Veteran Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver, who has had 16 first-round losses and a DNQ in 19 previous races this season on the way to a 2-18 elimination-round record, nailed down the No. 3 qualifying spot Saturday. Toliver, who beat Mike Neff in Gainesville in March and Jack Beckman in Reading in August, was beaming about his newfound top-performance numbers.  
 
"I've been hiding it. I've been hiding it," joked Toliver about his Canidae/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy Monte Carlo. "Actually, to be honest with you, we changed bodies back in Indy and ever since then, this car's really been coming around.

Veteran Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver, who has had 16 first-round losses and a DNQ in 19 previous races this season on the way to a 2-18 elimination-round record, nailed down the No. 3 qualifying spot Saturday. Toliver, who beat Mike Neff in Gainesville in March and Jack Beckman in Reading in August, was beaming about his newfound top-performance numbers.  
 
"I've been hiding it. I've been hiding it," joked Toliver about his Canidae/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy Monte Carlo. "Actually, to be honest with you, we changed bodies back in Indy and ever since then, this car's really been coming around.
 
"The body's 35 pounds lighter.  We got some new pieces. Jim (team owner Dunn) bought one of (Bill) Miller's new blowers. And it's working really well. He does extremely meticulous work," Toliver said. "So we've got ourselves a nice little tuning window, as Jim calls it. The Canidae car's really doing well now, so we're extremely excited. It keeps going down the racetrack. It's running good numbers. So, you know, hey, it just took awhile. We're on a same par as the rest of the guys, in terms of body design. This new Impala has really turned this program around. Maybe it's just coincidental -- maybe Jim just finally got on his tune-up, too. But we're in a good spot right now."
 
Toliver, the only Funny Car driver besides points leader Tony Pedregon still to compete in a Chevrolet, said he's happy because the new body not only is an improvement but it also "is doing what Jim's asking it to do. That's important, because a lot of times they don't. Usually it doesn't do anything or doesn't do what you want it to do. The car's reacting to what he's telling it to do, so we've got a good hot rod."
 
He said he has no idea whether he'll use this body in 2010. "Finances will dictate all that," Toliver said. "We're just trying to get through this year and keep it all together and see what's going to happen."

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