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Top Alcohol Team Achieves Best 60 Foot Time to Date, But Falls to Mechanical Failure in Semi-Finals at Lake Elsinore

After a long time off from racing their Top Alcohol Dragster, the CANIDAE TA crew arrived Thursday, April 15 very optimistic about the Canidae Pet Food Nationals at the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Complex, with driver Mike DeNunzio eager to get back behind the wheel... (read more)

October, 2009 - Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL Top Fuel Dragster and Driver Scott Whipple Set World Record and Take 2009 NSDA Season Championship

Records were broken this past weekend at the 2009 NSDA Dan Chittenden Fall Nationals in Primm, Nevada. After a few flat tires heading up Baker Grade on Thursday, Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL settled in for a full weekend of racing action. Unlike their last outing at Avenal, daytime temperatures in Primm were comfortable, registering in the 70s during much of the day.

After some great passes on Friday and Saturday, top fuel eliminations began on Sunday with #1 qualifier, Whipple and Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL setting a new world record ET of 2.278 at 162.75 mph on their first pass. Whipple went on to break that record in round two with a 2.273 ET defeating Jeff Janoe. Heading into the final round, Whipple and the Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL crew were pitted against Geoff Gill and his excellent crew. Blasting off the line, Whipple again broke his own world record for the 3rd time on the day while winning the championship with an astounding ET of 2.239 at 164.16 mph to beat Gill's performance of 2.343 ET at 148.41 mph.

Congratulations to Whipple and the rest of the top fuel crew including "Famous" Amos Satterlee, Carl Boley, Amos Satterlee Jr., Scott Gailey, Daran Rupp, Bill Parks, Greg Henley and "Big E" for a fantastic team effort!

In the Top Alcohol class, Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL driver Mike DeNunzio was narrowly defeated on Sunday by Nick Januik. DeNunzio ran a 2.611 ET to Januik's 2.603. DeNunzio's best ET of the weekend was a solid 2.569 during Saturday's eliminations. While a points championship was not in the cards for DeNunzio, he ran some great rounds in a tough field of competitors. Mike and the Team finished 2nd in points in this 2009 season

A big thank you to the Top Alcohol crew of Steve and Tony DeNunzio, Lee and Ron Gutierrez, Steven East, Tony Carbone, David Rice, Dennis Bartholomay, Carl Smith, and the rest of our families and friends that made it out to support both teams in 2009.

As another exciting sand drag season closes out, Team CANIDAE/LUCAS OIL would like to extend our gratitude to the NSDA and everyone else involved for their dedication, hard work and commitment putting these events together for racers and fans alike to enjoy.

September 27, 2009 - CANIDAE T/F Team Takes First at Avenal – T/A Team Falls Just Short in Final

CANIDAE® Pet Foods Top Fuel Sand Drag Team, lead by driver Scott Whipple, took down the championship this past weekend with a thrilling hole shot victory in the T/F final over Geoff Gill. With daytime temperatures climbing well above 100 degrees, Avenal California's Sand Drag Track was once again home to fierce competition across all the divisions. Whipple and the T/F team earned the #1 qualfying spot going in, and then in an extremely close final, Whipple's 2.325 edged out Gill's 2.323 with the hole shot. The margin of victory being Whipple's reaction time of 0.13457 to Gill's 0.14107 for an overall edge of just .0045! Sunday's victory puts the CANIDAE Top Fuel team unofficially back on top in the race for the overall season championship, but by a mere 1 point. The 2010 Season Championship will be up for grabs when the season closes out with the Fall Nationals at Primm in October. Congratulations to Scott and the rest of the top fuel crew including "Famous" Amos Satterlee, Carl Boley, Amos Satterlee Jr., Scott Gailey, Daran Rupp, Bill Park and "Big E" for the great team effort at Avenal. And, a tip of the hat and thanks to Geoff Gill and owner/tuner Joe Bettencourt and his crew for another challenging weekend of racing and fierce competition on the track.

In the Top Alcohol final, Mike DeNunzio earned the Hole Shot as well but "slowed" to a 2.61 from his quicker qualifying rounds which wasn't quite enough to surpass Gary Mink's 2.46 in their final round match up on Sunday. Congratulations to Gary and the team on your win. Team CANIDAE's 2nd place finish on Sunday puts the T/A Team in 2nd place in the points standings. A big thank you to the T/A crew of Steve and Tony DeNunzio, Lee Gutierrez, Steven East, David Rice, Dennis Bartholomay, and the rest of the family that made it out to support the team. Both crews turned in great performances despite the grueling heat throughout the weekend. Thanks also to the NSDA and ASDI for putting on another great weekend of racing.

The 2010 season wraps up and season championships will be awarded at the 2009 "Dan Chittenden" Fall Nationals being held at the Primm Valley Resorts, October 23-25. With Avenal results this close there’s no doubt the season finale will provide plenty of fireworks for fans and race teams. There's still time to make your plans attend. See you at the races!

April 26, 2009 - CANIDAE Top Alcohol Team in Contention for Season Point Championship

Primm, NV - The Team CANIDAE Top Fuel Team led by driver Scott Whipple defeated Geoff Gill with the fastest pass of the day at 2.320/160.43 mph to win the 2009 NSDA Spring National Championship on Sunday. The team came into Sunday's final rounds as the #1 qualifier after posting the second fastest pass in Primm history at 2.303/160.83 mph on Saturday. The win moves Team CANIDAE to within one point of current leader Gill in the quest to defend their 2008 season championship.

After qualifying #2 with a ripping 2.499 pass on Saturday, Team CANIDAE's Top Alcohol Team and driver Mike Denunzio earned a semi final finish when they lost to season point leader and eventual Spring National champion Gary Mink in a very close race running 2.532 to Mink's 2.501. Congratulations Gary on a great race weekend from all of us at Team CANIDAE. The defending 2008 season champion CANIDAE T/A team currently sits in third place in this year's race for the season point championship.

Congratulations Team CANIDAE on another successful weekend of racing in support of responsible pet ownership and local independent pet food store retailers!

May 11, 2008 - CANIDAE Top Fuel and Top Alcohol
Teams Make it a Clean Sweep at Saboba Spring Nationals

Team CANIDAE made it a clean sweep taking down both the top fuel and top alcohol championships at the Saboba Springs Nationals held May 9-11 in San Jacinto, CA.

Driver Scott Whipple, master engine tuner "Famous Amos" Satterlee and the CANIDAE Top Fuel Team including, Carl Boley, Daran Rupp, Amos Satterlee Jr., Greg Henley, Billy Kuhn, George Whipple and Bill Park were firing on all cylinders throughout the weekend and went into Sunday's elimination rounds as the #1 qualifier with a 2.431/152.53 mph run on Saturday.

On Sunday, Whipple and Team CANIDAE earned a first round bye but chose to fire it up for the crowd anyway posting a 2.40 at 155 mph on their first pass. In the semifinals, a 2.431 was enough to get past Pete Schenk's 2.542. The final round match up pitted team Canidae against always fast Jeff Janoe with Whipple and Team CANIDAE taking down the championship with a blazing fast 156.97 mph run in the final. Winning this year's Saboba Spring Nationals is the team's fourth, 1st place championship of the year, out of 5 races, and maintains their hold on top of the T/F point leader board for the 2008 season.

Not to be outdone, driver Mike DeNunzio and the CANIDAE T/A team of Steve DeNunzio, Tony DeNunzio, Lee Gutierrez, Steven East and Dennis Bartholomay were working in sync running through Friday and Saturday qualifying at the Saboba Spring Nationals winding up in the #2 position with a 2.634 pass at 133.81 on Saturday.

On Sunday DeNunzio and the team got past Dan Allen in the first elimination round running a 2.617 at 131.90 mph. In the second round semifinals a 2.667 pass was enough to defeat Richard Montiel and set up a rematch of the Primm T/A final from a few weeks earlier against Shane Sanford. In another exciting and very close race, this time it was team Canidae's turn to take down the title ripping off a 2.631 at 135.42 mph to edge Sanford's 2.672/139.53 mph for the championship. Canidae's T/A team has now made it to the final round in all five races they have entered this season. Sunday's win solidifies their current #1 position on the T/A point leader board for 2008.

April 21, 2008 - CANIDAE Top Alcohol Team takes second at Primm

CANIDAE Pet Foods Top Alcohol Sand Team fell just short of making it a clean sweep for CANIDAE Racing at the 2008 Spring Nationals held in Primm NV. Led by driver Mike DeNunzio, the T/A team had all cylinders firing as they raced through Friday and Saturday qualifying and wound up going into Sunday's final elimination rounds as the #1 qualifier.

In Sunday's first elimination round, Denunzio ran a 2.613 at 140 mph to get past Carey Mahoney. A 2.617 run at 140 mph against David Morton put the team into the finals. In a close final race Denunzio ran a 2.67 at 140 mph but was edged out by Shane Sanford who ran a 2.57 at 143 mph to claim the championship.

Despite the setback, CANIDAE's T/A team still has reason to celebrate. The T/A team ran fast and consistent throughout the weekend and with Sunday's final round appearance has now made it into the championship final in all four events they have entered this season. With Sunday's second place finish in the books, DeNunzio and Team CANIDAE still remain the season point leader after 4 races in 2008. The team will be on the track again May 9-11 at Saboba.