Early Exit for Toliver at Season-Ending NHRA Finals

Jerry Toliver had the unique distinction of being the first racer to face the newly crowned 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champ in eliminations when he and Robert Hight squared off in the first round at this weekend's 45th annual Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, and the Compton, Calif., native was hoping he could be the first to beat the new champ, too, driving the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy in front of a hometown crowd at Pomona Raceway.

Both drivers left the starting line with near-identical reaction times but both lost traction just past the 400-foot mark and the pedalfest was on. Toliver pedaled once but an auto shut-off valve slowed the CANIDAE car to a losing 5.195 elapsed time at 154.35 mph as Hight pedaled to a 4.842 e.t. at 196.64 mph. Toliver had a season-best semifinal-round performance at the NHRA Fall Nationals at Dallas in September and finished 14th in the final Funny Car points standings. This was Hight's the first Funny Car championship of his career.

"We had a couple of good runs our last two qualifying sessions, so I felt pretty good coming into today," Toliver said. "I guess it wasn't meant to be. But congratulations to Robert and his team on their first championship. They really came on there at the end of the season.

"And I have to say a big thank you to Big Jim Dunn, Diane, Jon Dunn and the whole CANIDAE Racing team. It was a privilege to be driving for a Hall of Famer like Big Jim, especially in his 60th year of drag racing. That's pretty amazing, isn't it?"

The NHRA recognized driver/tuner/team owner Jim Dunn for his 60 years in drag racing prior to eliminations on Sunday. [See video from Auto Club Raceway at Pomona]

"They just don't think I'm going to be here much longer so they pat me on the back once in awhile," Dunn said with a laugh. "No, it was pretty cool. It takes a lot to stay in the sport this long. You first have to be good enough to qualify. I hold a record of one kind. I've won a 'Wally' for the last five decades - each decade I've won at least one race. How many can say they won a 'Wally' in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and this one? Not very many.

"It was very nice. This is my home track and to have it happen here at the Finals - I really enjoyed that. It makes you think that maybe they did appreciate me coming out and doing all this. Like I tell people, I do this to entertain myself and I'll keep doing this until I can't do it any longer. If my car's running good and I'm not getting excited, then I'll quit. I still get just as excited now as I did 60 years ago."

"Just as a reminder, Jim's been doing this longer than NHRA's been in existence - 60 years," said Tom Compton, NHRA president. "He's a true pioneer of the sport. (I thank him) for sixty great years and all that he's done for the sport as well."

The first stop on the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule will be the 50th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona on Feb. 11-14, 2010.

Kirk Weeks

Three-Time Pomona Winner Toliver Returns for Season-Ending NHRA Finals

As with several of their NHRA Full Throttle peers, Southern California natives Jerry Toliver and Jim Dunn will be racing in front of hometown friends and family at this weekend's 45th annual Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, and the duo would love nothing better than to deliver a season-ending victory for their fans and sponsors in their Jim Dunn Racing entry, the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy Funny Car.

"I love starting and ending the season at Pomona," Toliver said. "It's a great track and it's fun to race in front of so many friends and family that don't normally get to see us. Plus I've run pretty well there over the years, so it's an easy facility for me to like. In fact, I got my first career win at this race in '99 when I beat Force in the finals. I probably could have called it a career right there, beating John Force at Pomona to win the NHRA Finals. But then we turned right around and won the Winternationals to start the season in 2000, so you can see why Pomona is my favorite track."

Toliver, a five-time NHRA Funny Car national-event winner, has had three of his career wins here at the quarter-mile track at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. The Compton, Calif., native won the NHRA Finals in 1999, and followed up with victories at the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in 2000 and 2004.

"The CANIDAE folks are headquartered right up the road in San Luis Obispo, so I'm sure we'll have a lot of them out here supporting us and I'd love nothing better than to give them a win right in their own backyard. And Lucas Oil and WileyX are California companies, too, so that would be a great ending to the season.

"We have probably two or three really big, historic races at Pomona, Gainesville and Indy. I've been fortunate enough to have won at two of them (Pomona, Gainesville), but I can't think of anything better than to add another Pomona notch on my belt. We're going to give it our best shot."

Another racer spreading the message of Responsible Pet Ownership is one of the owners of CANIDAE, Scott Whipple. Whipple, a regular competitor in the National Sand Drag Association (NSDA), drove his CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Top Fuel sand dragster to the 2009 NSDA season points championship, putting an exclamation point on the championship at the series' season-ending race in Primm, Nev., on Oct. 24-25. The CANIDAE team not only won the event but Whipple broke his own record on the 100-yard track on three consecutive passes during eliminations with runs of 2.278 seconds at 162.75 mph, 2.273 at 160.71, and 2.239 at 164.16 mph.

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Auto Club NHRA Finals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, Nov. 14, beginning at 10:30 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, Nov. 15 when NHRA Race Day kicks 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 Week

Toliver Misses Funny Car Field at NHRA Las Vegas Nationals

Las Vegas has not been a place of good fortune for the Jim Dunn Racing team this season as Jerry Toliver in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy will miss Sunday eliminations at an NHRA Full Throttle Series event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the second time this year. After final qualifying today the CANIDAE car failed to qualify for the 16-car Funny Car field for this weekend's ninth annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals after also missing the field at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals here in April.

Toliver's first qualifying pass on Friday resulted in an elapsed time of 5.405 seconds at 118.03 mph as the CANIDAE car lost traction just past the 330-foot mark. In the second qualifying session Toliver made a solid 4.241-second pass at 279.15 mph to place the Jim Dunn Racing entry 15th on the provisional Funny Car grid.

Unfortunately the team couldn't build on that performance during Saturday's two qualifying sessions with the CANIDAE car losing traction again in Q3 and slowing to a 7.074 e.t. at 94.22 mph and then going up in smoke right at the start in the fourth and final qualifying session.

"The only luck we've had here at Las Vegas this year has been bad," Toliver said. "but I felt pretty positive coming into this weekend. We've been struggling with the car losing traction just past the 'tree'. We just can't seem to tune it out no matter which way Big Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) goes. On that last run we obviously went the wrong way and the car lost traction right at the hit.

"We've got one more race to get it right and I know nobody on this team is going to quit working. I've had pretty good success at Pomona and won a couple of races there, so we'll go there and try to add one more."

The final stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 45th annual Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals on Nov. 12-15 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Pomona, Calif., the last of six races in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship.

Kirk Weeks

CANIDAE Racing NHRA Funny Car Team Returns to Track at Las Vegas

Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn-owned CANIDAE Racing team will join their NHRA Full Throttle Series peers in making a return trip to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for this weekend's ninth annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. The premier drag racing series made a stop at The Strip earlier this season in April and returns for the 23rd of 24 races on its schedule.

"What's not to like about going to Las Vegas?" Toliver asked. "It's another first-class, Bruton Smith-owned track in a great city. And it looks like it's going to be cool there, although it might hit 80 on Sunday, so the track could be really fast and you should see some good times and great racing this weekend."

Toliver looks to get the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy back on the performance path it displayed last month qualifying in the top-half of the field at the U.S. Nationals and then a season-best third at Dallas. The Jim Dunn Racing team also had its best day of eliminations on the season at the Texas Motorplex when Toliver defeated Memphis winner Jeff Arend in the first round and Bob Tasca III in the second round before losing to Jack Beckman in the semifinals.

"We've had some ups and downs with the CANIDAE car this season, there's no question about that," Toliver said. "But we're real positive going into these last two races of the season at Las Vegas and Pomona. We owe it to ourselves, to our sponsors, to the Dunns to give it our best and try to get a win in these last two races.

"Like I said before, the Countdown to 1 is exciting and probably going to come down to the last round, but we're not looking to play the role of spoiler and ruin anybody's chances. I don't want to be a spoiler; I want to be a winner. We're looking to win rounds and win races, and that's what we're going to try and do."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, Oct. 31, beginning at 11:00 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, Nov. 1, when NHRA Race Day kicks off eliminator coverage starting at 2:30 p.m. (ET), and concludes with three hours of final-eliminations coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Falls in First Round at Virginia NHRA Nationals

Jerry Toliver and Ron Capps met for the first time this season in a first-round matchup today at the Fourth annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park. Capps entered eliminations as the No. 2 qualifier and in the first round drove his NAPA Dodge to a winning elapsed time of 4.085 seconds at 309.27 mph to Toliver's 4.241 e.t. at 286.25 mph in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy.

"Hat's off to Ron and 'Ace' (crew chief Ed McCulloch)," Toliver said. "They obviously had that car dialed in and just plain beat us. I think they had the second- or third-quickest run of the round so we had our work cut out for us.

"I felt better coming into today after making a good, solid pass in Q4, but we just couldn't build on it. The tuning window on this CANIDAE car is so small and it's tough to stay inside it on a consistent basis. We just need to get the car back to how it was responding to Big Jim's (team owner/crew chief Dunn) tuning changes at Indy and Dallas a few races ago - that's the challenge we have heading back to Las Vegas."

Del Worsham defeated Tim Wilkerson in the Funny Car finals and Force Racing's Robert Hight took over the points lead with two races remaining in the season.

The next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 9th annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals on Oct. 29 - Nov. 1 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the penultimate race in the six-race NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship.

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Bounces Back to Qualify for Virginia NHRA Nationals

The Jim Dunn Racing team got right back to work after uncharacteristically failing to qualify for the Memphis NHRA race last weekend and placed the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy 15th on the Funny Car qualifying grid for tomorrow's eliminations at the Fourth annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virgina Motorsports Park.

After rain showers delayed the start of today's qualifying, driver Jerry Toliver drove the CANIDAE car to an elapsed time of 4.165 seconds at 283.79 mph in the second of two qualifying sessions. Toliver posted an elapsed time of 4.305 seconds at 283.13 mph after losing a cylinder in the first session.

"We're not there, but we're definitely heading in the right direction," Toliver said. "It's been a bit of a struggle this weekend, but we did run a lot better today and had our best run in that last session. The car made a full pull on that last run so that should give Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) some good data to work off of for tomorrow. We're still chasing this thing, but we're in the show and on Sunday anything can happen - you got to be in to win."

Toliver will face No. 2-qualifier Ron Capps for the first time this season in the first round of eliminations. Capps' teammate, Jack Beckman, is the No. 1 qualifier with an elapsed time of 4.044 seconds at 305.22 mph.

Kirk Weeks

CANIDAE Team Concludes Challenging Four-Race Stretch at Virginia NHRA Nationals

A four-races-in-four-weeks stretch concludes for NHRA teams with this weekend's Fourth annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, and Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing look to finish the arduous stretch on a high note.

Toliver had a late-season surge in the CANIDAE car interrupted last weekend at Memphis, but the affable Californian is confident the team can bounce back here at Richmond. He has qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy in the top-half of the Funny Car field in two of the last four races including a season-best third at Dallas. The Jim Dunn Racing team also had its best day of eliminations on the season at the Texas Motorplex when Toliver defeated Memphis winner Jeff Arend in the first round and Bob Tasca III in the second round before losing to Jack Beckman in the semifinals.

"We made a solid 4.18 pass right off the truck at Memphis, but then the car just didn't want to go down the track," Toliver said. "Every run after that the car just shook the tires off before it even got to the 'tree'. Big Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) just couldn't tune it out no matter which way he went which is really surprising the way this CANIDAE car had been running. He had the car in a tuning window where it was really responding to the changes he was making and was making real consistent runs.

"That just shows you how temperamental these 7,000-horsepower beasts can be. It seems like the weather this time of year in Richmond always produces great racing conditions so we look forward to getting this CANIDAE hot rod back on track. Our goals are still the same for these last few races; try and win as many rounds as we can and hopefully get a race win, at it starts this weekend at Richmond."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Virginia NHRA Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, Oct. 10, beginning at 10:30 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, Oct. 11, 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

Toliver Misses Funny Car Field at NHRA Mid-South Nationals

For only the second time this season Jerry Toliver in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy will miss Sunday eliminations at an NHRA Full Throttle Series event after failing to qualify for this weekend's 22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park. The California native also missed qualifying for the Funny Car field at Las Vegas in April.

Toliver made a solid pass of 4.184 seconds at 295.21 mph in Friday's first qualifying session which was good for ninth on the provisional Funny Car sheet, but the Jim Dunn Racing team missed a golden opportunity to move up the grid during the cooler conditions of Friday night's second round when the CANIDAE lost traction and slowed to a 7.092 e.t. at 97.67 mph while several drivers improved their times. Unfortunately Saturday was more of the same as Toliver ran a 7.161 e.t. at 96.69 mph in the third qualifying session, a 6.970 e.t. at 93.10 mph in the fourth and final session, and he failed to qualify for 16-car Funny Car field.

"We tried to go for it Friday night and run a really good number, but it was too much," Toliver said, "so we backed it way down for the first session on Saturday to the tune-up we ran the 4.18 with in the same lane. It should have gone down but it shook, and then we just overpowered the track on that last pass. It was just too much for the track.

"Except for that first run on Friday we just had a problem of shaking it before it got to the 'tree'. Unfortunately we got to a spot there Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) just couldn't tune out, no matter which way we went."

The next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 4th annual Virginia NHRA Nationals on Oct. 9-11 at Virginia Motorsports Park just south of Richmond in Parkersburg, Va., the fourth of six races in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship.

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Looking to Win Rounds, Win Races in Season's Final Four Events

It doesn't matter to Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver that this weekend's 22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park is the third of six races in NHRA's Countdown to 1. He's not looking to be a spoiler to points leader Robert Hight or any of the other Funny Car competitors qualified for the Countdown. After a solid semifinal-round appearance at Dallas last weekend, he and his Jim Dunn Racing teammates just want to continue winning rounds with the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy to close out the season.

"This Funny Car class is a tough, tough class," Toliver said, "and this team is no different than any other team out here - we're just trying to win. When I line up against somebody in the other lane, I don't look at them and think, 'Oh good, that guy is first in points or second in points and I can spoil his weekend if we beat him.' I'm up there for me, for my team, for Big Jim, and for our sponsors, just trying to win the race and go on to the next round. I'm not out here to spoil anybody's day; I'm trying to make it a good day for me and my team. That's what we were trying to do in Dallas and that's what we will be trying to do this weekend in Memphis."

Toliver is looking to continue the late-season surge the CANIDAE car has made, qualifying in the top-half in two of the last three races including a season-best third at Dallas. After a strong qualifying effort at the Texas Motorplex, Toliver went on to defeat Jeff Arend in the first round and Bob Tasca III in the second before losing to Jack Beckman in the semifinals.

"We had our best weekend of the season at Dallas last weekend," Toliver said, "but that was last weekend and now we move on to the next race. We want to win some more rounds and hopefully win a race before the season is out. Jim has the car in a tuning window where it's really reacting to what he's telling it on a consistent basis, so we'll see if this hot rod can keep it going at Memphis."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the NHRA Mid-South Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, Oct. 3, beginning at 10:30 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, Oct. 4, 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

Toliver Advances to Semifinals at NHRA Fall Nationals

Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing team turned in their best performance of the season when the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy advanced to the semifinals today at the 24th annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. Toliver defeated Jeff Arend in Round 1, Bob Tasca III in Round 2 before falling to Jack Beckman in the semifinals.

The CANIDAE car was fast right off of the team transporter as Toliver qualified a season-best third in Friday's night session with a 4.163 elapsed time at 302.55 mph. His speed was the second-best in qualifying and continuing its late-season surge, this was the second time in the last three races that the team had placed the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy in the top half of the qualifying field.

"Qualifying in the top half makes such a big difference," Toliver said. "You're assured lane choice and you're not always facing the No. 1, or No. 2, or No. 3 qualifier in the first round. Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) has the car in a tuning window where it really is reacting to what he's telling it. He just has so much experience with these hot tracks, and today he did a great job of getting the CANIDAE car to go from A to B and we were able to go a few rounds."

In the first round Toliver defeated Jeff Arend with an elapsed time of 4.277 seconds at 290.38 mph to Arend's 4.920 e.t. at 211.06 mph, reversing Arend's defeat of Toliver in their only other meeting this year three weeks ago at Indy. In the second round Toliver bested Tasca with a 4.354 elapsed time at 289.54 mph to Tasca's 4.588 e.t. at 261.17 mph but lost lane choice to Beckman in the semifinals.

In the semifinal round both drivers left the starting line with near-identical reaction times but Beckman pulled ahead as Toliver lost tire traction and had to pedal the car. Beckman also experienced trouble when he lost a cylinder but edged Toliver at the finish line with an elapsed time of 4.546 seconds at 218.55 mph to Toliver's 4.555-second e.t. at 214.01 mph.

"To say this was a good weekend for this race team would be an understatement," Toliver said. "We've been so hungry for a race weekend like this that I was ready to eat some of CANIDAE's Snap-Biscuits. This team works hard and is no different than any other team out here - it only wants to win.

"Yesterday somebody asked me if I was looking forward to playing the role of spoiler and I said I don't want to be a spoiler, I want to be a winner. I'm not out here to spoil somebody's day, I'm not out here to ruin his day, I'm out here to make mine. This team wants to win. Big Jim is getting this thing turned around and I'm proud of the guys."

The next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals on Oct. 2-4 at Memphis Motorsports Park, the third of six races in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship.

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Qualifies No. 3 at NHRA Fall Nationals at Dallas

CANIDAE Racing Team Continues Late-Season Surge with Best Qualifying Effort of the Season

Turning in their best qualifying effort of the season, Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing team continued to make late-season gains by qualifying No. 3 on the Funny Car grid for tomorrow's eliminations at the 24th annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. In yesterday's night session Toliver drove the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy to the third-quickest elapsed time at 4.163 seconds at 302.55 mph. His speed was second only to pole-sitter Robert Hight who qualified No. 1 with a 4.109 e.t. at 305.46 mph. With today's hotter track conditions no drivers were able to improve on their times from Friday and Toliver held on for his best starting position on the season.

"How about that, No. 3," Toliver said. "I said coming into this race that we just needed to do a little better job getting this CANIDAE car to leave off of the starting line, and that has come around nicely this weekend. Everything's going in the right direction. I'm really pleased with the speed we ran last night and the way we got down the racetrack.

"It was really hot out there today but we still learned something. When the track gets hot like today, the clutch wants to lock up and shock the tires, so we just need to calm it down a little with the tune-up."

Toliver will face No. 14 qualifier Jeff Arend in the first round for the second time in the last three races. The CANIDAE Funny Car pilot will look to reverse his first-round loss to Arend at Indy at the U.S. Nationals.

"We face Jeff Arend in the first round and we're fighting for a position in the points, so it should be a lot of fun," Toliver said. "I'm really excited about the way the CANIDAE car is running. Jim's (team owner/crew chief Dunn) got this in a window right now that whenever he makes a move on it, whenever he does something the car is responding which is a huge thing. A lot of times you pick a spot where the car just doesn't respond to what you're doing, but right now the car is doing what he's telling it to do and I feel pretty good about it."

Kirk Weeks

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

Toliver Falls to Hight in First Round at NHRA Carolinas Nationals

The first of six races in NHRA's Countdown to 1 playoffs, the NHRA Carolinas Nationals, was completed today at zMAX Dragway. In a first-round match-up with Force Racing's Robert Hight, Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing team matched its qualifying numbers but that wasn't enough to get past Hight. He went on to defeat Matt Hagan in the Funny Car finals.

"We ran our exact time from qualifying but that wasn't quite good enough against Robert," Toliver said. "That team showed they had a good hot rod by going on and winning the race. Overall I thought the CANIDAE car ran pretty good this weekend. It definitely ran more consistent and is responding to the changes Big Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) is making."

Toliver entered eliminations as the No. 14 qualifier in a tight Funny Car field, qualifying the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy with an elapsed time of 4.148 seconds at 301.74 mph to earn No. 3 qualifier Hight as a first-round opponent. In today's first round, Toliver ran a 4.147 elapsed time at 304.46 mph to Hight's winning 4.105 e.t. at 308.99 mph. Only four other drivers topped Toliver's speed in the first round.

"This is probably the most consistent the CANIDAE car has run all season," Toliver said. "Now we just need to pump up the performance a little bit and see if we can't go some rounds and win a race in these last five races."

The next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals on Sept. 14-27 at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas, the second of six races in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship.

Kirk Weeks

Toliver to Face Hight in First Round of NHRA Carolinas Nationals

In a tight Funny Car field, Jerry Toliver qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy 14th for eliminations at the Second annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway. The California native ran an elapsed time of 4.148 seconds at 301.74 mph and will face Force Racing's Robert Hight in tomorrow's first round. Hight qualified third with a 4.096 e.t. at 307.09 mph and Cruz Pedregon qualified No. 1 with a 4.087 at 303.91 mph.

"This CANIDAE car ran well right off of the truck and we made two full pulls yesterday," Toliver said. "We weren't quite able to back that up today, but I thought we had a pretty good hot rod when we left Indy and I still do."

Only fourteen hundredths of a second separated No. 1 qualifier Pedregon from the 16th qualifier and all but one of the 16 Funny Car drivers broke the 300-mph barrier.

"Can you believe how tight this field is?" Toliver asked. "We're just a little more than five hundredths slower than Robert and that dropped us all the way down to 14th. Everybody is is bunched together so who knows what can happen tomorrow. I have a feeling the fans are going to be in for a good show."

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Looking Forward to NHRA's Return to Charlotte

After the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series' auspicious debut in Charlotte with its inaugural race last year in Charlotte, CANIDAE Racing Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver is like a lot of his peers and looks forward to the series' return this weekend for the Second annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Track owner Bruton Smith's latest addition to NHRA's quarter-mile lineup (he also owns The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway, and Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.) is a state-of-the-art facility that drew huge crowds to this premiere drag race in the heart of NASCAR country.

"Bruton Smith seems to raise the bar every time he builds a new race facility," Toliver said. "All of his tracks are just gems on the circuit and the new dragstrip in Charlotte is certainly no exception. What a great facility and the number of fans that came out to last year's race was unbelievable. It was a great event and it's easy to understand why they are going to race there twice next year. We're certainly looking forward to putting on another great show for the Charlotte fans."

In the last two races Toliver has had a quarterfinal finish at Reading (Pa.) and a season-best qualifying effort at the U.S. Nationals at Indy, so the Jim Dunn Racing pilot looks to continue that performance trend when he first lines up the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy on the zMAX Dragway starting line starting with first-round qualifying on Friday.

"We ran the third-quickest e.t. in our final qualifying session at Indy, so now we need to work on backing those kind of performance numbers up," Toliver said. "The good thing is this CANIDAE car is responding to what Jim (team owner/crew chief) is asking it to do. That hasn't always been the case this year. We've got a good hot rod here, so I'm fired up going back to Charlotte."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the NHRA Carolinas Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, Sept. 19, beginning at 11:30 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, Sept. 20, 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

Toliver Falters in First-Round at U.S. Nationals

The good news for Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing is they turned in their best qualifying effort of the season at this weekend's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park to start in the top-half of the Funny Car field for eliminations. The bad news is their CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy couldn't quite match that performance today and fell to Jeff Arend in the first round.

Entering eliminations as the No. 10 qualifier, Arend had an elapsed time of 4.174 seconds at 301.47 mph to edge Toliver who steered the CANIDAE car to a 4.194 e.t. at 294.56 mph.

"A couple of guys were smoking the tires before us, so Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) slowed it down and backed it off a little bit, but the car just didn't run the number we needed," Toliver said. "Even though Jeff's car outran us, I also got tattooed on the light and that doesn't make me feel any better."

Toliver made an impressive run with the the third-quickest pass in yesterday's final qualifying session, bested only by the 4.095 elapsed time of No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight and the 4.098 e.t. of Cruz Pedregon to qualify seventh for Funny Car eliminations.

"All in all, it was still a good weekend even though we hurt a motor on that run," Toliver said. "That wasn't good. But the real story is we ran a good number yesterday (third-quickest pass in the final qualifying session). The good thing is the car responded and did what Jim asked it to do. We've got a good hot rod here and I'm excited going forward."

The next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 2nd annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals on Sept. 17-20 at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., the first of six races in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship.

Kirk Weeks

Success at Indy No Stranger to Dunn

Drag racing Hall of Famer Jim Dunn can reach in his memory bank and pull from more than a few successful appearances at O'Reilly Raceway Park as he prepares his CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car for driver Jerry Toliver at this weekend's 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at ORP. Unlike most, though, those successes at NHRA's most prestigious race have come as both a driver and then as a team owner/crew chief.

At the 1981 U.S. Nationals Dunn drove his Dodge Omni all the way to the Funny Car finals before losing to Raymond Beadle. Dunn matched that effort as a team owner and crew chief in 1994 when driver K.C. Spurlock advanced to the final round of Funny Car before losing to Cruz Pedregon.

"When I drove I raced against the best and the worst, and I've been classified as both," Dunn quipped. "But I loved the driving. The working-on-it part you had to do if you wanted to run because you didn't have a bunch of mechanics. We just did it in our garages. I enjoyed working on them but I enjoyed winning better. A win's a win, no matter if it's the U.S. Nationals or just a local dragstrip."

Dunn did himself one round-win better at the '99 U.S. Nationals when he wrenched his own Pontiac Firebird with driver Frank Pedregon past Jim Epler for the Funny Car crown. Ironically, Epler was driving a second WWF-sponsored car for team owner/driver Jerry Toliver. Dunn even found success in the now-defunct Big Bud Shootout, a special event held on U.S. Nationals weekend where the top-eight drivers who earned points through qualifying throughout the previous year battled for the $100,000 winner's check. In 1997 Kenji Okazaki won the Shootout in a Dunn-tuned Dodge Avenger when he defeated Tony Pedregon in the finals with a 4.972 elapsed time at 308.32 mph.

"The U.S. Nationals win in '99 with Frank Pedregon when he beat Jim Epler was a big one," Dunn said, "but they are all big. The one I'm probably the most proud of was when we won the Big Bud Shootout with Kenji Okazaki in 1997. The last round he ran in the 'fours' and at that time there were only about five guys that had run in the 'fours,' so I think I enjoyed that one the most."

The Jim Dunn Racing team is coming off Toliver's advancing to the quarterfinals at Reading two weeks ago and look to build on that performance and create some memories of their own at O'Reilly Raceway Park this weekend.

ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise more than 10 hours of coverage of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil beginning with a two-and-a-half-hour qualifying show on Sunday, Sept. 6, at 11:30 a.m. (ET). A two-hour qualifying show will air later that day on ESPN2 at 5:00 p.m. (ET). On Monday, Sept. 7, ESPN2 will televise a one-hour NHRA Race Day from the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals preview show at noon (ET), followed by a five-hour eliminations show starting at 1:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Advances to Quarterfinals at Weather-Plagued Reading Race

In between rain showers and track "weepers" throughout the race weekend, Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver found time to get a round win and advance to the quarterfinals in today's final eliminations at the 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.

Toliver qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy 14th after two rain-shortened qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday to earn a first-round match-up with defending event champion and No. 3 qualifier Jack Beckman. In the first round, Toliver steered the CANIDAE car to an elapsed time of 4.327 seconds at 258.27 mph and the win over Beckman's 4.662 e.t. at 204.08 mph.

"What a miserable weekend," Toliver said. "But it was nice getting past Beckman in the first round. It has been awhile since we've gotten a round win, so that was a nice boost for the team and the hard work they've been putting in."

The second round was delayed more than two hours to address the intermittent "weepers" from the seeping of water from the rain-saturated ground through the asphalt, but when on-track activities continued, Toliver squared off against No. 6 qualifier Mike Neff. Unfortunately for Toliver, Neff turned in the quickest elapsed time of the round with a 4.239 e.t. at 275.39 mph to turn on the win light as Toliver broke as he launched the CANIDAE car from the starting line.

"We lost the burst panel at the hit," Toliver said. "But then Zippy (Mike Neff) goes and makes the quickest run of the round, so that's kind of been our racing luck this year. I sure wouldn't go so far as to say we're on a roll or anything, but this is a step in the right direction, and it's always nice to get round wins.

"Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) is really gearing up for Indy. He's won there before ('99 U.S. Nationals and '97 Big Bud Shootout) and always seems to run well there, so maybe this will give us a little momentum heading to 'The Big Go.'"

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is race No. 18, the final race of the regular-season Countdown to 10, the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis from Sept. 2-7.

by Kirk Weeks

Responsible Pet Ownership Tip of the Day

What Does a Pet Sitter Do? Should You Hire One?

"If you have pets, then you know that when vacation time rolls around you can’t simply throw some clothes in a suitcase and take off. Some important questions need to be...." (keep reading this Responsible Pet Ownership article brought to you by CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods.

Toliver to Start 14th after Rain-Shortened Qualifying at Reading

Rain hampered qualifying and limited teams to a single session both today and Friday for the 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. After more than a four-hour rain delay yesterday Jerry Toliver drove the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car to a 4.289-second elapsed time at 276.52 mph to claim the 12th qualifying spot on the provisional Funny Car grid.

Rain and track "weepers," water seeping through the asphalt at the top end of Maple Grove Raceway's quarter-mile, limited today's qualifying to another single session and Toliver was unable to improve his time and dropped to the 14th qualifying position. Ashley Force Hood was the No. 1 qualifier with a 4.114 e.t. at 301.47 mph.

"Weekends like this are the kind that are tough on the teams and make crew chiefs just want to pull their hair out," Toliver said. "With the rain delays we don't know if or when we're going to run, and then when we do, it's a real challenge to tune these cars to get down the track. We had a good, safe pass last night but just couldn't back it up today. But everybody's in the same boat, so hopefully the weather cooperates tomorrow and we'll see what the CANIDAE can do."

Toliver faces No. 3 qualifier Jack Beckman in tomorrow's first round of eliminations.

by Kirk Weeks

Responsible Pet Ownership Tip of the Day

Spaying or Neutering Can Save Your Dog’s Life

"There are two schools of thought when considering spaying or neutering a dog. Do you realize that by spaying or neutering your dog, you may actually be ...." (keep reading this Responsible Pet Ownership article brought to you by CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods.

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