Cannon out in first round in Pomona; thanks his fans

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2003 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 23 of 23
Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals
Pomona (Calif.) Raceway
Race Dates: Nov. 6-9, 2003


POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 9, 2003) - Despite announcing that he would return to
Pro Mod competition in 2004, Scotty Cannon could not have been more focused
on winning his first NHRA Funny Car race than he was today in the final
eliminations of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.

After qualifying 11th in his Oakley Time Bomb Dodge Stratus, he was looking
for good results in the first round against Del Worsham. The pair launched
with identical reaction times of .075, but it was Worsham first across the
finish line with a 4.793/318.54 pass. Cannon was off the pace early, then
darted left to the centerline, crossing it and knocking out the half-mile
mph cone, which resulted in a disqualification of his 5.679/178.87 run.
Worsham went on to win the event.

"We didn't lose a cylinder," Cannon said. "It just moved to the left. It was
a total surprise when it shot left and crossed the centerline. It was
disappointing to end the season with a disqualification, but I know we had a
good car. The season was just too short, in a way, as the Oakley Time Bomb
Dodge was making progress."

Cannon, of Lyman, S.C., and the 1999 NHRA Rookie of the Year, reached the
quarterfinals four times this year. He has three runner-up finishes in his
NHRA Funny Car career, has reached 14 semifinals and has qualified No. 1 two
times. When he switched to the Dodge body on his Oakley Time Bomb, he posted
his career-best speed of 325.73 mph in Dallas this season.

Always a crowd favorite, Cannon had a message for his fans: "Now that the
2003 NHRA season is over it's important for me to thank my fans. They are
number one. If it weren't for the fans sticking behind me even before I
started racing NHRA, I don't think I'd even have the chance to run Funny Car
or be associated with NHRA. I want them to know I'm not giving up. I'm going
into Pro Mod to do the best I possibly can. In no way, shape, fashion or
form do I think it's going to be easy. I'm five years behind, the way I look
at it.

"If the fans continue to support me it will drive me to a higher level. The
worse thing that could happen to me mentally would be if I thought I had
lost the support of my fans.

"If there's been one kid or a family standing outside my pits who saw me
walk into the trailer, they need to know that I was in there looking at the
computer trying to make my car perform better for Don Schumacher and
(Oakley's Mad Scientist) Jim Jannard. If I didn't spend enough time signing
autographs or showing my fans the attention they deserve, then I apologize.
Next year I should have more time.

Cannon completes his 2003 Funny Car season 14th in the NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series championship, with 772 points.