ROCKINGHAM FINAL QUALIFYING
Pro Modified driver Scott Cannon Jr. of Lyman, S.C., shattered the Rockingham
Dragway track record Saturday, qualified No. 1 for Sunday’s 12th annual Knoll
Gas Nitro Jam World Finals presented by the U.S. Air Force and, in the process,
clinched the IHRA season championship.
By qualifying No. 1 the second
generation pro increased his points lead over Mike Janis to an insurmountable 82
points, adding his first IHRA title to the six earned in the 1990s by his dad,
Scotty Cannon.
Not to be outdone, the elder Cannon followed his son’s
lead and will start Sunday from the No.1 position in the featured Top Fuel
division after recording a best of 4.603 seconds at 307.72 miles per hour. It’s
the first time in drag racing history that a father and son have led the pro
qualifying in the same event.
Pro Modified driver Scott Cannon Jr. of Lyman, S.C., shattered the Rockingham
Dragway track record Saturday, qualified No. 1 for Sunday’s 12th annual Knoll
Gas Nitro Jam World Finals presented by the U.S. Air Force and, in the process,
clinched the IHRA season championship.
By qualifying No. 1 the second
generation pro increased his points lead over Mike Janis to an insurmountable 82
points, adding his first IHRA title to the six earned in the 1990s by his dad,
Scotty Cannon.
Not to be outdone, the elder Cannon followed his son’s
lead and will start Sunday from the No.1 position in the featured Top Fuel
division after recording a best of 4.603 seconds at 307.72 miles per hour. It’s
the first time in drag racing history that a father and son have led the pro
qualifying in the same event.
Scott Cannon, who will be bidding
Sunday for his third straight Rockingham victory, was clocked in 5.969 seconds
at 239.27 miles per hour Saturday in the replica 1966 Pontiac Firebird in which
he set the national record earlier last month at Budds Creek, Md. (5.938
seconds).
Other No. 1 qualifiers were Bob Gilbertson of Charlotte in
Nitro Funny Car; points leader Pete Berner of Crete, Ill., in Pro Stock; and
Laurie Cannister of Johnstown, Ohio, in Alcohol Funny Car.
Berner,
driving a 2007 Pontiac GTO, equaled the existing national record in Pro Stock
with a time of 6.281 seconds at 220.80 mph. He will move into Sunday
eliminations leading Robert Patrick of Fredericksburg, Va., by 10 points in one
of the three races still undecided. As the No. 1 and No. 2 qualifiers, Berner
and Patrick could meet in a decisive final round on Sunday.
For
Scotty Cannon, 45, it was a good news, bad news Saturday. The good news was his
No. 1 qualifying effort, the first of his Top Fuel career; the bad was that he
was mathematically eliminated from a points race which will be decided in the
first two rounds on Sunday. If both win in the first round, current leader
T.J. Zizzo of Lincolnshire, Ill., and perennial title runner-up Bruce Litton of
Indianapolis would meet in round two to determine who gets the $150,000 bonus.
The third undecided points race, that for the Alcohol Funny Car title,
could be decided in a first round race between former champion Rob Atchison of
London, Ontario, Canada, and Cannister, who recorded a career best 5.669 at a
track record speed of 246.89 mph to qualify No. 1. Atchison, down 35 points to
Mark Thomas, must win to keep his slim title hopes alive.