Wilson Takes Home Fourth
Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series O¹Reilly Summer Nationals Notes & Quotes May 24, 2002 TELEVISION TIMES: (ALL TIMES EASTERN) QUALIFYING: Sat., May 25; 5:30-7:30 p.m.; ESPN2 FINAL ROUND: Sun., May 26; 3:00 6:00 p.m.; ESPN (Live) FINAL ROUND: Sun., May 26; 8:30-10:20 p.m.; ESPN2 (Rebroadcast) REPEAT: Fri., May 31; 4-6 a.m.; ESPN2 TOPEKA, Kan. -- Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series teams completed the final day of qualifying for this weekend¹s O¹Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. NOTABLE: The Pro Stock field is one of the tightest ever, as .025 of a second separates the top-16 qualifiers. In fact, Darrell Alderman¹s No. 1 qualifying time of 6.882 seconds during last night¹s first and only session would not have been quick enough to make today¹s field. The following are notes and quotes from today¹s qualifying activity. DEAN SKUZA, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Under the pressure of not making the show, Dean Skuza and the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Nitro Funny Car clicked off a solid 4.985-second elapsed time at 305.36 mph in the third and last qualifying session. The run was good enough to collect the 12th-qualifying slot and earn the right to take on Ron Capps in the first round. ³That last few weeks we¹ve had abbreviated qualifying sessions,² said Skuza, talking about the having only three qualifying sessions at the last three NHRA national events. ³I think we¹re good enough to get through that. Sometimes you almost like it because if you can come out of the box even semi-strong to have a good baseline I think it plays well into our hands. Here it was a little screwy because of that night run. The temperature was down and it was really humid and the track had such unbelievable teeth. It meant that a lot of cars either shook or made. There was no in between. We were one of the teams that shook unfortunately. What we did was we put in a lot more power, but the track temperature from last night to today went from 74 to 111 degrees. I think it was a case of real overcompensation. You¹re just asking for it if you aren¹t in. We left a lot on the table, but on the last shot, you can¹t afford any mistakes. That was a good baseline for tomorrow. We¹re going to knock a tenth off of it and make four runs in a row for a change.² GENE WILSON, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Gene Wilson stepped up the program and captured the highest-qualified position of his career in fourth. Wilson, pilot of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T, who also made the quickest run of the fourth session in the heat of the day, clicked off a 6.856-second lap at 201.37 mph during today¹s second session. The Augusta, Ga., resident has a first round match with Mark Whisnant. ³I¹m more than happy,² Wilson said. ³It¹s just an unbelievable time for the team and me personally. Everybody is doing a great job in making the calls and getting this car down these hot, greasy tracks. It¹s really a challenge to come out and get down the track when the track is this type of temperature. This Mopar Performance Parts Neon is going to be a good race car tomorrow. If I stay sharp on the lights, it should be a good day.² LARRY MORGAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Severe tire shake during the final-qualifying session ended Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T driver Larry Morgan¹s weekend prematurely. The 47-year-old Morgan made a 6.891-second pass at 200.44 mph. ³We made a bad run on that last one,² said Morgan, who had to shut off during that last session. ³We made a bar change because the track got warmer. David (Nickens) thought I should have done that. I try to do what he says and hope that he¹s right. It shook the tires real bad. We just missed it. ³I¹m going testing tomorrow for Chicago,² Morgan added. ³We¹re going to St. Louis right now.² DARRELL ALDERMAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T After collecting the provisional No. 1 after yesterday¹s first session, Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T driver Darrell Alderman hung on to the 15th slot. Despite improving his elapsed time and speed at 6.875 seconds at 200.47 mph, the three-time POWERade Pro Stock World Champion struggled in his two passes today. Alderman will face off against J.R. Car in the first round of eliminations. ³We lost some time in our 60-foot pass on that last hit,² Alderman said. ³It shook the tires on that one as well. We think we had too small of a tire on it. So we¹re going to put a little larger tire on it and see if that will help out a little.² -30- David Harris, Cox Marketing Group Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series davidh@coxmarketinggroup.com (704) 799-2114 office (704) 756-9301 - mobile