Met up with Grand Junction's Annie Whiteley, Top Alcohol Funny Car Racing Champion

After a light dinner at Tequila's on North Avenue in Grand Junction last night, my husband and I crossed the street to look at what appeared to be a car show in the Teller Arms parking lot. Wishing we had a camera with us, we asked if they were going to be there the next day. We were told no because they're race cars showing before a big race Saturday night at the Western Colorado Dragway (Grand Junction).



Annie Whiteley with part of her 3200 hp Alcohol Funny Car.

Race? What race? That certainly explained why the cars we were looking at had cages inside them and parachutes on the back. There were also dragsters in the lot.

So, this evening, we decided to go check it out. We looked on the dragway's website, Facebook page, even looked in the local newspaper trying to find information on ticket sales, starting times, anything. We found nothing, but our curiosity was growing.

We jumped in the truck, headed to the dragway, figured we'd take a chance. We'd never been to the dragway so had no idea what to expect.

As we drove up the hill, following the signs to the dragway, rounding the corner we were stunned to
  see the number of cars, people, concession stands. This was a huge event! How was it possible there was no information in town about this?

Annie Whiteley listing her wins as I asked question after question.

We made our way into the stands, put in our earplugs and watched pair after pair of all kinds of cars race down the track. It was interesting! After a half hour or so though, I thought okay, this is cool, but that's pretty much it, chalk it up as "okay, did that."

And then they announced an exhibition break of sorts before the next class of dragsters. I was half listening as a slick black car pulled up to the staging area in front of the stands. The announcer said, "Get ready for Annie Whiteley in her Alcohol Funny Car." A hush fell over the stands. I turned to my husband and asked, "what's an alcohol funny car?" He just smiled, pointing at his ear plugs.

She hit it and that car flew down the track. I jumped up, mouth open. As fast as the other cars were, they were slow compared to what I'd just seen! I had to meet this Annie Whiteley and know more about her "alcohol funny car." There was nothing funny about what I'd just seen! Seen? No, felt! It was a rush!

Annie Whiteley signing autographs at Western Colorado Dragway.

We made our way through the cars lining up for the next races and walked through the pits until we found Annie. I had so many questions and she was absolutely delightful as she answered them. I took gobs of notes while my husband took photos.

I'm going to do a short one-page story on her in our upcoming July issue of Grand Valley Magazine; but will do a full feature in the August issue. Annie, husband Jim (who is a champion in Alcohol Dragsters), their children, and Annie's twin sister Anita all race. And other family members and employees in their Grand Junction-based business J&A Oilfield Services, are all part of the racing scene.

I was fascinated by the whole thing! I'm looking forward to writing the short piece on her in the July issue of GV, but really looking forward to learning more when we do the extended feature on Annie and her racing family in the August issue.

Love how a simple walk across the street after dinner last night led to the races, which led to meeting Annie, which will result in GV Magazine stories! Love finding local folks with fascinating stories!