Joliet: Jerry Toliver Saturday notes

Toliver Qualified No. 12 for Eliminations at Route 66 NHRA Nationals

JOLIET, Ill., June 6, 2009 - Qualifying for eliminations for the 12th annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway was completed today, and Jerry Toliver drove the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy to the 12th qualifying position in the Funny Car class. Toliver failed to make a full pass in either of yesterday's two qualifying sessions, but the Jim Dunn Racing team rebounded with the sixth-quickest run in today's third session with an elapsed time of 4.192 seconds at 299.73 mph, good enough for 12th on the Funny Car grid.

"We knew we would have a learning curve with this new clutch system," Toliver said, "and we proved that last night as we struggled to get down the track in both sessions. Today was a different story as we made nearly a full pull in that third session and went straight down the track. We're starting to head in the right direction.

"The team's really been working hard chasing this thing and it's slowly starting to pay off. Hopefully that will result in a few round wins on Sunday. We'll just have to get after it tomorrow and see what happens."

Fellow Chevy driver Tony Pedregon is No. 1 qualifier for the second time this season with an elapsed time of 4.079 seconds at 302.48 mph, and Toliver will face Tony's brother Cruz in tomorrow's first round of eliminations.

-credit: jdr