Toliver Looks to Continue CANIDAE Car's Improvement

Last week at Brainerd CANIDAE Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing team turned in a season-best qualifying effort, and now they return to the track with the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy for this weekend's 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway determined to build on that performance.

"Last week we improved our performance each time down the track," Toliver said, "so that's a positive, but now we need to keep building on that. We need to consistently qualifying in the top half of the field so we can improve our chances to go rounds on Sunday, and then we'll have something to build on so we can compete for a win.

"We're not over the hump yet, but, man, Jim and this team keep working hard and I think that showed last week. Now we need to continue to improve. This is a tough class and a tough business, and if it were easy everybody would be doing it. But we're not giving up and now we get to put on a show for these great East Coast fans. They really support their drag racing so it's always nice coming out here."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Sunday, Aug. 23, beginning at 1:00 a.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday when NHRA Race Day kicks off eliminator coverage starting at 11:30 am (ET), and concludes with three hours of final-eliminations coverage beginning at 10:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks