. Whitwell saw an opportunity to take the lead on lap 17 as Moore entered heavy, lap traffic. As Whitwell went to the highside, Billy Moyer went to the bottom and slipped by the top two cars to take over the top spot. Over the remainder of the race, Whitwell would apply heavy pressure to Moyer for the lead, but just could not make the pass. He would go on to record another strong second place finisher behind race winner, Moyer.

January 14th, 2011 - EDG Motorsports with RC Whitwell behind the wheel returned to action on Friday night in a $3,000 to win event at USA Raceway (Tucson, Arizona) as 49 cars entered the event. After starting deep in his heat race Whitwell advanced a pair of spots only to fall short of a transfer to the feature. As a result, he started on the front of his b-main, which he won to claim the fifteenth starting spot for the 30 lap finale. In the feature, RC battled through the pack to a sixth place finish.

January 15th, 2011 - RC Whitwell was back in action on Saturday afternoon in Round #5 of the 5th Annual Wild West Shootout, which posted a $3,000 winner's share. Whitwell would start deep in a heat race and despite passing a few cars would fall short of locking into the feature via heat race action. as a result, he was forced to run a b-main, where he recorded a third place finish to earn the 20th starting spot for the main event. In the 30 lap feature, Whitwell would once again march through the field as he raced his way to a ninth place finish in the final rundown.

January 16th, 2011 - Sunday night was another great night for EDG Motorsports and RC Whitwell as the team entered the 5th Annual Wild West Shootout at USA Raceway (Tucson, Arizona). Forty-nine Super Late Models entered the $10,000 to win event, and RC began the day by passing several cars in his heat race to earn a spot in the redraw for the 40 lap feature. In the redraw, he received the 8th starting spot. As the feature got underway, Whitwell began marching through the pack, and by the race's midway point he was up to third. The second half of the race saw Whitwell catching leader, Terry Phillips, and Billy Moyer. With five laps to go Whitwell caught Moyer, but lapped traffic caused RC to get on the breaks. Despite losing ground to the leaders, Whitwell would make a final charge in the closing laps, and on the white flag lap he raced past Phillips for second and finished just a half a car length behind the winner, Moyer.

RC is currently preparing his equipment for an invasion of the Midwest and Southeast that will begin in March at Clarksville Speedway (Clarksville, Tennessee). The team tentatively plans to contend for the Mid America Racing Series (MARS) Super Late Model crown in 2011. Whitwell will also enter various Open Wheel Modified events. Jeff Sires will also enter select Super Late Model events this season.

EDG Motorsports would like to thank all of their sponsors including Evisions, EDG Fuels, Adam Crippen Custom Home Works, Element 7 Graphic Development, Amsoil, US Airweld, Don’t Hot Rod Shop, GRT By Phillips, Hobbytown USA, and MSRMafia.com.

For the latest information on Jeff Sires, RC Whitwell, and EDG Motorsports, please visit www.EDGMotorsports.com .

Thanks!
Ben Shelton, Owner
MSR Mafia - www.MSRMafia.com
The Midsouth Racing Scene - www.MidSouthRacing.com
 




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