Cannon ready to roll at Maple Grove NHRA race

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 18 of 23
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
Maple Grove Raceway
Reading, Pa.
Race Date: Sept. 12-14, 2003

CANNON LOOKS FOR GOOD RESULTS IN READING

READING, Pa. (Sept. 10, 2003) - Scotty Cannon is ready to get rolling at
Maple Grove Raceway this weekend for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals after
recent productive test sessions with his Oakley Funny Car resulted in a
strong performance last weekend at the U.S. Nationals, where Cannon advanced
to the second round after defeating Ron Capps.

Although he lost in the second round to eventual event winner Tim Wilkerson
because of what he called "driver error," he's encouraged by the team's
progress and looks forward to its potential at Maple Grove, famous for its
"great air."

"We should do well here, based on what we learned in Indy and St. Louis
testing. The atmosphere conditions here are going to probably be
outstanding," says the popular Mohawk-coiffed racer.

"Our game plan is to go in there and try to run a mid-4.80 to maybe an .87
or .88 and then get qualified and get into the field, and then try to go out
there in the Friday night session and see if we can run a high-4.70," says
Cannon, who's qualified for every event this season and stands 14th in
points. 

Cannon's career-best elapsed time is 4.783-seconds, set at Route 66 Raceway
in Joliet, Ill., in 2001.

"I think we just put ourselves in a position where we've got the car running
good enough to where we can actually think along that line and hopefully we
can do it," says the Lyman, S.C., resident who's been struggling this season
with a new team and recently took over crew chief duties. "Our outlook's
great. The team seems to be doing well, not because I'm the crew chief, but
I think we're making progress, for sure. Everyone else think's we're making
a lot of progress, so that's a good thing. That's what we've been waiting
for.