Toliver Sets Sights on Texas Motorplex for NHRA Fall Nationals

After leaving Charlotte and the newest quarter-mile on the circuit, Bruton Smith's zMAX Dragway, the NHRA Full Throttle Series now heads just south of Dallas to its original "supertrack," the Texas Motorplex, for this weekend's 24th annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals. The all-concrete track was built in 1986 and has long been a favorite of NHRA competitors including Jerry Toliver, driver of the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Funny Car.

"Texas Motorplex was state of the art when she was built," Toliver said. "It was all concrete. I remember coming here for the first time 10 or 12 years ago thinking, 'Man, this place is pretty neat,' and I still think that. It's a narrow groove with the concrete, but that being said, it's also a very fast racetrack. Billy (track owner Meyer) has done a great job over there and they've got great fans in Dallas. I always like going to Texas and everybody should be in for a good time."

The NHRA Fall Nationals is the second of six races in the Countdown to 1 and is also the second race in a tough four-races-in-four-weekends stretch. Despite the challenging schedule, Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing team have been working hard and would love nothing better than to wheel the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy into the winner's circle before the season's out.

"We just need to improve our early numbers," Toliver said. "The CANIDAE car went down the track each time at Charlotte, and that's a great thing, so I think we're dialing it in. We just need to get the car to leave better and improve our 60-foot time. If we can pick that up, we've got a hot rod.

"We've got a few more races left so hopefully we can bag a win for the folks at CANIDAE and Lucas Oil and WileyX and make them all happy. We're competitive, and if we can get this thing leaving early we'll really have something."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the NHRA Fall Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Sunday, Sept. 27, beginning at 12:15 a.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday when NHRA Race Day kicks off eliminator coverage starting at 11:00 am (ET), and concludes with three hours of final-eliminations coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks