Chicago Mopar Route 66 Sunday Notes

(JOLIET, Ill. - June 4, 2000) - Dean Skuza, driver of the MATCO/Mopar Nitro Funny Car, lost in the second round of eliminations to Ron Capps during Sunday's Prestone Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. Capps' 4.88-second elapsed time at 304.67 mph bested Skuza's 5.03/294.62.

"After round one, I thought we had this thing figured out," Skuza said. "The right lane seemed a bit slower. The lanes were pretty equal though."

"We have a slight clutch problem, but we were able to improve on that this weekend," said the Ohio resident. "I'm looking forward to running Columbus. I consider it my home track - and we always run well there."

Skuza and his Dodge Avenger defeated Whit Bazemore in the first round of competition, after qualifying a solid fifth. Skuza, who took the left lane, drove to a 4.93/306.81, while Bazemore clocked a 5.06/307.02.

After posting his best qualifying effort of the season in ninth, Dodge Motorsports Dakota R/T driver Todd Patterson fell in the first round of eliminations to John Coughlin. Patterson, a Pro Stock Truck regular, missed the combination and ran a 7.67/174.80 to Coughlin's 7.53/178.19.

"I left him at the start," said Patterson, who is running the new small-block Dodge Magnum engine. "The cool weather bit us a little bit. The whole team worked so hard this weekend and we should have something for them the rest of the season."

"It's still pretty frustrating to have such a great truck and lose in the first round," Patterson continued. "We just missed it in the clutch department."