The 2007 NHRA POWERade Series season is ending, but Jerry Toliver’s approach is races at Las Vegas and Pomona, Calif., provide an early start to the 2008 campaign.
Toliver is pleased with the performance improvements of his ROCKSTAR Energy Drink/AutoZone Toyota Solara Funny Car and he goes into this weekend’s ACDelco Nationals intent on continuing that trend.
“Based on what we have been doing in qualifying at the last five races, we have a good shot at qualifying in the top half of the field, ” said Toliver, of Temecula, Calif. “We feel we are a top-eight (qualifier) car and we think we ’ll be in good shape at Vegas. ”
Toliver is returning to the site of his first start with a new car and team. That was at The Strip in April. This time around he arrives with a race car that definitely is capable of winning rounds on Sunday.
Toliver acknowledges that he could be a factor in the Countdown to 1 final segment of the championship format but he has no favorites. Four drivers – Tony Pedregon, Gary Scelzi, Robert Hight and Ron Capps – are the only ones in contention.
“I am out here to win rounds and races, ” he said. “I’m racing the guy in the other lane, so if I should run up against any of them, I want to beat them. Every round win now is just as important to our team as the first one.
“The car’s performance is improving and we are running out of races, but we are getting a good start on next year. ”
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