Cannon loses to Wilkerson in first round at Brainerd

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
NO. 16 OF 23
BRAINERD (MINN.) INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
RACE DATE: AUG. 15-17

Contact: Judy Stropus 203-438-0501, cell 203-243-2438

CANNON LOSES TO WILKERSON IN FIRST ROUND AT BRAINERD

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 17, 2003) - Scotty Cannon, in the Oakley Funny Car,
had a tough race in front of him in the first round of final eliminations
today at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals on a hot and slippery Brainerd
International Raceway.

As No. 12 qualifier he found himself in a match-up against Tim Wilkerson,
who had qualified fifth. Although Cannon's win/loss record against Wilkerson
was 3-0, Wilkerson had been showing well at a number of events this season
and Cannon was well aware that he had his work cut out for him.

Each driver launched at the starting lights with nearly identical times
(.086 for Cannon, .070 for Wilkerson). Cannon, who was using this event as a
continuation of last week's Route 66 Raceway testing session, however,
started to lose cylinders at 330 feet, spitting and sputtering to the finish
line with a 5.255-second pass at 251.91 mph to Wilkerson's winning
5.024/305.15.

"Well, we tried," said Cannon, the 1999 NHRA Rookie of the Year. "We thought
we had the right combination working for us after yesterday's qualifying
session, but, as I said, we were using this race as a test session and we've
learned a lot. Having more rounds to look at for data would have helped, but
we're going to keep at it. Mike Neff (Gary Scelzi's crew chief) has been
working with us, and we'll continue that relationship and get this Oakley
Funny Car to start winning rounds.

"Wilkerson is never a driver that can be counted out," he added. "He's good
and we knew we had to have the edge to beat him. We didn't have it today."

Cannon remains 14th in the POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car point
standings, with 570 points.

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