CANIDAE Funny Car Team is Lead Story at NHRA.com

With the NHRA Northwest Nationals taking place this weekend in Seattle, the National Hot Rod Association has devoted their lead story to the CANIDAE Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car Team. The editorial staff at NHRA.com recalls the CANIDAE Jim Dunn Team's victory last year at Pacific Raceways and asks whether they can hold onto their championship crown. Visit NHRA.com for complete coverage.

See you at the races!

CANIDAE, Jim Dunn Racing to Defend its Funny Car Crown at NHRA Northwest Nationals

A day after Major League Baseball's annual All-Star game, Jim Dunn, team owner and crew chief of the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car, doesn't mind paying homage to one of the game's greats, Hall of Fame New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, when he says he hopes this weekend's NHRA Northwest Nationals is déjà vu all over again for his Jim Dunn Racing team. You see, last year at this race at Pacific Raceways Dunn tuned the CANIDAE car all the way to the winner's circle and presented driver Tony Bartone with his first Professional victory in the Funny Car class. This year Bartone returned to his racing roots in Alcohol Funny Car and Dunn has a different driver in Jerry Toliver, but the Hall of Fame owner/tuner obviously wouldn't mind adding a sixth career win to Toliver's Funny Car resume.

"Getting Tony's first win wasn't as good as me getting one," quipped Dunn. "No, that was cool to get Tony his first win; I was glad to get one for him. He had worked hard for it. If you're right, you're right, and on that day we were right."

Last year Bartone qualified the CANIDAE Chevy fifth with an elapsed time of 4.092 seconds at 303.37 mph and faced former Funny Car champ Gary Scelzi in the first round. Bartone made a solid 4.181-second run as Scelzi went up in smoke and then defeated Mike Neff in the second round to set up a semifinal match-up with 2007 Funny Car champ Tony Pedregon. In a good side-by-side contest Bartone ran Pedregon down with a 4.252-second elapsed time at 287.29 mph to Pedregon's 4.376 e.t. at 246.84 mph to advance to the money round against Ron Capps. In the final round the engine started going away on the CANIDAE car but Bartone held on to turn on the win light with a 4.454 e.t. at 238.17 mph to Capps' 4.708 at 227.46.

"The track was loose in the middle last year," Dunn said. "The only time we ran well was the Friday night session in qualifying. In the first round we de-tuned it and ran an '18' (4.18), and then a '25' in the semis. Everybody said we didn't run very well, and I just tell 'em we had lane choice in three of the four rounds so it was running better than the guy I was racing."

Dunn and Toliver are anxious to get back on the track and build on the momentum they were gaining before Denver.

"We've kind of lost our clutch combination, so we're going to try and set it up like we did last year and see what happens," Dunn said. "We're making power because we're running as fast as anybody from the half-mark to the finish line, but it just won't accelerate for the first 400 feet. We're usually about 16th (fastest) at the 60-foot mark, at 330-feet were about 14th, and then at the 660-foot mark we're about third, but at that point it's too late because you've already lost three-tenths of a second.

"We know we've got power because we ran 296 on Saturday at Denver, so now we've just got to figure it out. That's why racing's hard. We've got the power, now we just need to get the clutch setup, but we'll be alright."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the 22nd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, July 18, beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, July 19, 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 9:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Loses First-Round Match-up with Beckman at Mile-High NHRA Nationals

Final eliminations for the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway were completed today and Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver lost in the first round to Schumacher Racing's Jack Beckman. Toliver qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy 13th with an elapsed time of 4.269 seconds at 296.50 mph and was facing Beckman for the first time this season. In their first-round match-up Toliver launched the CANIDAE car first off the line but lost traction just short of the 330-foot mark and pedaled to an elapsed time of 5.143 seconds at 168.41 mph. Beckman had a solid pass of 4.267 seconds at 294.31 mph to turn on the win light.

"The car just went out there and shook," Toliver said. "Jim knew we had to speed it up a little bit going against Beckman and try and move a little quicker, but the car just didn't like it. All in all, we didn't hurt anything this weekend. We'll just come down off the mountain back to sea level and move on. I thought a hot, sunny day and hot track might even the playing field a little, but I don't think the today's cloud cover worked against us. We hopped it up quite a bit and the car just didn't like it."

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the second leg of the three-race Western Swing, the 22nd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Seattle from July 17-19. The Jim Dunn Racing team is the defending event champ in Funny Car at the NHRA Northwest Nationals where Tony Bartone drove the CANIDAE car to his first professional Top Fuel Funny Car victory there last year.

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Hopes Denver Qualifying Position is a Lucky One

Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver hopes 13 is a lucky number for him as he qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy 13th on the Funny Car grid for tomorrow's eliminations at the 30th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. Toliver drove his Jim Dunn Racing entry to an elapsed time of 4.269 seconds at 296.50 mph.

"The CANIDAE car is running good," Toliver said. "It's making some power and we're very pleased with it. I think after the first session today we had the second-fastest speed next to (No. 1 qualifier Ron) Capps, so that tells us this thing is making some power. My hat's off to Big Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn). We'll put it back in the box tonight and go run this thing tomorrow.

"Bandimere is one of those tracks where anything can happen on race day," Toliver said. "The tune-up on the car doesn't repeat itself anywhere, we don't run a mile-high altitude but once a year, the air is thin, so nothing you do here applies to what you do at any other race track. With that being said, it's also a great facility and the fans just pour in here. God Bless 'em yesterday with threatening weather, and then the rain, but they stuck around. Now we want to put on a good show for them tomorrow. It's kind of anybody's game up here. If you've got a race car that can get down a hot track, it's going to be interesting. "

In tomorrow's first round Toliver faces No. 4 qualifier Jack Beckman for the first time this season. Beckman's teammate Ron Capps is qualified No. 1 with a 4.121 elapsed time at 297.22 mph.

Toliver Expects Usual Challenges at Bandimere

When the NHRA Full Throttle Series makes its annual stop this weekend at Bandimere Speedway for the 30th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, race teams can toss their notes from other tracks right out the window because Bandimere presents its own set of challenges that can stack more than a mile high. Situated 5,860 feet above sea level on the outskirts of Denver in the western suburb of Morrison, the Bandimere facility is located more than two-and-a-half times higher in altitude than any other track on the NHRA circuit. The Strip at Las Vegas is the next highest at 2,100 feet above sea level.

"Oh man, Denver is a monster," said Jerry Toliver, driver of the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car. "The high altitude just sucks the power from the motor and takes away a lot of the down force. It's a real challenge for the crew chiefs and can be a bear getting down the track. You can end up sliding all over the place. But that's what makes it fun, and what a beautiful facility right there in the mountains. It's definitely unique."

At Norwalk two weeks ago Toliver equaled his best qualifying effort of the season in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy, and he likes where this Jim Dunn Racing team seems to be headed.

"We continue to make gains with this CANIDAE car, and we made great strides at our last race at Norwalk," Toliver said. "The car is leaving, it's reacting. Our speed at 280 mph was the second-best in qualifying last race. That tells you that we're getting there; just don't judge our progress by our Denver results. That place is such a crap shoot, and the tune-up we use we won't use anyplace else. Get back to me when we come down off the mountain and we'll see where we stand."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Mile-High NHRA Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, July 11, beginning at 10:00 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, July 12, 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

CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki Celebrates the USA at Redbud in Buchanan!

As the rest of the country celebrated America's Independence, Team CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki declared war on the rest of the field at the ever so popular, Redbud MX. Tommy Hahn had his hands full trying to repeat last week’s performance of 3rd overall at Thunder Valley. This would be especially tough for the up and coming rider as he arrived at the track sick and extremely weak. It would take everything he had to compete at his usual level. CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki, 250 rider Kyle Cunningham was also ready to take on this famous race track and would like nothing more than to spend his birthday on Sunday by celebrating a win at Redbud. Kyle looked great in practice and was excited for the gate to fall.



First race up was the 450’s featuring CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki rider Tommy Hahn. Hahn jumped out of the gate with a great start and the lead pack quickly separated itself from the rest of the field. Hahn would finish lap 1 in 5th place with factory riders surrounding him. It was an all out dogfight as Hahn battled back and forth, as he would swap positions repeatedly with the other riders. It was an epic battle as the crowd responded as only Redbud fans can do. By lap 13, Hahn was in sixth and had built a sizeable cushion between himself and the #539, factory Kawasaki of Ricky Dietrich. Hahn was closing on the riders in front of him when he went down extremely hard on the fast track and just like that, his day was done. Hahn would be taken to the local hospital to be checked out for a sprained neck and a concussion. You can be sure that Tommy will be back with a vengeance in 2 weeks in Millville.

Moto # 1 for the 250 riders was up next and CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki rider Kyle Cunningham would charge into the first corner inside the top ten and with some quick, aggressive moves, he would jump up to the 4th spot as the riders soared off the ski jump. Cunningham would battle the best in the class lap after lap as he fought to keep his position as all eyes watched the heated fight. This war would not let up for the entire 30 minutes + 2 laps and Kyle would leave everything out on the track as he raced to 7th place finish. Kyle was pumped and quickly headed back to the pits to rest up and get ready for Moto 2.

As the clouds above darkened, Moto #2 for the 250 riders would get underway in dry conditions as the 40 riders blasted off the start line. Cunningham would not get the start he wanted but if you have followed this gutsy kid at all, you know he never gives up. At the end of lap 1, Kyle would be all the way back in 17th position and would dig deep to slice his way up through the field. Kyle would work his way up to 11th place before lapped riders and the now falling rain would hamper his progress through the field. Cunningham would end up in 7th place overall for the day with his 5th in Moto 1 and 11th place in Moto 2. It was a good day for Kyle and the team and a great way to celebrate his birthday on Sunday.

Come out to watch the CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki team take on the Whoop Monster at Spring Creek MX Park in Millville, MN. It is a great track and the action should be intense. The team should get back their rookie sensation PJ Larsen at this event, which has been sidelined with a broke wrist. Stop by and say “hi” to the team when you are there. See you there!

Jason Cobb

Tommy Hahn Powers to 3rd place Finish at Thunder Valley

Tommy Hahn has been the surprise of the 2009 Outdoor Motocross season but it was not until Lakewood Colorado that he would finally arrive. Hahn, who has been finishing inside the top 10 all season, established himself as a front-runner by taking 3rd place overall in the 450 class, under the lights, in the high altitude outside of Denver, Colorado.

First race up in the premier class saw CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki rider Tommy Hahn jump out of the gate into a top ten position and finish lap 1 in 8th place. Vision was extremely tough during this moto due to the fact that the sun had dropped below the mountains and it was too light for the lights to be effective but to dark to see clearly. The lighting would get worse before it got better and Hahn, while running down Michael Byrne in 7th place, would misjudge his take off on the huge down hill and land off the course on a hay bale bending his shift shaft inside the transmission, hampering his shifting for the remainder of the moto. Hahn would play it smart and not take any unnecessary chances as he settled into 7th place where he would finish the moto.

Moto # 1 for the 250 riders was up next and CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki rider Kyle Cunningham would charge up the hill and into the first corner in mid-pack but able to make some quick passes to work up to 14th before the end of the first lap. Cunningham would move up as high as 10th place before a crash on lap 5 would send him back to 14th place. Cunningham would struggle in the poor lighting conditions and drop back to 16th by the end of the moto.

Moto #2 for the 450 pilots was on the line and CANIDAE rider Tommy Hahn was ready to go. The team did a great job installing a completely new motor and transmission after the damage in moto # 1. As the gate dropped, Tommy Hahn would find himself in 4th as the riders rounded the first corner. Hahn would set his sights on Michael Byrne in 3rd place and on lap 3, fly past Byrne as the top three riders pulled away from the rest of the field. Andrew Short was next in Hahn’s crosshairs as the two riders dueled it out for 7 laps before Hahn went inside Short to take 2nd place away from the factory rider. Hahn would quickly gap Short and set out for Tedesco in the lead. On lap 12, Hahn made a slight mistake as he pushed hard to close in on the front-runner Tedesco and ran off the track to avoid crashing in a tricky section. Unfortunately, this allowed Short to slip back by and Hahn would have to start over in 3rd place. With time winding down, Hahn pushed hard but would end up just behind Short at the finish line by only 2 bike-lengths, just missing 2nd place. This was the best moto finish for Tommy Hahn of his young career and combined with his 7th place in Moto 1, Hahn would earn a him a career best 3rd place overall for the day! Amazing job Tommy!

Moto #2 for the 250 riders would wrap up the day and Cunningham was set to rebound from his bad luck in the first heat. The start was a mirror image of Moto 1 for Cunningham as he finished the first circuit in 14th. Kyle would move up to 12th place by lap 4 as he pushed towards the front but a mistake on lap 5 would pound the CANIDAE rider to the ground again. Cunningham would remount but obviously beat up, he would not regain his previous speed and would settle for a 21st place finish. Not where this talented rider belongs, he will certainly bounce back for sure next week in Michigan.

Come out to watch the CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki team take on the legendary Redbud track in Buchanan, MI next Saturday July 4th as the series continues. See you there!

Jason Cobb

Toliver Confident Leaving Summit Racing NHRA Nationals

Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver leaves this weekend's Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals with a lot of positive reinforcement despite his first-round loss to 14-time Funny Car champ John Force. He matched his best qualifying effort of the season. He posted the second-fastest speed at more than 280 mph through the four rounds of qualifying. And the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy is responding when the Jim Dunn Racing team asks it to.

"We continue to make gains, and we made great strides this weekend," Toliver said. "This CANIDAE car is leaving, it's reacting. Our 60-foot time is good, and our speed at 280 mph was the second-best in qualifying. That tells you that we're getting there. Now we have to learn to race the racetrack, learn to go out there on race day and go some rounds, but it doesn't happen over night."

In his fourth match-up with Force this season, Toliver in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy hazed the tires just past halftrack and slowed to a 4.583-second elapsed time at 201.61 mph as Force made the second-quickest pass of the first round with a 4.268 e.t. at 280.89.

"I said two or three races ago that we've been working on a new clutch program and that it was slowly coming together," Toliver said. "You just can't take big bites. You'd love to. You'd love to go out there and say oh yeah, let's just change that and make it happen right away, but it just doesn't work that way. There are so many variables with what we do out here, what Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) has to do, it's amazing. It's small baby steps, but I think we made some giant steps this weekend."

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the first leg of the three-race Western Swing, the 30th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, Colo., from July 10-12.

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Anxious to Get Back on Track at Norwalk

This weekend's third annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Motorsports gives Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver the perfect remedy for what ails the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy - laps down the track. He and his Jim Dunn Racing teammates look to take the positive from a challenging race weekend at Englishtown (N.J.) two weeks ago and continue to work on getting the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil car consistently down the track, starting at the Bader family-owned quarter-mile in Norwalk.

"Breaking in a new clutch system on what is essentially a new car is not something that is fixed overnight," Toliver said. "We just need laps on this CANIDAE car. Unfortunately, at Englishtown, we were probably just two laps behind the entire weekend. The upside of it and looking at the glass half full, we have our last lap from eliminations at Englishtown as a good lap, and we should have something to start down the hot track at Norwalk with, get down the track and improve on. That's the upside of our last race."

Despite some challenges in qualifying, Toliver has made solid passes in eliminations at the last three or four races and looks for continued improvement in the CANIDAE car's performance.

"It's a slow process, but we're narrowing in on our window, so to speak, and I think we're ready to see some good performance out of this CANIDAE car," Toliver said. "It's just a matter of time. We're still testing and getting this thing figured out, and we've had a couple of setbacks, but that happens to everybody sometime. It's just a matter of keeping your head down and keeping on running.

"It's been challenging, that's for sure, but when you're starting with a brand new car with no preseason testing, it's going to take time. I think we're finally narrowing it down and have eliminated some of the other variables that have hurt our performance. Everything is working and responding, so that's the good thing. Now it's just a matter of sneaking up on it a little bit quicker."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, June 27, beginning at 8:00 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, June 28, when NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage starting at 12:00 noon (ET), and concludes with three hours of final-eliminations coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks

Hahn Continues To Roll, As Cunningham Gets Healthy!

The CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki team has been on the move since the beginning of the Nationals. In the 450 class, Tommy Hahn continues to impress with consistent top 5 rides to establish his name against the worlds best. In the 250 class, Kyle Cunningham is continuing to show his speed and grit as he continues to get healthy after a broken finger and 13 stitches in his forearm from a testing crash. Rookie sensation, PJ Larsen has also been riding extremely well but had to sit out this round due to injuries sustained last week at Freestone.

First race up was Moto #1 for the premier class where CANIDAE rider Tommy Hahn would get out of the gate mid-pack and begin his charge forward. As he began to pass riders, one would go down in front of Hahn colliding with Hahn’s Kawasaki. Hahn would remain upright and moving forward but something was obviously wrong. As it turned out, Hahn’s rear brake was damaged in the crash and he was forced to ride the entire moto with no rear brake. High Point is not the track you want to race on with no rear brake considering all of the elevation changes and off camber corners. Hahn somehow managed to finish 18th in an inspired ride.

Moto #1 for the 250 riders was next and CANIDAE rider Kyle Cunningham would jump out to a decent start in 17th and waste little time moving forward. By lap 6, Cunningham would move into 10th place where he would eventually finish after the 30 minutes + 2 laps. This was a great way to start the day for the young rider from Fort Worth, TX.

Moto #2 for the 450 pilots was on the line and as the gate dropped, Tommy Hahn would find himself inside the top 10 after the first corner. The difference was clearly visible after repairs were made to Hahn’s bike to fix the damaged rear brake from Moto 1 as the rider chased down and passed factory supported riders until he was in 4th place where he would end up at the conclusion of Moto 2. A fantastic ride for this young man as he continues to impress all. Hahn would finish the day in 10th overall and he would earn the Muscle Milk Recovery Reward for his efforts. Great Job Tommy!

Moto #2 for the 250 riders would wrap up the day and Cunningham was set to defend his top ten finish from Moto1. Not content with his 16th place as ended lap 1, Kyle went to work, leaving nothing in the tank as he raced towards the front until he had moved into 10th place. By duplicating his results from Moto 1, Cunningham would earn a 9th place overall for the day. There is no question Kyle is on the mend and as he continues to gets healthier, his speed increases. Kyle will enjoy the week break allowing crucial heal time as the series moves on to Colorado in 2 weeks.

CANIDAE Motosport Kawasaki continues to perform on and off the track and continues to turn heads. Stop by and be part of something special as the series rolls into Thunder Valley Raceway on the June 27th. See you there!

Jason Cobb

Toliver Loses Rematch with Neff at Englishtown

In today's first-round match-up against Mike Neff at the United Association NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Funny Car veteran Jerry Toliver was looking to draw some positive vibes from his first-round defeat of the Force Racing driver earlier this season at Gainesville. Unfortunately for Toliver, history didn't repeat itself.

Toliver in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy made his best pass of the weekend with a 4.213-second elapsed time at 303.43 mph, but Neff used the quickest elapsed time of the round to avenge his earlier loss. Neff had an elapsed time of 4.051 seconds at 308.92 mph to get the better of the Jim Dunn Racing entry. Tony Pedregon went on to defeat Neff's teammate, Ashley Force Hood, for his second consecutive Funny Car win.

"We kind of put ourselves behind the eight ball in qualifying," Toliver said. "We've been making gains on the CANIDAE car, but it seems like every time we take a step or two forward with it, we take another one backwards. That's what makes this class so tough.

"We could have used that extra qualifying session that got rained out yesterday. We need all the laps we can get to find that window and dial this car in. Big Jim (Dunn) and the guys are working hard and we're just going to keep plugging away at it."

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the Third annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, from June 25-28.

Kirk Weeks

40th United Association NHRA SuperNationals Old Bridge Township Raceway Park

Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver and his Jim Dunn Racing teammates have been working hard and making strides with their CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy, and they look to see some of the fruits of their labor at this weekend's 40th annual NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.  

Despite the requisite growing pains after implementing a new clutch system two races ago at Topeka, Toliver and team owner/crew chief Jim Dunn have seen marked improvement in the CANIDAE car's ability to get down the track and look to continue to build on the car's performance.

"We've been working on the new clutch system the last two races and now we feel we can get down the track on all four qualifying runs," said the Hall of Famer Dunn.  "You can't learn anything if you go out and smoke the tires; there's not a lot of data when you're only going 300 feet.  You've got to go under the line, go slow, and then start coming up to the line.  

"When it smokes the tires it shuts the car off and we can't get a full-run read.  We'd rather go a tenth slower and see where we're weak.  That's what we've been doing.  We've just got to get more aggressive with it.  We'll get after it a little more this weekend at Englishtown."

Toliver had good side-by-side runs in eliminations both at Topeka and last week at Chicago, and despite first-round losses, the team is encouraged by both A-to-B runs and now looks to step up its learning curve.     

"We still need to get the timing and the clutch together," Dunn said.  "We put everything under the line to be safe until we get a good run.  We've just got to get more aggressive with it.  We'll start stepping it up to hurt it a little bit now." 

A one-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the NHRA SuperNationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, June 13, beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET).  Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, June 14, 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 10:00 p.m. (ET).