NHRA: Cannon DNQs in Reading

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 18 of 23
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
Maple Grove Raceway
Reading, Pa.
Rainout Date: Oct. 4-5, 2003

READING, Pa. (Oct. 4, 2003) - Scotty Cannon failed to qualify for the second
time this season at the rain-delayed Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in today's
single qualifying session as a result of a rain-shortened day. His
Oakley-sponsored car sported one of Gary Scelzi's Oakley Time Bomb Dodge
Stratus bodies for the first time this year, however, but it didn't help him
get into the field when the car shook early and Cannon shut it down.

"We shook, it didn't go down the track," he said. "We had just one run here
last time and we just missed it then. We just have to load up. Like the boss
(Oakley's Jim Jannard) said, we're in test mode so it's just another test
run for us."

The mood in the Don Schumacher camp was somewhat solemn after Cannon's
teammate Whit Bazemore, who is in the hunt for the Funny Car championship,
also didn't qualify. "It's unfortunate that Whit didn't qualify, he's in the
points chase," said Cannon. "Worse things have happened to us. We just have
to gather our stuff up and go to Dallas and stand on the gas and see what
happens.

"I was looking forward to some good numbers with the Dodge," said Cannon,
who plans to complete the season in the Stratus.  "It was feeling good. We
probably just missed the tune-up a little bit for the weather. You can run
good out there. It felt good during the burnout. Everything felt good. It
didn't feel good when it shook, of course."

Making the transition to the Dodge body was a new experience for Cannon.
"It's weird sitting in it because the vision on your side is a little bit
distorted, but we don't look out the side anyway. You can see just as good
on down the track. You sit so far back, the window posts sits so far
forward, it makes you feel like you're sitting in the trunk of a car."

Before he DNQd in Memphis, Cannon had qualified for 56 straight events. "The
first DNQ hurt real bad," he said. "This one don't hurt quite as bad. And
I've not qualified before. When you're basically using the races for
testing, you know this can happen. As long as we keep all that up front,
it's not that bad. Anything that we learn this year that will make the car
do better or run fast we can carry over into the next year."