About

Nalani Whatley began racing in 1998 at local street legal events at Pomona Raceway, Los Angeles County Raceway, California Speedway and even traveled to San Diego to participate in weekly Racelegal.com events at Qualcomm Stadium as well as Carlsbad Raceway. While competing heavily in the bracket class, Nalani was able to achieve consistent ET’s and perfect reaction times. Beginning her career as a pro racer in 2007, Nalani started the season in the winner’s circle while attending the IDRC West Coast Nationals. In one single event, Nalani ran her first 12-second, 11-second and 10-second pass!

Nalani grew up in Whittier, CA. Following high school graduation Nalani moved to San Diego where she earned her Bachelors at San Diego State University studying Psychology. During this time, Nalani discovered her love and passion for cars while working for a non-profit organization called Racelegal.com and participating in numerous street legal events throughout California. After six years of living in San Diego, Nalani decided to return back to Los Angeles to pursue an opporunity with the LA Auto Show. As the Sales and Operations Coordinator, Nalani interacts with numerous companies in the automotive industry.

When Nalani is not racing or working she loves to spend time with her family. She married her high school sweetheart, John, and they have one child together name Aiden. As a family, they love to travel down to San Diego as well make frequent trips to Disneyland. Something that most people do not know about Nalani is that she has been Hawaiian dancing since she was seven.

One fun fact about the CRX dragcar, is that it is Nalani’s very first car. Following her first year of college, Nalani picked up a used 1990 Honda CRX HF to daily drive around San Diego and make frequent trips back to Los Angeles. During this time Nalani, John and her brother Michael, slowly began modifying the vehicle for power. Eventually a B16 was dropped into the engine bay and Nalani began to have a taste of the drag racing world. Shortly after winning a bracket race at IDRC, Nalani took her team to Las Vegas raceway to continue competing. Due to major engine failure, Nalani and her team decided to take the car to the next level and pursue the pro class. After two years of building the CRX, Nalani debuted the K-series CRX in 2007.