Toliver Looks to Bounce Back at Atlanta

Despite a temporary set-back at Las Vegas when he was bumped in the final qualifying session and failed to make the 16-car Funny Car field for the first time this season, Jerry Toliver is confident his CANIDAE Racing team can get back on track at this weekend's 29th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway on April 16-19.

"Las Vegas was just a bad, bad weekend all the way around," Toliver said.  "We went in there with a lot of confidence in how we were improving the car, but we just had a bad weekend and ended up hurting a lot of parts.  We were fortunate that there was an off weekend between races, so the team had a chance to regroup before heading to Atlanta.

   

"But you're going to have a weekend like that over the course of a 24-race season, so we just have to put that one in the rearview mirror and keep marching forward starting with the race this weekend at Atlanta."

  

Starting the season as a new driver of the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car with a new, untested Murf McKinney chassis, potential performance results, especially early in the year, were relatively unknown.  After qualifying for the season-opener at Pomona on a one-lap flyer due to weather conditions, Toliver qualified a season-best 10th at Phoenix, had his best race weekend to date with his first round-win of the season at Gainesville, and despite a close, side-by-side loss in the first round at Houston to No. 2 qualifier Del Worsham, Toliver qualified for his fourth consecutive race to start the season.  

Now he looks to start a new streak starting with Friday's first qualifying session; Toliver was a No. 1 qualifier at Atlanta Dragway in 2001.          

"Atlanta Dragway is a nice track and we're looking forward to a successful weekend there," Toliver said.  "Big Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) and the guys are working hard at this thing and that's all you can ask for."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday, April 18, beginning at 6:00 p.m. (ET).  Coverage on ESPN2 continues on Sunday, April 19, 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

Toliver, Canidae Racing Team Ready for the Dry Heat of Phoenix

After a challenging, rainy weekend of drag racing at NHRA's season-opening Winternationals at Pomona (Calif.) two weeks ago, most teams should be ready for the desert sun at this weekend's 25th annual Lucas Oil Slick Mist NHRA Nationals at Firebird International Raceway. Jerry Toliver in the Canidae/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car is certainly among those just wanting to make laps in his new ride. 

Toliver qualified 16th in the one and only qualifying session that set the field at Pomona and faced No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight in Sunday's first round. After more than four hours of rain delay and cooling temperatures, Toliver and Hight finally faced off with Hight getting the win light with an elapsed time of 4.159 seconds at 302.62 mph as Toliver's car lost traction and slowed to an 8.122 e.t. at 87.22 mph.

"We're very happy we qualified (at Pomona)," Toliver said. "You have to understand, (Sunday of eliminations) was only my second lap in the Canidae car. I've got a lot of things, personally as a driver, that I have to get comfortable with. You bond with a car and you know where everything is, and I'm still searching for stuff and trying to get comfortable, but that just comes with laps and we need some more laps. We're not frustrated by any means."

NHRA officials were able to complete only one round of eliminations on Sunday at Pomona before rain again interrupted action on the track. Ron Capps was eventually crowned the Winternationals Funny Car champ as he bested Jim Head when eliminations were finally completed on Tuesday.

Reinforcing the difficult conditions at Pomona was last year's primary championship contender and second-place finisher in points, Tim Wilkerson, failing to qualify for this year's season opener.

"It's going to be a tough class this year," Toliver said. "There are a lot of good cars out there. I've always said you've got to be in to win. Just qualifying is a feat in itself."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Lucas Oil Slick Mist NHRA Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Sunday, Feb. 22, beginning at 12:00 midnight (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 continues on Sunday, Feb. 22, when NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage starting at 12:30 p.m. (ET), and concludes with three hours of final eliminations coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks