CANIDAE Continues to Roll in the Lone Star State at Freestone Raceway!

The CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki team has been the talk of the motocross world with great performances in both the 250 and 450 classes for the first 2 rounds. Tommy Hahn has been flying around the California tracks and has consistently the top finishing non-factory rider in the class. PJ Larsen and Kyle Cunningham have also shown signs of front running speed in the always tough 250 class. Nothing changed when the series moved outside of California to Wortham, TX. 

First race up was Moto #1 for the premier class where CANIDAE rider Tommy Hahn would continue to battle the biggest names in the sport. Tommy would blast out of the gate mid-pack and finish lap 1 in 20th position. Hahn would move up four spots into 16th place by the end of the second lap before Hahn found himself on the ground after a hard crash in a tricky section of the Texas track. Hahn would remount quickly and begin to charge towards the front, feeling the urgency to regain valuable points. Hahn would push the limits too far and while going for a pass for position, Tommy would crash violently ending his first moto only 6 laps in. Certainly a tough break for the rider from Decatur, TX. 

Moto #1 for the Motocross Lites riders was next and CANIDAE riders PJ Larsen and Kyle Cunningham would jump out of the gate to a good start with Larsen in 10th and Cunningham in 17th. Larsen would move up as high as 8th place before he crashed in a high-speed turn and lost several positions on the track, not to mention the abuse to his body. With adrenalin high, Larsen would dig deep and finish in 12th place for the moto. Cunningham, who has been battling a broken finger and 13 stitches in his forearm, somehow manages week after week to block out the pain. Kyle would charge hard and make it all the way up to 13th place at the end of the moto, a nice finish for both riders. 

Moto #2 for the 450 guys was underway and it was not looking good early on for Tommy Hahn. After his first moto crash, Hahn was extremely sore and rounded the first corner at the back of the pack. Tommy, who earned the “Ricky Carmichael, Hard Charger Award” at last week’s race in Hangtown, put his head down and went to work. Hahn would pass at least 10 riders before completing the first lap in 17th place and another five more on the second lap. As Tommy moved up in the standings, the riders got harder and harder to pass. By the halfway point of the race, Hahn was well inside the top ten in 8th place but not finished with his charge. Hahn would get all the way to 5th place when the checkered flags flew and his great ride in Moto 2 would earn Hahn a 12th place finish overall for the day. 

Moto #2 for the 250 riders was next and PJ Larsen knew he was in trouble during his sight lap. Always one to battle, PJ would line up for the start but only make it a few turns before pulling into the pits, ending his day. Cunningham, the only CANIDAE rider left on the track, would jump out to a good start and finish lap 1 in fifth place. Trying to concentrate with his incredible pain may have caused the young rider to make a few mistakes during the moto and drop back as far as 12th place but Cunningham would dig deep and finish the moto in 10th place giving him a great 10th place overall for the day! 

CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki has proven to be top-notch performers and as tough as anyone on the track. The series heads to Mt. Morris, PA next week so make sure to stop by and say hi. See you there!

Jason Cobb

Toliver's Top Speed of Weekend Not Enough at Route 66 NHRA Nationals

Funny Car veteran Jerry Toliver drove the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy to its fastest pass of the event in today's first round of eliminations at the United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, but unfortunately it was not quite enough for the California native to turn on the win light against first-round foe Cruz Pedregon.    

Pedregon made his best pass of the weekend with a winning elapsed time of 4.104 seconds 302.21 mph as Toliver in the CANIDAE car got off the starting line first but had a slower elapsed time of 4.220 seconds at 301.07 mph.  Toliver qualified the Jim Dunn Racing entry 12th on the Funny Car grid with an elapsed time of 4.192 at 299.73 mph in yesterday's third qualifying session.   

"Our qualifying time would have been better but we blew a spark plug out when Jerry hit the throttle," said team owner/crew chief Jim Dunn.  "It didn't drop a cylinder but we had a spark plug out.  We tuned it up and it actually went two miles per hour faster today.

"We're getting after it and we're getting closer.  We've been working on a new clutch system the last two races and have been pretty conservative with our runs.  We still need to get the timing and the clutch together, but we're happy with it and we're slowly getting there.  We'll get after it a little more at Englishtown."

Tony Pedregon defeated Ashley Force Hood to claim the Route 66 NHRA Nationals Funny Car trophy for the second consecutive year.  

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the 40th annual United Association NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway in Englishtown, N.J., from June 11-14.

Kirk Weeks

Team CANIDAE Revs Up for Baja 500

The 2009 Baja 500 started for Team CANIDAE the day we returned from the Baja 250. Countless hours of preparation, course mapping, mileage tracking, acquiring a few new chase truck and support vehicles, the list goes on. Not to mention repairs, changes, and testing to be done on the race car. Or fixing both pre-runners after the 250. Our preparation for this grueling 500 mile race is still going on as I type this from the office at home. The team of 22 men left our home base at 4am on Wednesday to make the trek to Ensenada to hopefully get two solid days of pre-running in before the race. Multiple pits are scheduled throughout the course with our crew carrying food, fuel and direction to keep everyone focused on the task at hand. The Gang hopes to each run their respective halves Wednesday and Thursday so they can get a good feel of the course and any potential “booby traps” that the locals may have set up. That is where the major carnage comes in. We are currently 3rd in points in our 1st year running the Score Series and although winning class in Baja is always the goal, finishing is the #1 challenge. We are confident that we have the preparedness, drive and the will to get the job done. Not to mention a kick-ass race car and two of the best drivers I have ever had the opportunity to ride with. Scott Whipple and Pat Gailey will run the first half of the race with Scott Gailey and Johnny Stroschein bringing it home! Keep your eyes on race-dezert.com for updates and photos to come. Be careful out there boys, and I wish I was with ya!!!! GO TEAM CANIDAE!!!!!!!

Mike DeNunzio

12th Annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals

Entering the second of three consecutive NHRA Full Throttle Series races, Jerry Toliver is excited to get the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car back on the track for this weekend's 12th annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.  In fact, the sooner the Jim Dunn Racing team can hit the quarter-mile the better.

"I think these back-to-back races are actually going to help us," Toliver said.  "At Topeka we had a new clutch system on the CANIDAE car and it really responded.  We had been dropping holes and having problems, but on our first-round run on Sunday we didn't drop any holes and didn't hurt anything.  Even though we lost, the car seems to like the changes we've made, so now it's just a matter of getting some more laps and getting a handle on the deal.  That's why I think loading up the car from one race and just going on to the next might not be such a bad thing."  

   

Toliver made his best pass of the weekend in Sunday eliminations at Topeka resulting in a solid albeit losing side-by-side first-round race with John Force, and the Temecula, Calif., resident is buoyed by the potential shown by the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy.   

"I'm excited," Toliver said.  "I think we're going to start seeing some results from the team's hard work.  The motor program has been good, I like the way this CANIDAE car handles, and now it's just a matter of fine-tuning the new clutch program and dialing it in.  I'm ready to get back on the track."          

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, June 6, beginning at 10:30 p.m. (ET).  Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, June 7, when NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage starting at 11:00 a.m. (ET), and concludes with two hours of final-eliminations coverage beginning at 4:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Optimistic Despite First-Round Loss at Topeka

A new clutch system on his CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car leaves driver Jerry Toliver quite optimistic despite a first-round loss at the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.    

Toliver in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy got off the starting line first against his first-round foe, John Force, but the No. 2 qualifier used the quickest elapsed time of the round to run Toliver down and turn on the win light.  Force had an elapsed time of 4.232 seconds at 290.94 mph to defeat the Jim Dunn Racing entry's 4.393 e.t. at 256.11 mph.   

       

"I almost messed up there in the first round," Toliver said.  "On the burnout I pulled on the brakes and the car just kept rolling almost to 330 (feet).  I thought the brakes were no good and when I went to stage the thing, the car just kept rolling in the beam and I ended up deep staging.  I didn't mean to.  I told Force afterwards that I didn't mean to do that.  I thought I was going to roll right through the beams." 

Toliver's elapsed time in today's first round of eliminations was his quickest of the weekend and gives him great confidence that the new clutch system employed for the first time this weekend has the CANIDAE car heading in the right direction.

"It's actually been a good weekend," Toliver said.  "Like I said, we're really focused on this new clutch program.  We already see a lot of improvement and the car's responding.  We didn't drop any holes today on our first-round run, so the problems we've been having are starting to come around.  I think Jim's (Dunn) happy we didn't hurt anything, and the guys have really stepped up.  Now it's just a matter of getting a handle on the deal.  It's coming around."  

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the 12th annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., from June 4-7.

Jerry Toliver/CANIDAE Racing Pre-Event: 21st Annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals

As its name implies, this weekend's 21st annual NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka launches the NHRA Full Throttle Series into the "dog days" of summer, so what better place to be than behind the wheel of the CANIDAE Pet Foods/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car? At least that is the thinking of Funny Car veteran Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing team as they prepare for race No. 9 on the 24-race Full Throttle schedule. 

"I think the hot, summer months might level the playing field a little," Toliver said. "We've got some cars that are running good on cold tracks, really hauling the mail right now, so I think a hot race track might help us and play into our hands a little."

 

"But the reality is we have struggled with this CANIDAE car; the reality also is we are having the normal problems like on any new car, any new tune-up. You've got to find your window. We seem to have found our window with the engine, but we still seem to be having problems in the clutch department. So we're going to address that and make sure that everything's proper. We're going to really attack that area and I think we'll see some good results from it."

Toliver will enter the gates at Heartland Park Topeka tied with Jeff Arend for 14th in the Funny Car standings but also has his sights set on those in front of him. 

"Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) pays great attention to detail and is so well-rounded on the entire race car, and he's got it narrowed down," Toliver said. "And as I said, we feel good about the motor program, the way the car handles, and everything else, so now we're getting down to some fine-tuning and really getting after the clutch area. We'll get this thing figured out; it's just taking us a little bit longer than we would like. I think once we get this program figured out it will make us competitive, and you know, it's still not too late to make a run for the top 10, so that's our goal." 

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the NHRA Summer Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, May 30, beginning at 8:00 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, May 31, 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 4:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks

AMA Motocross Season Opener at Glen Helen Kicks off Outdoor Season with a Bang!

When the 2009 Outdoor National Season shot out of the gate at Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California this past weekend, nobody knew what to expect. The CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki team had been working overtime to get ready for the grueling series and it showed!

First race up was Moto #1 for the 450MX class where CANIDAE rider Tommy Hahn would face off against 40 of the toughest riders in the world. Tommy would enter the famous “Talladega Turn” inside the top 10 and finish lap 1 in 8th place. Hahn would battle with Chad Reed and Mike Brown for most of the race and take the checkered flag in 7th place. A great ride for Hahn and CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki.

Moto #1 for the 250MX riders was next and CANIDAE riders P.J. Larsen and Kyle Cunningham would take their shot at the fast and rough track. Cunningham would only make 7 laps due to a broken finger he obtained while testing for the event just days before the event. Larsen, who suffered from a poor start showed his speed while coming through the pack even with a rear flat tire that he suffered in the first 10 minutes of the race. P.J. would crash while pushing it to the limits in a fast, soft corner sending the bike all the way off the track. Somehow, the rookie rider pulled the bike back onto the track, under the banners and fences and remounted to finish a remarkable 18th place. 

Moto #2 for the 450 guys was almost a replay of the first with Hahn jumping out to a great start and holding his place inside the top 10 for the exhausting 30 minutes + 2 laps moto. Mixing it up for most of the race with the factory “Red Riders” Hahn would improve on position from the first moto and finish in 6th place which would net him a 6th place finish overall, a fantastic way to start the new season. 

Moto #2 for the 250 “Lites” riders was exciting and the CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki riders bounced back to show they will be riders to contend with all season long. Cunningham would fight through the severe pain to finish 13th on the extremely rough SoCal track. Larsen would finish just outside the top 10 in 11th place, a great finish for this rising star. 

CANIDAE is extremely proud of the team, riders and their wonderful efforts. Please join us as we head to The Hangtown Classic outside of Sacramento, CA May 30th. See you there!

Jason Cobb

Avenal Summer Nationals - Whipple T/F Qualifies #1 with a Blistering 2.266 @ 163.3 mph!

Team CANIDAE T/F and T/A Sand Dragsters headed to Avenal CA May 15th-17th for the 2009 Summer Nationals. The T/F team not only had to deal with Geoff Gill and Joe Bettencourt, but also the blistering heat which saw 120 degrees on the team's outside thermometer. The NSDA did an excellent job helping out the Avenal track, which is always fast. 

Whipple and the team was able to put down one of their fastest passes ever with a ET of 2.2666 @ 163.3 MPH (2.26 pass video) enabling them to take yet another #1 qualifying position. Rookie driver Geoff Gill, backed by car owner and master tuner Joe Bettencourt, were close behind with a 2.299 ET. Dennis Rieck finally got his small block chevy back on pace and qualified with a nice 2.451 ET.

 

Gill/Bettencourt were able to take down Dennis Rieck who unfortunately had too much in the tank and not enough on the nose which resulted in a huge wheel stand ending in a tremendous crash. (Avenal Drags May 2009 Top fuel Crash video). Dennis was ok and thankfully did not receive any major injuries. Our heartfelt concerns go out to Dennis and the entire Hammer Down crew.

 

The climatic final round went to Gill/Bettencourt who ran a 2.30 to Whipple's 2.31. The entire CANIDAE Team would like to congratulate the entire Gill/Bettencourt Top Fuel Team for their tremendous accomplishment and consistent blistering elapsed times, as well as their first NSDA win as a team!

Toliver Falls in First Round at NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals

Jerry Toliver qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car 15th for today's eliminations at the 9th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway which garnered him a first-round match-up with No. 2 qualifier Tim Wilkerson.  

In the Round 1 contest Wilkerson had a winning elapsed time of 4.165 seconds at 291.57 mph as Toliver hazed the tires before the 330-foot mark and slowed to a 7.289 e.t. at 87.10 mph.  Wilkerson's first-round e.t. was the quickest of the round as he advanced to the semifinals before losing to Del Worsham.  Worsham went on to defeat Tony Pedregon to claim the event win.  

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kansas, from May 29-31.

Kirk Weeks

Jerry Toliver/CANIDAE Racing Pre-Event 9th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals

Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver will be looking to make some noise in "Thunder Valley" as the NHRA Full Throttle Series travels to the mountains of Bristol, Tenn., for this weekend's 9th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.  Toliver will be behind the wheel of the familiar green, yellow and white CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car fielded by NHRA legend Jim Dunn and his Jim Dunn Racing team.   

"I'm upbeat going into Bristol," Toliver said.  "The guys have been working their tails off and it's just a matter of getting more laps on this CANIDAE car.  The team has shown improvement, the car has shown improvement, and every lap is a test lap, as Big Jim (Dunn) likes to say.  So we learned some good lessons there in St. Louis, and at Bristol we'll have four more laps and race day.  Hopefully we can get this thing figured out, get down the track and go some rounds."

Bristol Dragway is one of four Bruton Smith-owned tracks including The Strip at Las Vegas, Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and zMAX Dragway in Charlotte that collectively host five Full Throttle Series events during the year. 

"Bristol is a class "A" facility, no doubt," Toliver said.  "All of Bruton Smith's tracks are that way.  And the fans are fantastic there so I've always enjoyed going to Bristol.  I've met a lot of people over the years there that still stop by and hang out with me.  It's a premier facility and very unique sitting there in Thunder Valley.  I haven't had a lot of success there, I haven't won there, but it's on my radar."          

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday, May 16, beginning at 6:00 p.m. (ET).  Coverage on ESPN2 continues on Sunday, May 17, when NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage starting at 11:00 a.m. (ET), and concludes with three hours and 30 minutes of final eliminations coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks

CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki Season Finale at Sam Boyd Stadium

Sam Boyd Stadium has long been the final stop on the FIM Supercross Series. A perfect place to hold a grand celebration of a tremendous year for the entire Supercross community.

The East / West Shootout brought out the top riders from the East to take on the top riders from the West for Lites Class bragging rights. CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki has 3 Lites riders that qualified for this event. Branden Jesseman would represent the East side for CANIDAE while Kyle Cunningham and P.J. Larsen would represent the West for the team. During the second practice session, Jesseman would go down hard over a tricky, triple in, double out section and knock himself out of the event. Kyle Cunningham would go down with 2 laps to go in his qualifier then suffer from a bad start in the LCQ which would result in him not making the main. The lone CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki Lites rider would be rookie, P.J. Larsen.

P.J. got pinched off in the first corner, resulting in a bad start as he flew off the ski jump in 19th place. Larsen looked like he was riding tight, as he could not cleanly get around obviously slower riders early on in the race. After lap 3, Larsen calmed down and started to move forward. On lap 6, Larsen was 17th. By lap 9, he was up to 16th then up another spot by lap 11. On the 13th lap, Larsen would move into the 14th place spot where he would eventually finish the race. This was a good ride for this young, up and coming rider. Look for him to run up front next year.

As the season ends, P.J. Larsen finishes in 10th place and Kyle Cunningham in 11th in the West Coast Points Championship with Branden Jesseman finishing in 6th place and Hunter Hewitt in the 33rd position (Hunter has missed most of the season with a broken femur) in the East Coast Championship Series.

Tommy Hahn was set to do battle in the Supercross Class and battle he did. Tommy would figure out the tricky Las Vegas track and qualify out of his heat, directly into the main event. In the main, Tommy would get a bad jump off the start and cross the finish line in 17th place. He would however show his speed and move up quickly through the field, ending up in 12th place by lap five. After a 3 lap battle with Bowers, Hahn would cross the line in 13th place at the halfway point in the race. As Hahn closed in on the riders in front of him, Hahn’s bike malfunctioned as he pounded his way through the treacherous whoops. The night was over for Tommy as was the 2009 Supercross season. Hahn would finish the Championship Series in 19th place and looks forward to heading out doors for the MX Nationals.

CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods sponsors the "Lucky Dog" L.C.Q., which is the final opportunity for all remaining riders to make it into the "Big Show.” In the “Lites” class, Daniel Blair and Chris Blose transferred into the main and in the “Supercross” class; Robert Kiniry took the win followed by Kyle Partridge to move into their respective main events.

Next up for the CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki Team is the 2009, AMA Outdoor Nationals. This will be a tough series but the CANIDAE team should run up front all year. Come check it out as the season kicks off May 23rd in San Bernardino, CA. See you there!

Jason Cobb

Toliver Bows to Worsham in First Round at NHRA Midwest Nationals

A wet weekend on the NHRA Full Throttle Series tour came to an end for Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing team with a first-round loss at the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway. Toliver and his fellow NHRA competitors saw two rounds of qualifying cancelled due to rain on Friday and today's eliminations were run under mostly cloudy conditions.

Toliver in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy lost to No. 3 qualifier Del Worsham who posted the second-fastest elapsed time in today's first round. Worsham had an elapsed time of 4.113 seconds at 295.40 mph as Toliver lost traction almost immediately and slowed to an 8.922-second e.t. at 73.22 mph. Worsham advanced to the Funny Car finals against Ron Capps.

"Despite the weather and lost laps on Friday, I felt pretty good going into eliminations today," Toliver said. "(Del) Worsham and his team are awful strong and we knew we'd have to step it up, and we just got a little too aggressive. I lost traction there at the start and that was it."

Toliver leaves the Midwest Nationals tied for 13th in points with Jeff Arend and Jim Head.

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the 9th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn., from May 15-17.

Kirk weeks