TOLIVER SEEKING FIRST VICTORY IN PHOENIX
One year ago Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge Charger Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver
was sitting on the sidelines preparing his team to compete in what was left of
the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. This year Toliver enters this
weekend's NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway No. 10 in the point standings
following one national event, with a very quick race car.
What a
difference a year makes. Tolliver is now in his first full season of NHRA
competition since 2004, after joining Don Schumacher Racing in
2008.
"Any time you walk away from a race in the top 10 is an
achievement," said Toliver, who posted the quickest Funny Car elapsed time of
the weekend, 4.790 seconds, at the season-opener in Pomona, Calif. "You can't
set your sights too high and you can't win them all and, unfortunately, we had a
parts failure in the clutch department that took us out in the first round.
"We had a great race car in Pomona and I was very excited that we ran
such a great number during qualifying and it just shows that we've got a good
group of guys here. Crew chief Phil Shuler and his team really know what they're
doing and I'm looking for big things to come. I'm really excited."
You really can't take the information that you had in testing and apply it to the race track. We can go back and take a look at some of the things we learned, but it will be a differently-prepared race track and I look for it to be extremely competitive out there. - Jerry Toliver
While
Toliver's final qualifying pass in Pomona was the quickest for the Funny Car
class, Tim Wilkerson posted an identical elapsed time and claimed the No. 1 spot
because of speed (325.22 mph to 320.51 mph).
The California native has
yet to win a race on Firebird's famous quarter-mile, but he's competed in match
races at the facility and recently tested there at the pre-season National Time
Trials in January.
"I enjoy every race, and Phoenix is just another
stop on our tour," said Toliver, who has five national-event wins to his credit.
"I licensed in Phoenix back in 1996. It's a great place and it's got great fans
and I'm looking forward to it. I've never won there, but I'd love to go and put
another 'W' in the win column and walk out of there in the top
five.
"You really can't take the information that you had in testing and
apply it to the race track," he said, referring to the recent Time Trials. "We
can go back and take a look at some of the things we learned, but it will be a
differently-prepared race track and I look for it to be extremely competitive
out there.
"I feel more comfortable every time I go down the race track
in the Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge. I'm getting used to the nuances and that's
just part of the learning curve. Every time I make a lap in the car I become
that much more comfortable."
The last time Toliver competed in an NHRA
national event at Firebird was in 2004 where he failed to qualify.