Cannon Defeated in First Round in Columbus

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
PONTIAC EXCITEMENT NHRA NATIONALS
Round 11 of 23
National Trail Raceway
Columbus, Ohio
Race Date: June 13-15, 2003

COLUMBUS, Ohio (June 15, 2003) - "We are making headway in our setup and
performance," said Scotty Cannon, the popular Mohawk-wearing Oakley Funny
Car driver, "but it's always tough when you don't qualify in the top half of
the field and have to face the No. 8 qualifier in the first round."

Cannon, of Lyman, S.C., had three decent qualifying runs during the Pontiac
Excitement NHRA Nationals weekend beset with rain delays, but fell just one
10-thousandths of a second short of qualifying No. 8, which relegated him to
No. 9 and the less desirable left lane against one of the John Force Racing
drivers, Gary Densham.

Cannon scorched Densham at the starting lights with a .055 reaction time to
Densham's .067, but soon hazed the tires and lost a cylinder, slowing to a
5.164 second pass at 229.04 mph to Densham's winning 4.876/319.45.

"We just have to continue to work on the setup," said Cannon. "And that's
what Phil (Shuler, crew chief) and I are doing, and we'll just keep on
working on it until we get it right."

Cannon is 15th in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car point
standings, with 371.