Toliver Anxious to Get Back on Track at Midwest Nationals

Jerry Toliver qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car 14th two weeks ago at the Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, and despite a first-round loss he is confident going into this weekend's 13th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.  

"Atlanta was a great weekend compared to what we were up against the race before (Las Vegas)," Toliver said.  "During our off time between those two races we found some real issues with the car that were really uncontrollable.  We had some problems with the ignition box, and there's no way you can know that without taking them off, sending them off and having them tested.  They were giving us erratic leads to the mags, so the engine didn't like it and was just blowing up.  It was a bad deal and a huge couple of steps back.  We just didn't know why it was doing that, and then come to find out it was a mechanical issue and we resolved it.  So we feel like we're back on track.

"I think Jim (Dunn) and Tony have a good handle on this CANIDAE car now, so we just need to work on some earlier numbers, getting them down right, and we'll be good.  This car runs really well from the 330-foot mark on, so if we can get this thing going to 330, and get those numbers down a little bit, I think we'll be very competitive on race day.  Our biggest challenge has just been dialing things in - new car at the start of the season, new driver, new engines, new fuel pumps, no laps on the new car.  We were getting close and then had the snafu with the points box, and it just really threw us for a loop.  That being said, once we found that out and got rid of the mechanical issues, now we're back to getting a handle on this race car again.  I think with a few more laps we can get this thing whittled down and be very competitive."

Toliver was just that, competitive, at this race in 2000 when he won his third race of the season to go with earlier wins at the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona (Calif.) and the Gatornationals at Gainesville (Fla.).   

"That was a fun race," Toliver said.  "I beat Dean Skuza in the finals, it was a night race, and it was a smoke-fest in that final round.  Any time you win at a racetrack, you go back in there knowing, 'Hey, I've won here before,' so maybe there's some magic left there."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday, May 2, beginning at 6:00 p.m. (ET).  Coverage on ESPN2 continues on Sunday, May 3, when NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage starting at 11:00 a.m. (ET), and concludes with three hours of final eliminations coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks