Brandon Whitt Finishes 22nd at Mesa Marin

Maintains Lead in Rookie-of-the-Year

Mesa Marin Raceway  - (April 8, 2002) - Rookie driver Brandon Whitt recovered from  an early crash to finish twenty-second at Mesa Marin on Saturday, scoring 97 valuable points and maintaining his lead in the Rookie-of-the-Year standings. Brandon is ranked tenth overall in the Southwest Featherlite Tour after three races.

Entering Turn Four on Lap Six, Brandon hit the wall after being bumped from behind by the #80 car. Brandon's family-run Clean Line Racing crew set to work, and in forty laps they had completed a repair of the right front suspension. Minutes later, a four-car accident brought out the red flag, and Brandon rejoined the race on the lap 48 restart, finishing in 22nd position,
44 laps down.

"I was upset. It was a little early in the race to be taking a hole that's barely there," explained Brandon after the race. "Everybody was bunched up, still running side by side while trying to get in a single-file line. I had to check up for a slower car, and the #80 car behind me dived down low to take advantage. But he got on the gas too hard and got a bit out of control,
hitting my right rear quarter panel and sending me into the wall."

Brandon was grateful to his crew for the speedy repairs that enabled him to re-enter the race and gain valuable points. "My crew really saved the day, making a very complex repair in about fifteen minutes, which allowed me to get back in the race. Gaining the points was important, as so was the seat-time. You only learn so much racing a damaged car, but at one point we were only four-tenths of a second off the leader's pace and able to get around slower cars with no problems."

The next Southwest Featherlite race is scheduled for April 27th in Stockton, California, giving the Clean Line Racing team plenty of time to get Brandon's Moen Faucet/STR Monte Carlo back into tip top condition.