Jerry Toliver missed qualifying for eliminations today at the 54th annual U.S. Nationals. It was a tough go for the affable California businessman who was faced with the challenge of qualifying for a spot in the top 16 in a field of 22 strong cars vying for those positions.
The best run of the weekend for the Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver came during the fourth of five qualifying sessions today when he recorded a 4.235-second elapsed time at 291.95 mph, good for only No. 18. His other attempts included a 5.499/126.28 (No. 19) on Friday evening, a 4.276/289.38 (No.15), another evening run of 6.071/111.40 (No. 20) and a 6.462/97.81 (No. 19).
“My hat is off to everyone who qualified here at Indy,” said Toliver. “This is the ‘Big Go’ and it’s a big event. There are a lot of quality cars out here this weekend and it’s very competitive and very difficult. If you get behind the 8-ball and you don’t make a good night run it’s hard to make that up.
“The Rockstar Energy Drink team put ourselves in a position today where we had to run a pretty good number to qualify and I don’t think that track was going to hold those kinds of numbers. Not many cars ran that well on the second lap in the heat.
“The bottom line is that we got behind in our qualifying efforts. Last night was our shot to get in and we didn’t make it. It makes it extremely difficult to try and make it in on two runs. The conditions just weren’t there for us to be able to get in the show.”
The next race for Toliver and the Rockstar Energy Drink team is the inaugural Carolina Nationals in Concord, North Carolina, Sept. 11-14.
