Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver used his final attempt to qualify 15th for Sunday’s eliminations at the third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, recording an elapsed time of 4.125 seconds at 299.00 mph.
In his opening run on Friday, Toliver ran a 4.107/298.87 mph, good for No. 5 at the time. The Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge then shook the tires and slowed to a 7.282/84.96 (No. 15) on the second attempt. Out of the top 12 on the qualifying chart, Toliver’s times were tossed out, forcing him to attempt to qualify into the top 16 during today’s two remaining rounds.
In his third stab, the car lost traction off the starting line, producing a 12.582/64.84 (No. 17). Still out of the show, the Rockstar Energy Drink team rose to the occasion in his final try under nearly ideal fall conditions.
“We’re here to race, so it’s extremely important to make every field,” said Toliver, who is No. 15 in series points. “We started out Friday with a good lap with that 4.10 and we probably got a little too greedy and got after it a little too hard and smoked the tires during the night session.
“We felt like with the great conditions today that we could go out and duplicate that 4.10 on our first run, but it blew the tires off for no apparent reason and that put us behind the 8-ball. So the Rockstar Energy Drink boys went back to the pits and put a safe tune-up in it and we went out and ran a 4.12.
“It’s a big deal for us. Like I’ve always said, you’ve got to be in to win and we’re in. I’m proud of these guys. They had their backs up against the wall and they got the job done. The Rockstar Energy Drink car will move on tomorrow.”
Toliver faces No. 2 qualifier Tony Pedregon in first round of eliminations. He could prove a valuable spoiler and Don Schumacher Racing teammate in the Countdown to 1 playoffs by eliminating Pedregon (tied in No. 2 in points with DSR driver Jack Beckman) in that round.
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