Cannon Aims for Turnaround at Sonoma

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 15 of 23
Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, Calif.
Race Dates: Aug. 1-3, 2003


CANNON AIMS FOR TURNAROUND IN SONOMA

SONOMA, Calif. (July 31, 2003) - Last year on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series West Coast swing, Scotty Cannon enjoyed a productive run, qualifying
No. 1 in Denver, No. 4 in Seattle and No. 3 in Sonoma. In Sonoma last year,
at what is now known as Infineon Raceway, Cannon took his Oakley Funny Car
to the semifinal round, where he lost to Ron Capps.

This year's West Coast swing so far has not been as fruitful for the popular
Mohawk-wearing racer from Lyman, S.C., but Cannon is still hopeful that his
all-new in 2003 Oakley-sponsored crew is beginning to solve it's minor
glitches to help Cannon win rounds and finally garner that elusive first
Funny Car victory, perhaps this weekend in the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals
at Infineon.

Many teams can't boast that their driver has qualified in every event in
2003, but Cannon's can. Not every driver can claim that he's defeated a
Funny Car points leader, but Cannon can. He accomplished that feat in Denver
on this West Coast swing, with a first-round victory over Tony Pedregon - a
crowing achievement for Cannon, as that victory helped his teammate Whit
Bazemore carve away Pedregon's point advantage in the championship.

"We're still trying to find that combination that will work on our Oakley
Funny Car," says Cannon, the 1999 NHRA Rookie of the Year. "But we are still
basically a new team this year and we're still learning what it takes to get
it right. But I was happy to help my teammate Baze. He owes me and he knows
it," he added, smiling.

Oakley's Mad Scientist Jim Jannard announced in Seattle that Cannon would
make the last call on the tune-up of the Oakley Funny Car for the rest of
the season, while Phil Shuler would move from crew chief to head mechanic.
From the outside, it may look like like Cannon is taking over all the crew
chief duties, but it's not as major a change as it appears, say Jannard and
Cannon.

"Making the final call on the tune-up is only about 10 percent of what a
crew chief does," says Cannon. "There's a lot more that has to be done, and
Phil will continue to make those decisions, but it's a change we felt we had
to make."

LITTLE-KNOWN SCOTTY CANNON FACT: You'll never guess what this 6'2"
Mohawk-coiffed, Oakley-hip, drag-racing cool dude drives as his personal car
when home in Lyman, S.C.: A new Mini-Cooper S. Who woulda thought?