Cannon No. 10 at U.S. Nationals

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 17 of 23
U.S. NATIONALS
INDIANAPOLIS RACEWAY PARK
Rainout Race Date: Sept. 5-7, 2003

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

CANNON EARNS NO. 10 IN U.S. NATIONALS QUALIFYING; SEES PROGRESS

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 5, 2003) - Now that Scotty Cannon is his own crew chief
and is taking advantage of the Schumacher Racing brain trust of Lee Beard
(Whit Bazemore's crew chief), Mike Neff (Gary Scelzi's crew chief) and Dan
Olson (co-crew chief to Baze and Scelzi), the Oakley Funny Car team has seen
progress in its performance this week at the U.S. Nationals.

The Mohawk-wearing racer ended up No. 10 in qualifying for the U.S.
Nationals after five sessions over a week's time (4.822/316.60), one of
which he didn't even run when a clutch problem prevented him from getting it
in forward gear earlier today. In the final round he posted a strong
4.915/298.21, despite spitting and sputtering at the finish line.

"It ran a .91. That's a pretty good lap, considering," he said. "It just
threw a rod out of it at and the dumb-a__ driver stayed with it. We do know
now that on race day with a rod out of it at a little over half track, if
the driver can hang with it, it will still run a 4.91. It used to be that we
couldn't run that fast with all eight cylinders in it. I guess that's a good
thing."

Cannon is matched against Ron Capps in first round of eliminations and is
looking for his first Funny Car win.

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