No. 3 qualifier Jerry Toliver bowed out in the opening round of eliminations today at the eighth annual Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In his match-up against No. 14 qualifier Gary Densham, the driver of the Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car had the jump off the starting line with a .083 (of-a-second) to a .100 reaction time (.000 is perfect) and was on a strong pass when the Rockstar Energy Drink car lost traction near the 330-foot mark and smoked the tires. Toliver coasted across the finish line with a 6.334-second elapsed time at 103.35 mph and Densham took the win with a 4.265/280.25.
“We had a good race car this weekend and I thought the left lane would hold it, but the Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge was just a little too aggressive,” said Toliver, who remains No. 15 in the points. “It’s very frustrating because we left it alone after qualifying and went right back out there with the same setup today. We had a little trouble spot in that left lane and it got through it on the third qualifying run, but it didn’t make it today.
“We’ve just had bad luck on race day. Densham only ran a 4.26 and there is no way in hell we shouldn’t have beaten that, but when it’s not your day that’s the way it goes. What makes me feel bad is that I really want to win a race for Rockstar Energy Drink and the crew guys. They’ve worked their asses off and they’re a good group of boys and they deserve a bone.
“We’ve got one more race to go and we’ll pack it up and go to Pomona (Calif.) and see if we can do some damage there.”
The next race for Toliver and the Rockstar energy Drink team will be the 44th annual NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., Nov. 13-16.
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