Skuza Grabs Provisional Eighth
Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals Bandimere Speedway Notes & Quotes July 19, 2002 TELEVISION TIMES: (ALL TIMES EASTERN) QUALIFYING: Sat., July 20; 7-9 p.m.; ESPN FINAL ROUND: Sun., July 21; 69 p.m.; ESPN2 REPEAT: Tues., July 23; 2-4 p.m.; ESPN2 MORRISON, Colo. -- Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series teams completed the first day of qualifying for this weekend¹s 23rd annual Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. DEAN SKUZA, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Dean Skuza led the way for the Mopar contingent with a solid eighth-place qualifying effort. The Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Nitro Funny Car driver managed a 5.280-second elapsed time at 284.39 mph. ³On that last run, the car got out there and it was weak,² Skuza said. ³It tried to blow the tires off of it, but it didn¹t do it. It hooked up by itself. It was weird. I can¹t believe that the car would hook up like that in the thin air. The air got better. We¹ll take another gallon out of it tomorrow. We¹re plenty safe with it now. I think we saw what we wanted to see with this Dodge Stratus body.² GENE WILSON, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Gene Wilson and his Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T didn¹t have the day he would have liked. After shutting off early in the first round of qualifying, Wilson¹s 7.426-second elapsed time at 186.87 mph second-round run missed the top-16 qualifiers. ³We definitely didn¹t have this in mind,² said a frustrated Wilson. ³To be here at my sponsor¹s event at the Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals and not to qualify so far is frustrating. In the first round, the car got out of the groove, spun the tires and I needed to abort the run. On the second pass, I let the clutch out and went to low gear. Then in second gear, the motor lost fire on cylinder number one. I don¹t know why it did, but we¹re still working to try and find out. Hopefully, tomorrow morning the air will be good enough to get us in the show.² LARRY MORGAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Larry Morgan, driver of the blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T, made a solid pass and nabbed the provisional 14th-qualifying slot. The Newark, Ohio, resident logged a 7.330-second elapsed time at 188.65 mph. ³I¹m just thankful that we¹re in,² said a smiling Morgan. ³If I could only drive the car. I keep hitting the limiter in the first two gears. I drive like a total idiot. I tell you what, just to be in at the Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals, is great. I hope we can stay in, but we¹re pretty excited right now.² DARRELL ALDERMAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T The thin air of Bandimere Speedway was not enough to hold back three-time POWERade Pro Stock World Champion Darrell Alderman and his Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T. Alderman, who is gunning for his 29th NHRA national event victory this weekend, clicked off a 7.327-second lap at 187.89 mph. Alderman sits 13th after the first day of qualifying activity. ³That 7.32 will be close to the bump before the weekend is over,² Alderman said. ³I think the run in the morning might be a little bit better. Hopefully we can put together a better run and stay in the show.² -Mopar.com- David Harris, Cox Marketing Group Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series davidh@coxmarketinggroup.com (704) 799-2114 office (704) 756-9301 - mobile