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

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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

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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

CANIDAE Racing NHRA Brainerd Results

After a near three-hour delay, a rain-interrupted final day of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway was finally completed, and CANIDAE Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver lost in his first-round match-up with Del Worsham.

Toliver qualified a season-best ninth for eliminations with a 4.209 e.t. at 296.50 mph, and the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy had the second-fastest speed through qualifying. In the first round Worsham had a winning elapsed time of 4.150 seconds at 302.62 mph to best Toliver's 4.299 e.t. at 289.20 mph. Tony Pedregon defeated Ron Capps in the Funny Car finals.

"Give Worsham and their team credit," Toliver said. "They stepped it up a little bit from qualifying and we fell off a little, and when it's 8 (qualifier) vs. 9 (qualifier) that's all it takes. But we'll take away some positives from Brainerd.

"We had our best qualifying effort of the season, and we had the second-best speed in qualifying, so Big Jim (team owner/crew chief) is obviously making some horsepower. We just need to be more consistent, and as we showed here this weekend, nobody on this team is giving up, so we pack up and get back after it at Reading."

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is race No. 17, the 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., from Aug. 20-23.

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Turns in Season-Best Qualifying Effort at Brainerd

Qualifying was completed today for the 28th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, and Jerry Toliver drove the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car to his best qualifying position of the season with a 4.209-second elapsed time at 296.50 mph to claim the ninth qualifying spot on the Funny Car grid. Toliver's speed was second-fastest in the class for the weekend, only being bested by No. 1 qualifier Mike Neff. Neff had a 4.126 e.t. at 304.46 mph.

"We got better with each qualifying run," Toliver said, "and it's nice to see the hard work put in by Jim (team owner /crew chief Dunn) and the team start to show on the track. The next step is to carry it over into consistent runs on Sunday so hopefully we can do that."

After yesterday's two qualifying sessions, today's qualifying was rain-shortened to just one round, and Toliver will face No. 8 qualifier Del Worsham in the first round of eliminations.

"We would've liked another round to try and move up into the top half of the field, but I don't think lane choice is going to be that big of an issue here at Brainerd. We just need to build some momentum from qualifying and get some round wins."

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Anxious to Get Back on Track at Brainerd

After a two-week break most NHRA teams are anxious to get back on the quarter-mile for this weekend's 28th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, and for Jerry Toliver, driver of the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car, truer words may have never been spoken.

"For some reason I looked at the schedule wrong and I actually had a flight booked and was ready to go to Brainerd last week," Toliver laughed. "It's funny because I looked on NHRA.com where they count down the days to the next race and when it said eight days and so many hours, I just thought they hadn't updated it. Then it registered and I thought, 'You dummy, Brainerd's next week.' Oh well, I rebooked my flight and I'm ready to go.

"The biggest problem we're having is we're not qualifying the CANIDAE car high enough. We're getting knocked out first round by cars that have just plain out-qualified us. We need to step it up and Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) is working really hard on that. We're working hard to get to the next level and then be consistent with what we have. There are just too many good cars out here so you've got to be there."

The Jim Dunn Racing team had good performance numbers with the CANIDAE car at Norwalk, prior to the just-completed Western Swing, matching its best qualifying effort of the season and posting the second-fastest speed of the meet. Toliver and the team now look to regain some of that momentum starting this weekend at Brainerd.

"I'm not going to say we can't get over this hump, we just haven't gotten over it up to this point," Toliver said. "We're certainly not going to roll over and quit trying. We're going to keep working hard and see if we can't get this thing turned around. Making the top 10 is out of the question, but we want to make a good showing and finish the year strong."

A one-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, Aug. 15, beginning at 6:00 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, Aug. 16, 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 10:00 p.m. (ET).

Kirk Weeks

CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki Takes Loretta Lynn’s by Storm!

Nothing could stop the CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki team at the Ranch. Not Mother Nature. Not the tough competition. Not the rough track. Nothing! Team CANIDAE steam rolled over the competition with seven moto wins, six runner ups and a total of 16 podium spots not to mention two National Titles from this team; not a bad weekend for the boys in Green.

Zack Freeberg had a good weekend, but some transmission troubles in his 450 moto kept him from a podium spot in this class. Zack would bounce back and podium two out of three times with a 4/3/3 for a 3rd overall in the 250B class. This kid is going to be a name to watch in the near future, you can count on that.

Justin Bogle also had a good weekend as he competed in the Schoolboy B/C (12-16) class on his 125cc Kawasaki and the Schoolboy B/C (14-16) class on his 250F Kawasaki. Justin struggled with starts on the 125 and just missed the podium in this class, but made up for it with triple deuces on the 250. With his 2/2/2 finish, he took home the silver medal and sent notice to the other riders just who is the one to beat next year.

Malcolm Stewart showed tremendous heart and perseverance during a week when the Florida rider could not buy a start. Malcolm clawed his way to the top in almost every moto he raced. In the Four Stroke class, he finished second overall for the week with a 1/6/1 performance. In 450A, Malcolm was consistent with three, second place finishes for another silver medal. Watch this kid next year as he continues to dial in his program.

Dean Wilson came to Loretta Lynn’s as the man to beat and he did not disappoint. If it were not for his first moto in the 250A class, Dean would have swept every moto he competed in the entire week. He finished 3/1/1 in the class for his first National Title of the weekend, then walked away with the 450A/ProSport Championship with a 1/1/1 tally. Dean proved that his amazing year is no fluke and he is ready for the stardom that is coming his way.

CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods could not be more proud of their team, the riders, the mechanics and the families that make this program the elite powerhouse that it is. The entire ream works tirelessly to improve and represent themselves and their sponsors at the highest level. We at CANIDAE salute you fine young men for a job well done.

Jason Cobb

CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki Heads to the Pacific Northwest

By now, the motocross industry has become accustom to the abilities of the CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki team at the Outdoor Nationals. At the beginning of the series, Tommy Hahn was a “surprise” but has consistently become a “contender” and most racers are beginning to expect him to run up front as they now have to plan their attack to include him. Kyle Cunningham has also been improving his results steadily as his health nears 100% and if Cunningham manages to get a good start, watch out! This week the series moved to the scenic Pacific Northwest at the ever-popular Washougal MX in Washington and the crowds came out to enjoy the great racing, perfect weather and improved track. Nobody went home disappointed.

First up was the 450’s featuring CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki rider Tommy Hahn. Hahn again jumped out to a great start and would finish lap 1 in 3rd place. Just ahead of Hahn was the # 34 of Matt Goerke but only for a few corners as Hahn wasted little time getting around the #34 bike and setting his eyes on the race leader, Chad Reed. Reed tried as he might to get away early and gap the rest of the field but Hahn would have none of that, running most of the moto right on Reed’s rear fender. At one point Reed opened up a small 5-second lead while the two riders fought their way through lapped riders but Hahn would make a charge and close the gap to only 1.5 seconds at one point before running out of time at the end of Moto # 1. This is a huge accomplishment and just a glimpse of what this CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki rider is capable of. If Hahn could have a solid second moto, he would secure a top 3 overall finish for the day or even a win.

Moto # 1 for the 250 riders was up next and CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki riders Kyle Cunningham and PJ Larsen would get good starts as they charged into the first corner inside the top ten. Cunningham would finish lap 1 in 6th place and Larsen 8th. Kyle started the 2009 season injured and has been battling all series long to get healthy with results that reflect his improving health. Cunningham jumped and raced his way to the front following Dungy through the pack until the two were well out in front. Cunningham was almost able to take the lead, late in the moto as Dungy would falter but the gap was too great and when the checkered flags flew, Kyle would find himself on the podium in second place with his best finish of the year! Washougal was the first for Larsen since breaking his wrist at round 3 in Wortham, TX, it was obvious that he was not quite 100% as he struggled to keep the lead pack in sight and would finish in 15th place. Certainly not a bad return for the impressive rookie and a great start on the day for Team CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki!

The excitement was obviously high in the CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki pits was for the 2nd Motos. As the 450’s shot out of the gate, Hahn’s # 48 Kawasaki would once again head for the first turn towards the front of the pack. As the riders set up for the left hand turn, the orange #114 bike of Justin Brayton would come in way too hot and slam into the CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki rider, sending him to the ground, ending his day and sending him to the Asterisk Medical Unit to be checked out for internal injuries as well as his back and leg. Such a disappointment for Hahn and the team, which had been making such great strides for that first win. Hahn will rebound and will be better than ever when the series returns in 3 weeks in NY.

Moto #2 for the 250 riders would get underway and Kyle was hungry to repeat his first moto result. As the racers rounded the first turn, both Cunningham and Larsen would be outside of the top 10 and have their work cut out to make it to the front. When the first lap ended, Cunningham would cross the line in 12th place and Larsen in 18th. Cunningham would charge hard until he was unfortunately involved in a huge crash that left the CANIDAE rider trapped under his bike for some time and the bike unrideable, ending his day. Larsen would move up as the moto continued as he fought for a hard-earned 14th spot, a gritty performance for this tough kid.

While the CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki team had some bad luck in Washington, it was obvious to see that the team is a legitimate front-runner. Come out to the fabled Unadilla Valley Sports Center in Upstate NY on August 15th for the next exciting round of motocross action. Stop by and say “hi” to the CANIDAE Motosport.com Kawasaki team before they hit the track. See you there!

Jason Cobb

Toliver Loses First-Round Match-up with Neff at Sonoma

Final eliminations for the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway were completed today and CANIDAE Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver lost in a first-round match-up with Mike Neff. It was the third meeting this season between the two Funny Car combatants as Toliver defeated the Force Racing driver at Gainesville in March and Neff defeated Toliver last month at Englishtown.

Toliver qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy 15th with an elapsed time of 4.312 seconds at 290.57 mph. In the first round Neff had a winning elapsed time of 4.127 seconds at 302.35 mph as Toliver lost traction before the 330-foot mark and slowed to a 7.945 e.t. at 78.66 mph.

"We're just really struggling with that first part of the track," Toliver said. "We can't seem to find any consistency with this CANIDAE car. We're making one or two decent qualifying passes, but then we shake the tires in the first 300 feet on the other runs. That makes it tough on Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) to tune the car for Sunday when we aren't making full pulls. We knew we had to step it up against Neff and the car just didn't like it."

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is race No. 16, the 28th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd Int'l. Raceway in Brainerd, Minn., from Aug. 13-16.

Toliver will be Close to Home for FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals

Like a lot of his fellow NHRA drag racing peers, CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver was born and raised in Southern California. This weekend's 15th stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Series, the 22nd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway just north of San Francisco, is in state and will almost be a "home" game for him and his California based sponsor CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods. Major associate sponsor WileyX is also based in California just outside of Oakland in Livermore.

"Historically, I haven't done that well at the Sonoma race," Toliver said. "In 2000 we suffered our only DNQ of the season there and it was just devastating. (John) Force passed me for the points lead that weekend and we never did recover and he went on to win the championship (Toliver finished a career-best 3rd in points). But I like Sonoma, it's beautiful up there and close to home, but on the track I've got some making up to do. Maybe I've got some equity built up in the luck bank and it will pay out this weekend.

"It's going to be hot which really puts us right there on par with the rest of the field. I think the hot tracks really favor us because of the difficulty getting down them. Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) seems to have a pretty good handle on that and seems to be able to go A to B, so I think we have as good a shot as anybody. One of our sponsors, WileyX, its headquarters are in Livermore which is fairly close to the track, so we'll have some of them out during the weekend, and the CANIDAE folks are coming up, too, so hopefully we can put on a good show for them."

Toliver lost a close first-round match-up with Bob Tasca last week at Seattle and is anxious to get back on the quarter-mile at Infineon Raceway. Both drivers saw the performance of their cars fall off, but Tasca had an elapsed time of 4.498 seconds at 246.80 mph to edge Toliver's 4.535 e.t. at 205.85 mph.

"I didn't see Tasca and I saw the finish line coming up and I thought, 'Okay, here we go, we got the win,' but then it let go," Toliver said. "I coasted and didn't see him and then right at the end he went by me. Oh well. I think it's good we're getting right back on the track without a layoff. I'm still wound up and want to get back out there and win some rounds. We were close last week, let's get back out there and let's do it again."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Northwest Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD on Saturday, July 25, beginning at 6:00 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD continues on Sunday, July 26, 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).

Toliver Loses Rematch with Tasca at Seattle

Final eliminations for the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways were completed today and Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver lost in a first-round rematch with Ford driver Bob Tasca. He lost a first-round match-up with Tasca earlier this season at Phoenix.

Toliver qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy 13th for the second consecutive race with an elapsed time of 4.309 seconds at 276.80 mph. In the first round Toliver lost a tight race as both drivers saw the performance of their cars fall off. Tasca had an elapsed time of 4.498 seconds at 246.80 mph to edge Toliver's 4.535 e.t. at 205.85 mph.

"Man, I thought we might have stole one," Toliver said. "Neither one of us made a real good run and we had holes going out. We just couldn't hang on. I thought we might have something for them after our strong run on Saturday in qualifying, but it just wasn't meant to be. Now it's pack it up and finish off the Western Swing on a strong note at Sonoma."

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the third and final leg of the three-race Western Swing, the 22nd annual FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., from July 24-26.

Kirk Weeks

Toliver Faces Tasca in First Round at NHRA Northwest Nationals

For the second of three consecutive races on the NHRA Full Throttle Series' Western Swing 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 22nd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. Toliver matched his qualifying effort from last week at the Mile-High Nationals at Denver when he drove to a weekend-best elapsed time of 4.309 seconds at 276.80 mph in today's fourth and final qualifying session.

"Finally," Toliver said of his fourth qualifying pass. "We just haven't been able to make this CANIDAE car happy. We were obviously too aggressive yesterday but today Big Jim (team owner/crew chief) got a lot closer (with the tune-up). The tuning window on this car is so small, but we made a full pull on that last run so hopefully we can build off of that and carry it over to tomorrow."

The Jim Dunn Racing team is defending Funny Car champs at Pacific Raceways as Tony Bartone earned his first professional Funny Car victory last year when he drove the CANIDAE car past Ron Capps in the finals.

"Jim and the guys obviously have good thoughts of racing here on Sunday with last year's win so maybe we can take a little positive mojo from that into tomorrow."

In tomorrow's first round Toliver faces No. 4 qualifier Bob Tasca for the second time this season. He lost to Tasca earlier this year in the first round at Phoenix. Fellow Chevy driver Tony Pedregon qualified No. 1 with a 4.174 elapsed time at 294.43 mph.

Kirk Weeks