Denise Jarnecke, a White Swan High School graduate and a current student at Central Washington University, poses for a portrait in front of her garage in Harrah, Washington on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. Last year, she won the Renegade Raceway’s driver of the year award and a Northwest Open Series title in her Pro class. (Yakima Herald-Republic photo)
Denise Jarnecke, a member of the Grace Brethren Church, Harrah, Wash. (Peter Touhey, pastor), was featured in today’s Yakima, Wash., Herald Republic, for her expertise in drag racing. Denise is the daughter of Rick and Dana Jarnecke, who are also members at Harrah GBC. A portion of the story appears below. Click here to read the complete story.
Harrah’s Jarnecke making a name for herself in drag racing
YAKIMA, Wash. — When his daughter was 16 years old, Rick Jarnecke gave her a car. Built one, in fact, with a 130,000-mile truck engine he bought at a junk yard for $600.
Cheap and sturdy starter for a teenager to get around on the laterals between White Swan and Wapato?
Not exactly.
When you hit the gas in this rig, it goes 150 miles an hour in nine seconds. And Denise Jarnecke helms that speed as cool as if she were driving a golf cart. What rolled out of dad’s backyard trucking shop was a 22-foot black rail dragster, and last summer — two years after her racing debut — Denise won just about everything she entered.
“I always knew I wanted to race, even going back to when I was 7 or 8 watching my dad race,” said Denise, who graduated from White Swan during her award-filled racing season and just finished her freshman year at Central Washington University. “It’s funny because in everything else I’m not very competitive and kind of scared of things a little. But racing is different for me — I’ve always loved it.”
Click here to read the rest of the story.
