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 mile 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.
CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods, http://www.canidae.com, is committed to sharing the message of "Responsible
Pet Ownership" through proper care and nutrition. CANIDAE provides its valued customers and their
pets with the highest standard of excellence for product quality, palatability and customer
satisfaction.
