Gary White and the Titan Motorsports Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 team are upbeat.

The Florida-based group was involved in an extensive testing program prior to the recently completed National Guard ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags V and as White puts it “we stumbled in to something.”

The Titan Motorsports team competes in what arguably is the most diverse class in National Guard ADRL racing, Flowmaster Extreme 10.5. They are currently ranked second in the Extreme 10.5 Battle for the Belts point standings despite an early Vadosta exit.

Without divulging exactly what they’ve found, White says it’s something very good and he’s confident about his chances this season. .

White’s ultra-slick single turbo 2007 Scion turned heads when it first showed up in XTF competition and it has been at or near the top of the field since it arrived.

Gary White and the Titan Motorsports Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 team are upbeat.

The Florida-based group was involved in an extensive testing program prior to the recently completed National Guard ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags V and as White puts it “we stumbled in to something.”

The Titan Motorsports team competes in what arguably is the most diverse class in National Guard ADRL racing, Flowmaster Extreme 10.5. They are currently ranked second in the Extreme 10.5 Battle for the Belts point standings despite an early Vadosta exit.

Without divulging exactly what they’ve found, White says it’s something very good and he’s confident about his chances this season. .

White’s ultra-slick single turbo 2007 Scion turned heads when it first showed up in XTF competition and it has been at or near the top of the field since it arrived.

In their first outing, at the ADRL season opener at Houston Raceway Park, White and the Titan Motorsports team admittedly missed the set up on the tricky all-concrete track.

On the weekend prior to the most recent national event, the team had tested at HRP and the Scion was essentially a bracket racer, running 4.12s nearly every time it went down the track. White even laid down a very impressive 4.10 in the middle of the day.

However, the majority of their testing was done during the day and therein lies the rub.

“We had a good set up for during the day time when the track was hot,” said White. “At night, when the track tightened up, we suddenly had an issue with consistency.”

Running a turbo-boosted engine means the car leaves the starting line in a different manner than is customary for a typical XTF car and it caused a myriad of problems for the team.

“When the track got better, we had a problem,” said White. “We don’t produce the kind of torque at the starting line that the other cars do.”

So, after a decent qualifying effort (3rd), White exited eliminations in the second round at the season opener in Houston.

“Houston was a surprise,” said White. “We had no clue it was going to happen. “After our test the weekend before, we came into the race confident. He had the field covered by a tenth. We came with the same tune up we used in testing. The same everything.”

Determined to put their disappointment at the Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V in their rear view mirror, the team set out to test once again, this time focused on getting a night-time set up that their ultra-slick Scion liked.

According to White, they found one.

“We caught on to a couple of things that surprised us,” said White, referring to the team’s testing sessions at Alabama Motorsports Park. “I think it’s going to turn some heads.”

Rumor has it that White and the team have been running ET’s well below the national record in testing.

The conversation then turns to the one subject that’s unavoidable if you’re racing in the Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 class – the success of Billy Glidden.

“Billy who?” joked White.

And even though White will tell you, as will every other drag racing competitor that “we’re out there racing against the track,” he’ll readily admit that his team has usually got one eye on what the defending National Guard ADRL class champion is doing.

White says its Glidden’s consistency that’s made him such a factor.

“It’s hard to beat someone who is as consistent as Billy,” said White. “We run our own race and don’t give him a thought until we have him in the other lane.

White last faced Glidden in the final round at Dallas in October 2008 where he lost to Glidden on a holeshot, despite running a national record-setting ET.

Although Glidden is a force to reckon with, White and the Titan Motorsports team say that there’s an even bigger threat on race weekends.

“It’s the guys that just come out of nowhere,” said White, making reference to what happened with local Texas racer Doug Mangrum at Dallas.

Mangrum qualified No. 2 at the Texas Motorplex and bowed out in the semi-finals when he broke on the starting line.

“There’s also guys like Todd Moyer and Chuck Ulsch who are always a threat,” said White. “And now there’s Jake Carleton. It never ends. There are just so many good teams out there right now.”

White explains that what makes the class so competitive is that there are so many different combinations available. What results is a class that quite often represents the cutting edge of drag racing and therefore, according to White, appeals to fans in a way in which no other class does.

“What we do is produce a lot of horsepower,” said White. “A lot of guys can do that. The trick here is getting it to the ground.”

Setting records isn’t the primary goal for the Titan Motorsports team, although claiming them isn’t a bad thing.

Going rounds still remains the game plan.

“When we got beat at Dallas (by Glidden), we got beat on a hole shot,” said White. “It only made things worse when we got the record.

“I’d rather have the win.”
 

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