Nalani Whatley did in her professional debut what takes others months, even years to accomplish. She posted her first 12-, 11- and 10-second passes all at a single event. Ten years of drag racing, the occasional blown engine and a team made up of family seemed to be the recipe for taking the West Coast Championships in 2007 as well as First Place and runner-up in two Battle of the Imports events that same year. Nalani began racing at street legal events in the late '90s before making the decision to step things up and rebuild the CRX to pro specs. The EF currently scoots to the tune of 10.44 seconds at 131 mph down the quarter-mile...without the help of forced induction. The Whatley family tells us 9-second times are just around the corner.
1. First Place trophy, 2007 Battle of the Imports, California Speedway, Fontana, Calif.
2. Tuner, crew chief and husband John Whatley fine-tunes the Hondata ECU and monitors the Racepak data logger at each event.
3. Steen Chassis-prepped, All-Motor clAss, 1,725-pound Honda CRX. Back-halved from the B-pillar, eight-point chromoly rollcage.
4. Go Power Motorsports-built, 350-plus-whp K24 engine block. Darton MID sleeves, Arias pistons, Go Power Motorsports billet crank and rods.
5. Snell SA-certified, Nomex-lined, Simpson Bandit helmet. The Lexan shield flips up via thumb tabs and chin-mounted air ducts provide circulation.
6. SFI-approved, Nomex-outer, quilted Simpson racing suit.
7. TWM Induction 54mm individual throttle bodies paired with RC Engineering fuel injectors deliver air and fuel to the K's combustion chambers.
8. Go Power Motorsports custom four-speed dog box for more reliable, harder and quicker shifting.
9. Nomex-lined, SFI- and FIA-spec Simpson race shoes.