Cannon No. 15 in final Denver qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 13 of 23
MOPAR MILE-HIGH NHRA NATIONALS
Bandimere Speedway
Denver, Colorado
Race Date: July 18-20, 2003


CANNON FALLS TO NO. 15 IN FINAL QUALIFYING

DENVER, Colo. (July 19, 2003) - In 90-degree heat at a track that's a mile
high, it's tough for any team to try to follow the changing weather
conditions in order to set up the race car for them. The day began with high
temperatures and a bright sun and ended with clouds and impending rain. The
rain stayed away for the most part, delaying only the runs for the last two
pairs of Funny Cars.

Scotty Cannon's first run today in the Oakley Funny Car in the third
qualifying session was in the heat of the day, and he posted a solid
5.223/286.44 pass. However, in the final session, the temperature and
conditions changed dramatically, and he smoked the tires to a 6.390-second
elapsed time at 147.84 mph.

Cannon's 5.179/288.46 pass, established in the second round of qualifying
yesterday, held up for the No. 15 spot.

"We're going to put it back to where we ran the first run today, when we ran
a .22, and see how many rounds we can go tomorrow," said the popular
Mohawk-wearing racer. "We just got after it too much tonight because the
weather changed a little bit and the track we know got a little better and
we got a little greedy and it bit us, that's all."

Cannon has the chance to oust his teammate Whit Bazemore's fiercest rival
for the championship, Tony Pedregon, in the first round of final
eliminations tomorrow.

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