Sat, 20 Oct 2007, 11:22 PM Scott Cannon Clinches Championship With No. 1 Qualifying Effort

Courtesy of IHRA Communications Photo copyright 2007 BME Photography Father Scotty Cannon Shares Spotlight as No. 1 Qualifier in Top Fuel

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. --

Scott Cannon

Pro Modified driver Scott Cannon Jr. of Lyman, S.C., shattered the Rockingham Dragway track record Saturday, qualified No. 1 for Sunday's 12th annual Knoll Gas Nitro Jam World Finals presented by the U.S. Air Force and, in the process, clinched the IHRA season championship.

By qualifying No. 1, the second generation pro increased his points lead over Mike Janis to an insurmountable 82 points, adding his first IHRA title to the six earned in the 1990s by his dad, Scotty Cannon.

Not to be outdone, the elder Cannon followed his son's lead and will start Sunday from the No.1 position in the featured Top Fuel division after recording a best of 4.603 seconds at 307.72 miles per hour. It's the first time in drag racing history that a father and son have led the pro qualifying in the same event.

Scotty Cannon

Scott Cannon, who will be bidding Sunday for his third straight Rockingham victory, was clocked in 5.969 seconds at 239.27 miles per hour Saturday in the replica 1966 Pontiac Firebird in which he set the national record earlier last month at Budds Creek, Md. (5.938 seconds).

Other No. 1 qualifiers were Bob Gilbertson of Charlotte in Nitro Funny Car; points leader Pete Berner of Crete, Ill., in Pro Stock; and Laurie Cannister of Johnstown, Ohio, in Alcohol Funny Car.

Berner, driving a 2007 Pontiac GTO, equaled the existing national record in Pro Stock with a time of 6.281 seconds at 220.80 mph. He will move into Sunday eliminations leading Robert Patrick of Fredericksburg, Va., by 10 points in one of the three races still undecided. As the No. 1 and No. 2 qualifiers, Berner and Patrick could meet in a decisive final round on Sunday.

Laurie Cannister

For Scotty Cannon, 45, it was a good news, bad news Saturday. The good news was his No. 1 qualifying effort, the first of his Top Fuel career; the bad was that he was mathematically eliminated from a points race which will be decided in the first two rounds on Sunday. If both win in the first round, current leader T.J. Zizzo of Lincolnshire, Ill., and perennial title runner-up Bruce Litton of Indianapolis would meet in round two to determine who gets the $150,000 bonus.

The third undecided points race, that for the Alcohol Funny Car title, could be decided in a first round race between former champion Rob Atchison of London, Ontario, Canada, and Cannister, who recorded a career best 5.669 at a track record speed of 246.89 mph to qualify No. 1. Atchison, down 35 points to Mark Thomas, must win to keep his slim title hopes alive.