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September 28, 2009:
Toliver Advances to Semifinals at NHRA Fall Nationals

Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing team turned in their best performance of the season when the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy advanced to the semifinals today at the 24th annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. Toliver defeated Jeff Arend in Round 1, Bob Tasca III in Round 2 before falling to Jack Beckman in the semifinals.

The CANIDAE car was fast right off of the team transporter as Toliver qualified a season-best third in Friday's night session with a 4.163 elapsed time at 302.55 mph. His speed was the second-best in qualifying and continuing its late-season surge, this was the second time in the last three races that the team had placed the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy in the top half of the qualifying field.

"Qualifying in the top half makes such a big difference," Toliver said. "You're assured lane choice and you're not always facing the No. 1, or No. 2, or No. 3 qualifier in the first round. Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) has the car in a tuning window where it really is reacting to what he's telling it. He just has so much experience with these hot tracks, and today he did a great job of getting the CANIDAE car to go from A to B and we were able to go a few rounds."

In the first round Toliver defeated Jeff Arend with an elapsed time of 4.277 seconds at 290.38 mph to Arend's 4.920 e.t. at 211.06 mph, reversing Arend's defeat of Toliver in their only other meeting this year three weeks ago at Indy. In the second round Toliver bested Tasca with a 4.354 elapsed time at 289.54 mph to Tasca's 4.588 e.t. at 261.17 mph but lost lane choice to Beckman in the semifinals.

In the semifinal round both drivers left the starting line with near-identical reaction times but Beckman pulled ahead as Toliver lost tire traction and had to pedal the car. Beckman also experienced trouble when he lost a cylinder but edged Toliver at the finish line with an elapsed time of 4.546 seconds at 218.55 mph to Toliver's 4.555-second e.t. at 214.01 mph.

"To say this was a good weekend for this race team would be an understatement," Toliver said. "We've been so hungry for a race weekend like this that I was ready to eat some of CANIDAE's Snap-Biscuits. This team works hard and is no different than any other team out here - it only wants to win.

"Yesterday somebody asked me if I was looking forward to playing the role of spoiler and I said I don't want to be a spoiler, I want to be a winner. I'm not out here to spoil somebody's day, I'm not out here to ruin his day, I'm out here to make mine. This team wants to win. Big Jim is getting this thing turned around and I'm proud of the guys."

The next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals on Oct. 2-4 at Memphis Motorsports Park, the third of six races in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship.





September 07, 2009:
Toliver Has Best Qualifying Effort at U.S. Nationals

good news for Jerry ToliverThe good news for Jerry Toliver and the Jim Dunn Racing is they turned in their best qualifying effort of the season at this weekend's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park to start in the top-half of the Funny Car field for eliminations.  The bad news is their CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy couldn't quite match that performance today and fell to Jeff Arend in the first round. 

Entering eliminations as the No. 10 qualifier, Arend had an elapsed time of 4.174 seconds at 301.47 mph to edge Toliver who steered the CANIDAE car to a 4.194 e.t. at 294.56 mph. 

"A couple of guys were smoking the tires before us, so Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) slowed it down and backed it off a little bit, but the car just didn't run the number we needed," Toliver said.  "Even though Jeff's car outran us, I also got tattooed on the light and that doesn't make me feel any better."

Toliver made an impressive run with the the third-quickest pass in yesterday's final qualifying session, bested only by the 4.095 elapsed time of No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight and the 4.098 e.t. of Cruz Pedregon to qualify seventh for Funny Car eliminations. 

good news for Jerry Toliver "All in all, it was still a good weekend even though we hurt a motor on that run," Toliver said.  "That wasn't good.  But the real story is we ran a good number yesterday (third-quickest pass in the final qualifying session).   The good thing is the car responded and did what Jim asked it to do.  We've got a good hot rod here and I'm excited going forward."

The U.S. Nations also saw Jim Dunn Racing unviel the new CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy body pictured left.

The next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 2nd annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals on Sept. 17-20 at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., the first of six races in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship.




July 27, 2009:
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.




July 12, 2009:
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.




June 14, 2009:
Toliver Loses Rematch with Neff at Englishtown

In the 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.




June 7, 2009:
Toliver's Top Speed of Weekend Not Enough at Route 66 NHRA Nationals

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.




May 31, 2009:
Toliver Optimistic Despite First-Round Loss at Topeka

A new clutch system on his CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car leaves driver Jerry Toliver quite optimistic despite a first-round loss today at the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

Toliver in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy got off the starting line first against his first-round foe, John Force, but the No. 2 qualifier used the quickest elapsed time of the round to run Toliver down and turn on the win light. Force had an elapsed time of 4.232 seconds at 290.94 mph to defeat the Jim Dunn Racing entry's 4.393 e.t. at 256.11 mph.

"I almost messed up there in the first round," Toliver said. "On the burnout I pulled on the brakes and the car just kept rolling almost to 330 (feet). I thought the brakes were no good and when I went to stage the thing, the car just kept rolling in the beam and I ended up deep staging. I didn't mean to. I told Force afterwards that I didn't mean to do that. I thought I was going to roll right through the beams."

Toliver's elapsed time in today's first round of eliminations was his quickest of the weekend and gives him great confidence that the new clutch system employed for the first time this weekend has the CANIDAE car heading in the right direction.

"It's actually been a good weekend," Toliver said. "Like I said, we're really focused on this new clutch program. We already see a lot of improvement and the car's responding. We didn't drop any holes today on our first-round run, so the problems we've been having are starting to come around. I think Jim's (Dunn) happy we didn't hurt anything, and the guys have really stepped up. Now it's just a matter of getting a handle on the deal. It's coming around."

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the 12th annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., from June 4-7.




May 18, 2009:
Toliver Falls in First Round at NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals

Jerry Toliver qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car 15th for today's eliminations at the 9th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway which garnered him a first-round match-up with No. 2 qualifier Tim Wilkerson.

In the Round 1 contest Wilkerson had a winning elapsed time of 4.165 seconds at 291.57 mph as Toliver hazed the tires before the 330-foot mark and slowed to a 7.289 e.t. at 87.10 mph. Wilkerson's first-round e.t. was the quickest of the round as he advanced to the semifinals before losing to Del Worsham. Worsham went on to defeat Tony Pedregon to claim the event win.

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kansas, from May 29-31.




April 20, 2009:
Toliver Loses First-Round Match-Up with Force at Atlanta

Jerry Toliver and his CANIDAE Racing team made an early exit from the Summit Racing NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway after a first-round loss to 14-time Funny Car champ John Force.

After near-identical reaction times, Force slowly pulled away with a winning elapsed time of 4.123 seconds at 308.57 mph as Toliver drove the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy to an elapsed time of 4.213 seconds at 301.74 mph.

"Even though we lost, this was a good bounce-back weekend for us," Toliver said. "We made consistent runs in qualifying, and then made a good, solid run in the first round today that just wasn't enough. (John) Force is obviously a tough match-up, but we made a good pass and at least made him earn it. We got some good data this weekend, so it's on to St. Louis and we'll keep trying to get better."

Toliver qualified 15th for the 16-car Funny Car field with a 4.201-second elapsed time at 299.13 mph to earn his first-round pairing with No. 2 qualifier Force.

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the 13th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Int'l. Raceway in Madison, Ill., from May 1-3.




April 16, 2009:
Toliver Looks to Bounce Back at Atlanta

Despite a temporary set-back at Las Vegas when he was bumped in the final qualifying session and failed to make the 16-car Funny Car field for the first time this season, Jerry Toliver is confident his Canidae Racing team can get back on track at this weekend's 29th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway on April 16-19.

"Las Vegas was just a bad, bad weekend all the way around," Toliver said. "We went in there with a lot of confidence in how we were improving the car, but we just had a bad weekend and ended up hurting a lot of parts. We were fortunate that there was an off weekend between races, so the team had a chance to regroup before heading to Atlanta.

"But you're going to have a weekend like that over the course of a 24-race season, so we just have to put that one in the rearview mirror and keep marching forward starting with the race this weekend at Atlanta."

Starting the season as a new driver of the Canidae/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car with a new, untested Murf McKinney chassis, potential performance results, especially early in the year, were relatively unknown. After qualifying for the season-opener at Pomona on a one-lap flyer due to weather conditions, Toliver qualified a season-best 10th at Phoenix, had his best race weekend to date with his first round-win of the season at Gainesville, and despite a close, side-by-side loss in the first round at Houston to No. 2 qualifier Del Worsham, Toliver qualified for his fourth consecutive race to start the season.

Now he looks to start a new streak starting with Friday's first qualifying session; Toliver was a No. 1 qualifier at Atlanta Dragway in 2001.

"Atlanta Dragway is a nice track and we're looking forward to a successful weekend there," Toliver said. "Big Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) and the guys are working hard at this thing and that's all you can ask for."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday, April 18, beginning at 6:00 p.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 continues on Sunday, April 19, 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 7:00 p.m. (ET).




March 29, 2009:
Good News, Bad News for Toliver and his CANIDAE Racing Team at Houston

Fifth-Fastest E.T. in First Round Not Enough to Advance

The good news for Jerry Toliver and his CANIDAE Racing team is that they were able to give their team owner Jim Dunn a great 75th birthday present on Saturday when Toliver qualified the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Funny Car for the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park on his final qualifying attempt.

More good news was Toliver running the fifth-quickest elapsed time in the first round of Sunday eliminations. The bad news was his first-round opponent, Del Worsham, ran the quickest elapsed time in first-round competition and defeated the CANIDAE Lucas Oil Chevy. Worsham had an elapsed time of 4.087 seconds at 308.64 mph to Toliver's 4.321 e.t. at 232.55 mph.

"It was great to get the CANIDAE car qualified on Big Jim's birthday," Toliver said. "As I said before, it is tough to win a round for anybody in this Funny Car class and you have to have everything come together. We learn something on every pass we make, so we'll take what we learned this weekend and continue to make progress."

Qualified 17th for the 16-car field before Saturday's final qualifying session, Toliver ran a weekend-best 4.198-second elapsed time at 288.52 mph to claim the 15th qualifying position on team owner/tuner Jim Dunn's 75th birthday in his 60th year of drag racing.

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the 10th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from April 2-5.




March 15, 2009:
CANIDAE Racing Team Turns in Best Performance of Young Season

Jerry Toliver and his Jim Dunn Racing team turned in its best performance of the young drag racing season at this weekend's 40th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the third of 24 races on the NHRA Full Throttle Series season. Toliver entered today's eliminations qualified 12th after four consistent rounds of qualifying and then drove his CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car past Force Racing's Mike Neff in the first round. Toliver had a winning elapsed time of 4.240 seconds at 257.24 mph to Neff's 4.428 e.t. at 269.13 mph.

Toliver wasn't as fortunate in the second round as 14-time Funny Car champ John Force bested him with an elapsed time of 4.178 seconds at 300.73 as Toliver lost traction at half-track and slowed to a 5.582 e.t. at 134.26 mph.

"I'm extremely happy with the team this weekend," Toliver said. "Going rounds is difficult, and I don't care who you are, it's hard to go rounds. For this team to be able to go rounds in such a short amount of time is impressive. That was only our 10th lap on the car, I think, so this CANIDAE car has potential. Just a couple of more laps and I think Jim (owner/crew chief Dunn) is going to have it dialed in there and we'll be competitive. It's just a matter of putting all of the pieces together and we're very close."

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, from March 27-29.



March 10, 2009:
CANIDAE Racing Team Making Early-Season Strides as
NHRA Full Throttle Series Heads to Gainesville

The 2009 NHRA Full Throttle season is only two races old, but Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver likes the direction the Jim Dunn Racing team is going with his CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car as they prepare for this weekend's 40th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. He has qualified for both the rain-shortened season opener at Pomona (Calif.) and at Phoenix where a solid 4.122-second, 302.08 mph lap placed him 10th on the grid for Sunday's eliminations at Firebird Raceway.

"We're pretty happy with the progress we're making here early in the season," Toliver said. "We're just taking small steps at a time as we try and get better. You have to keep in mind, this is a brand-new car and this team has a brand-new driver, so we're going to get better with each lap we make.

"You could see that in Phoenix when Jim (team owner/crew chief Dunn) hit the tune-up in qualifying and we ran a 4.12 at 302. That just shows you how well versed he is in tuning these Funny Cars. Even though we lost first round, we are a lot closer than it might look. We could be a lot farther off the mark, but we're definitely in the window and have something to work with."

The veteran Toliver scored his second win of the season here at Gainesville in 2000 when he defeated Dean Skuza, Tony Pedregon and Todd Paton before besting Ron Capps in a final-round battle of Camaros for career win No. 3.

I love going to the Gatornationals," Toliver said. "I mean, it's one of the two or three really big, historic races we have on our schedule, along with maybe Pomona and Indy. The weather's always nice, there's just a huge turnout the entire weekend and the fans are great.

"I was fortunate enough to win here in 2000 when I beat Ron Capps in the final round. In fact, I've been fortunate enough to win at Pomona and Gainesville both, so that's two of maybe the three biggest races we have. It would be great to add Gainesville to the resume a second time this weekend. We're looking forward to it."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Sunday, March 15, beginning at 2:00 a.m. (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 continues on Sunday, March 15, when NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage starting at 11:30 a.m. (ET), and concludes with three hours of final eliminations coverage beginning at 3:00 p.m. (ET).


February 17, 2009:
Toliver, CANIDAE Racing Team Ready for the Dry Heat of Phoenix

After a challenging, rainy weekend of drag racing at NHRA's season-opening Winternationals at Pomona (Calif.) two weeks ago, most teams should be ready for the desert sun at this weekend's 25th annual Lucas Oil Slick Mist NHRA Nationals at Firebird International Raceway. Jerry Toliver in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car is certainly among those just wanting to make laps in his new ride.

Toliver qualified 16th in the one and only qualifying session that set the field at Pomona and faced No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight in Sunday's first round. After more than four hours of rain delay and cooling temperatures, Toliver and Hight finally faced off with Hight getting the win light with an elapsed time of 4.159 seconds at 302.62 mph as Toliver's car lost traction and slowed to an 8.122 e.t. at 87.22 mph.

"We're very happy we qualified (at Pomona)," Toliver said. "You have to understand, (Sunday of eliminations) was only my second lap in the CANIDAE car. I've got a lot of things, personally as a driver, that I have to get comfortable with. You bond with a car and you know where everything is, and I'm still searching for stuff and trying to get comfortable, but that just comes with laps and we need some more laps. We're not frustrated by any means."

NHRA officials were able to complete only one round of eliminations on Sunday at Pomona before rain again interrupted action on the track. Ron Capps was eventually crowned the Winternationals Funny Car champ as he bested Jim Head when eliminations were finally completed on Tuesday.

Reinforcing the difficult conditions at Pomona was last year's primary championship contender and second-place finisher in points, Tim Wilkerson, failing to qualify for this year's season opener.

"It's going to be a tough class this year," Toliver said. "There are a lot of good cars out there. I've always said you've got to be in to win. Just qualifying is a feat in itself."

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Lucas Oil Slick Mist NHRA Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Sunday, Feb. 22, beginning at 12:00 midnight (ET). Coverage on ESPN2 continues on Sunday, Feb. 22, when NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage starting at 12:30 p.m. (ET), and concludes with three hours of final eliminations coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET).


February 9, 2009:
Toliver Falls to No. 1 Qualifier at Wet Season Opening-NHRA Winternationals

POMONA, CA -- A challenging weekend of drag racing at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series' season-opening 49th annual Kragen O'Reilly Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway continued yesterday as final eliminations were continuously interrupted after three days of rain during qualifications. Jerry Toliver in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy Funny Car qualified 16th in the event's single qualifying session on Saturday and faced No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight in Sunday's first round. After more than four hours of rain delay and cooling temperatures, Toliver and Hight finally faced off with Hight getting the win light with an elapsed time of 4.159 seconds at 302.62 mph as Toliver's car lost traction and slowed to a 8.122 e.t. at 87.22 mph.

"It was an extremely difficult day," Toliver said. "With the conditions here, it's cold and the track is so tight, so if you're off on your tune-up a little bit, if you're too rich or you don't have enough clutch, whatever, the car is going to shake like that. It makes it difficult for drivers because the driver has to peddle it and hopes it hooks back up again. That time ours didn't, but that's just the way it goes. It wasn't ideal conditions, that's for sure, but my hat's off to NHRA for not stopping and keeping this thing going and trying to get this show done for the fans.

NHRA officials were able to complete only one round of eliminations before rain again interrupted action on the track. Racing is scheduled to continue today, weather permitting.

"We're very happy we qualified," Toliver said. "You have to understand, today was only my second lap in the CANIDAE car. I've got a lot of things, personally as a driver, that I have to get comfortable with. You bond with a car and you know where everything is, and I'm still searching for stuff and trying to get comfortable, but that just comes with laps and we need some more laps. We're not frustrated by any means. I'm happy, we learned some stuff and now we move on."

Next stop on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Series is the 25th annual Arizona NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Ariz., from Feb. 20-22.


February 7, 2009:
Toliver Places CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy in Funny Car
Field at Season-Opening NHRA Winternationals

POMONA, CA -- As far as first impressions go, Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver has to feel like he made a pretty good one in the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil Chevy. Torrential rains for the last three days forced NHRA officials to squeeze in only one qualifying session to set the field for the professional classes for tomorrow’s season-opening 49th annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Despite being a new driver in a new car, the veteran Toliver made the most of his maiden voyage and qualified No. 16 for eliminations with an elapsed time 5.061 seconds at 187.52 mph despite losing a cylinder on the run.

“For us this went beyond just having one lap to qualify,” Toliver said. “We had one run in this car to qualify, and that was the very first run we’ve had on this car, period. We didn’t get to adjust on it because the car came in late, so that run was the very first time I’ve driven this car. One run, we got in, and we can’t complain about that.”

There are no complaints because last year’s primary championship contender and second-place finisher in points, Tim Wilkerson, was one of the drivers who failed to qualify for this first of 24 races on the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

“It’s going to be a tough class this year,” Toliver said. “There are a lot of good cars out there. I’ve always said, you’ve got to be in to win. Just qualifying is a feat in itself. We had to peddle this CANIDAE car and it wasn’t a perfect lap, but we did get in the show and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Toliver, a five-time Funny Car national-event winner, has had success here at the quarter-mile track at the Pomona Fairplex. The California native won this race in 2004 and 2000, and won the season-ending NHRA Finals here in 1999. Toliver will face No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight in tomorrow’s first round.


September 4, 2008:
CANIDAE Pet Foods and Jim Dunn Racing
To Unveil New Car Design at L.A. County Fair

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA -- CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods has been named the Official Pet Food of the 2008 L.A. County Fair held at Fairplex in Pomona, CA, September 5 through September 28.

As an added treat for NHRA fans, the CANIDAE sponsored Jim Dunn Racing Top Fuel Funny Car will be on display in Nitro Alley throughout the fair’s run. CANIDAE and Jim Dunn Racing will be unveiling a new design for the Fuel Funny car, and when the fair ends will debut the new car at the ACDelco NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas opening on October 30. Driver Tony Bartone and the Jim Dunn Racing Team won the 21st annual NHRA Nationals F/C championship this year in Seattle.

In addition to being named the Official Pet Food of the L.A. County Fair, CANIDAE will be the inaugural Presenting Sponsor of the new "BARK PARK” attraction within the fairgrounds. This brand new Doggie Town Neighborhood makes its debut in 2008 and will feature fun activities and entertainment for animal lovers and kids of all ages. Within "BARK PARK" CANIDAE Pet Foods will be the Presenting Sponsor of Dog-Themed Shows including Dog Fashion Show, Dog Extreme Makeover Show, Dog Spa, and the Canine Kitchen Show.

"This is our first year as an official sponsor at the fair and we are thrilled to be a part of it," said Robert Bemis, CANIDAE’s Southern California sales manager. "One of our goals in 2008 was to raise awareness of the responsibilities of pet ownership including training and exercise, planned breeding, spaying and neutering, supporting reputable breeders and rescue groups, proper veterinarian care and healthy nutrition. Our association with Jim Dunn Racing and the NHRA has been a great success and now the LA County Fair presents another great venue and opportunity for us to continue sharing this message to the millions of pet owners in attendance."


July 20, 2008:
Bartone Wins Funny Car Championship in Seattle!

SEATTLE, WA -- Tony Bartone and Jim Dunn Racing in their CANIDAE Pet Foods Monte Carlo held on to defeat Ron Capps in a close final race capturing the top fuel funny car championship on Sunday. In a season full of ups and downs, Bartone and the team had everything working in their favor on Sunday as they fought their way through four tough elimination rounds to win the championship at the 21st annual NHRA Nationals in Seattle. The victory is Bartone's first in the pro nitro funny car class after a coming over from a highly successful career driving in the T/A division.

The victory was especially sweet for Team Owner and drag racing icon Jim Dunn. When asked how this victory felt compared to others Dunn said, "A win is always such a great feeling. This one feels as good as the first one. The team has been working so hard this season and it really has been a wild ride this year. Everything just fell into place today, We were happy with the tune on the car after qualifying No. 5 and Tony did a great job on the track today in all 4 eliminations."

Bartone, Dunn Racing & Team CANIDAE will take to the track again, July 25-27 on the third leg of the western swing at the Fram Autolite NHRA nationals being held at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA.

For more information and results from the 21st annual Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals in Seattle visit NHRA.com results page.



May, 30 2008:
Bartone, CANIDAE Pet Foods and Jim Dunn Racing qualify #1 at Topeka

TOPEKA, KS -- Tony Bartone leads the Funny Car field with a 4.881 run in his Jim Dunn-tuned, Canidae-backed Monte Carlo. The blistering run gives Bartone the No. 1 spot going into Sunday's elimination rounds at the NHRA Summer Nationals being held in Topeka, KS, May 30 through June 1. See coverage by Candida Benson at NHRA.com.


March 14, 2008:
Bartone Joins Other NHRA Drivers Making Children's Hospital Visit

GAINESVILLE, FL -- A drivers contingent from the NHRA and GM Racing made their annual stop at the Shands Pediatric Specialty Clinic on the campus of the University of Florida on Thursday, the fifth consecutive year that a group of drivers have kicked off their ACDelco Gatornationals weekend with a visit with the children and staff at Shands. The six drivers who made the Thursday visit included Top Fuel drivers Morgan Lucas and J.R. Todd, Funny Car driver Tony Bartone and Pro Stock drivers Jim Yates, Kurt Johnson and Tom Hammonds.

"This is one of our favorite groups," said Jenna Priest, child life specialist at Shands Pediatric Clinics. "The NHRA drivers do a great job with the kids, they sign autographs, they take pictures and they jump right in and make the kids feel special. This is a visit that everyone in the pediatric clinics look forward to every year."

"It was just a huge day all the way around," Kurt Johnson said. "I think we made a big impact at Shands today, putting smiles on the children’s faces and pumping them up, which is the perfect way to lead into the ACDelco Gatornationals."

Shands Children's Hospital is North Central Florida's only comprehensive pediatric facility that treats patients throughout Florida and the United States. UF physicians offer some of the most specialized pediatric programs for the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of complex medical conditions.

During Thursday's visit, the drivers passed out diecast racecars, signed posters, posed for Polaroid photos with the kids and signed autograph cards. They also presented the hospital staff with an autographed racing helmet signed by 47 NHRA competitors including 10 former champions and three champions from 2007. The helmet will be auctioned during an April fundraiser for "STOP! Children's Cancer," a Gainesville-based non-profit organization founded in 1981 and dedicated to the prevention, control and cure of cancer in children.

"Jenna and Rafael (Leon) and the entire staff do such a wonderful job putting this visit together for us, and for the kids and patients who come through the pediatric clinic at Shands," Jim Yates said. "I feel fortunate to be a part of this annual visit – I wouldn't miss it."

"Being able to spread cheer at Shands Hospital means a great deal to me," said Tom Hammonds. "I'm a Floridian so I know all about the good work they do at Shands, and for me to be able to come in for one day and bring a little cheer and light to these kids' lives is just great."

“It’s something I always look forward to every year at the Gatornationals,” smiled Morgan Lucas. "The Shands Pediatric Center has some very special children and to see their faces light up when we come into their room just makes your day."

"This is a pretty neat deal," said Todd. "It was so much fun spending time with the children and I’m glad we got the chance to sit down and visit with them. I know they brightened up my day with just their smile."

"The kids kept us busy today," said Tony Bartone. "And I know that all the drivers enjoyed the opportunity to come over and spend an afternoon with the children and staff at Shands."


April 14, 2008:
Lady Luck wasn’t in the cards for Bartone in Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV -- The CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods Funny Car team struggled during qualifying at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a result the Jim Dunn Racing, Tony Bartone Chevy failed to qualify. “We came here with a fantastic semi final finish just two weeks ago in Houston,” said Bartone. “The track here was tricky and it took us a few runs to get the combination right for the slick surface. We had the car dialed in for the fourth round of qualifying but the fuse was to short and we had engine failure at 1000 feet. The car shut off and we coasted though the lights at 241mph,” added Bartone. The CANIDAE Pet Foods, Jim Dunn Racing team will look to rebound at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals coming up April 24-27 in Atlanta.


March 30, 2008:
Bartone Bounces Back From Disaster With Semifinal Round Finish In Texas

BAYTOWN, TX -- “I think I can breathe now,” said CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods Funny Car team owner Jim Dunn after his driver, Floridian Tony Bartone, wheeled the team’s Chevrolet to a semifinal round finish at the NHRA O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park this afternoon.  Just 15 days ago Dunn watched helplessly as his car did a wheelstand during qualifying for NHRA Gatornationals in Florida, and then broke the steering when it returned to earth.  With Bartone “along for the ride,” as he put it later, the car impacted both concrete guardwalls, and was too severely damaged to continue in competition.

The team promptly left the track and returned to their shop in Southern California, where Steve Plueger assisted them in speedily making the necessary repairs. Then it was back on the road to Houston for this weekend’s race.

“When we had our crash in Florida there was nothing I could do,” Bartone recalled.  “I was pulling on the brakes as hard as I could, but the car had built up a lot of momentum by then, and without any steering I felt kind of foolish whipping the wheel back and forth with nothing happening.

“When we got here I was determined to put our best foot forward,” he added.  “Big Jim Dunn’s been racing for more than 50 years, and I know how much pride he takes in the appearance and performance of this car, so no matter what, I wanted him to proud of our efforts this weekend.  I think he was.”

Following what amounted to little more than a half-track checkout run to make sure the car was in perfect condition, Bartone came back in the second session to rip off a 4.839 second elapsed time at slightly more than 305 MPH, which vaulted him to the Number 2 position in the 16-car field.

“We talked things over Saturday morning,” said Dunn, “and decided we’d be better off skipping the third and fourth qualifying session because it was a lot warmer, and we didn’t think anyone could approach what we’d run Friday night.”  Dunn, an acknowledged master at identifying track and atmospheric conditions, proved prescient in his estimate, as no other driver approached Bartone’s numbers on Saturday.

In the first round of eliminations on Sunday Bartone’s years of experience in both nitromethane and alcohol-fueled Funny Cars proved to be the difference-maker in his race against rookie Bob Tasca III.  With both cars smoking their tires due to lost traction, Bartone recovered first for an uncharacteristic six second victory.  “It wasn’t pretty,” he acknowledged, “but the CANIDAE Chevy’s going to the second round, and that’s what counts.”

In the second round Bartone met and defeated Tommy Johnson, Jr. with a better 5.071/287.05 MPH effort after the CANIDAE Funny Car got slightly out of the groove at the top end of the track.

In the semifinal round Bartone had a superior Reaction Time against Ashley Force, but that’s when the CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods team’s luck ran out, as the WileyX Eyewear/Speedway Illustrated Chevy smoked the tires, ending their day.

“After what this team went through in the last few weeks,” said team owner Dunn following the race, “I’m proud of our performances.  We might not have been the quickest car in Houston, but Tony did a great job behind the wheel, and all of our guys worked hard, and that’s all you can ask for.

“I think this weekend demonstrated that we’re going to be in the thick of things for the rest of the year, and right now, that’s important.”

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