Melissa Westerman Gets Win and Makes the Finals at Top Gun Raceway
- Jul 16, 2010
When the Sonoma, California native isn't racing, or tracking all things fast and furious, she works full-time "shaping the taste of fine wine" at a company that produces barrel alternatives. And, if she isn't doing any of those things, she might be competing in tractor pulls. Yeah, we'll get back to that. Westerman began drag racing in 1998, while she was still in high school. She went to the Summit ET finals three times, representing Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. After high school she stepped her Mustang up to the Pro-class for a few years, then moved to the Super Pro-class that she competes in today. In the 2009 she finished second in points in the Nor Cal Top Dragster Association. Westerman has managed to build a racing career, graduate from college with a degree in Business Administration, and is apparently having a ball the entire time. Recently Westerman Racing traveled up to Top Gun Race way in Fallon, Nevada and she won Saturday's race. "We got paired up against the same car we were in the finals with last the Saturday before," remarked Westerman. "We dialed a 7.64 and ran a 7.647, it felt great to see that win light come on at the finish." Westerman made it into the finals on Sunday too and ran a double break out. Unfortunately she broke out more than she wanted to, against her opponent who ran a 6.87 on a 6.88 dial. "Unfortunately we didn't take home the finals win due to a double break out. We dialed a 7.65 elapsed time and broke out by running a 7.634, almost two-hundredths of a second off our dial. Our competition broke out by only one-hundredth of a second giving them the win. It all happened so fast at first it was hard to tell who crossed the line first. It was a good race weekend though, winning one race and runner up in the second. We were able to take the points lead in the NorCal Top Comp Association with only six races to go." She also made a point of showing her appreciation for the continuing support she receives from K&N, saying "Westerman Racing has built a strong relationship with K&N on and off the track. The customer service and products at K&N are phenomenal and we continue to use and promote K&N products on our race cars as well as all our daily drivers. When the race schedule allows, we compete in California truck pulls with a Dodge Cummins that also uses K&N reusable filter products for air, oil, and crankcase." "As stated before, I've started to do truck pulling with my boyfriend's Dodge Diesel," revealed Westerman. "So far I've pulled four times, winning three times, and breaking the truck three times. This past weekend we were at Redding Drag strip in Redding, California for the NHRDA truck pulls. At the end of our 301' pull (300' is a full pull) the rear spider gears broke, but we won in our class with second place pulling 276' and third was a 263' pull. The Redding event is the largest diesel truck pull on the west coast and had 12 trucks competing in our class. So even though we broke, coming out on top was a great feeling." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
