Mopar NHRA Elimination Notes

Mopar Motorsports
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Rugged Liner NHRA Nationals ‹ Brainerd International Raceway
Notes & Quotes ­ Aug. 18, 2002

TELEVISION TIMES: (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
FINAL ROUND:    Sun., Aug. 18; 9­11 p.m.; ESPN2
REPEAT:    Fri., Aug. 30; 3-5 a.m.; ESPN2thir

BRAINERD, Minn. -- Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series teams
completed eliminations for this weekend¹s Rugged Liner NHRA Nationals at
Brainerd International Raceway.

The following are notes and quotes from today¹s qualifying activity.

DEAN SKUZA, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T

The red light flickered and spelled the end for Dean Skuza and the Mopar
Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Nitro Funny Car. Skuza matched up with John Force
for the fourth-straight race in the second round.

Skuza advanced to the second with an impressive victory over Johnny Gray in
round one. The two-time NHRA national event winner clocked the
third-quickest elapsed time of the round at 4.924 seconds and 310.91 mph.
Gray went a slower 5.206-second pass at 225.94 mph.

³I guess we picked a good time to red light,² Skuza said. ³We broke a motor
mount on the hit and smoked the tires. It just seemed like it took forever
to get the green; and when it finally changed, I was over anxious. I knew it
was over.²

Skuza has a round one rematch with Force in the upcoming Budweiser Shootout
at Indianapolis Raceway Park over Labor Day weekend.

GENE WILSON, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T

Gene Wilson maneuvered his Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T to the second round of
eliminations. Wilson fell to Kurt Johnson after running a 6.951-second
elapsed time at 198.85 mph; as Johnson ran a 6.921/199.35, combination.

Wilson moved into the second when Mark Whisnant red lit. The 29-year-old
Wilson cut a .429 light that round and clicked off a 6.900-second lap at
199.88 mph. 

³Not a bad weekend for us,² Wilson said. ³The car ran pretty well this
weekend. We¹re happy with the way we qualified. It was unfortunate that the
lanes were so unequal out there. The left had lane was terrible. If you
didn¹t have lane choice, you were going to be put over there. We didn¹t have
lane choice heading into the second round and we still made a decent pass
over there. I¹m really looking forward to Indy. It¹s going to be awesome.²

DARRELL ALDERMAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T

Darrell Alderman made a move at the starting line (.432-.447) in the first
round, but Tom Martino¹s 6.911-second elapsed time at 199.26 mph was too
much. Alderman and his Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T ran a slower 6.966-second
lap at 198.35 mph.

³We didn¹t make the run that we really wanted to,² Alderman said. ³We skated
a little bit out there in the right lane. And that happens when you first go
out there. We were the first pair and all the clutch dust and dirt is still
on the track from the fuel cars. We¹ll see what we can do at Indy.²