Dennis Taylor Sonoma preview

Taylor shooting for the winners circle in Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. - Coming fresh off a runner-up finish at the Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Infineon Raceway last month, Dennis Taylor and the Cooner Wire Top Alcohol Funny Car team are fired up about this weekend's Fram-Autolite Nationals there this weekend. Taylor and tuner Randy Goodwin are shooting for the 5.6 second zone, and more importantly, the win.

Taylor, who runs his racing safety equipment company, Taylor Motorsports Products in Anaheim, Calif., feels the Cooner Wire team can continue their steady trend of improvement this weekend.

"We have gotten better and better as a team every race this year," said Taylor. "Randy and the guys have really worked their tails off to get us to this level, and I'm really thankful to have a great team behind me like that. We ran really well out here last month, and it looks like the conditions will be better this weekend, so hopefully we'll pick up. We want to run our first .60 this weekend, and we better be able to do it, because that's what it will take to win. We want to walk away from the weekend with career bests and the win."

Taylor also cites that the team's recent final round appearance has them bloodthirsty for the win.

"The more successful you become and the higher you achieve, it just makes you want to get to the next level that much more," Taylor explained. "We're finally to the level where we know we can run with the top cars in the class, and it has this Cooner Wire team really thirsty to pick up the win. Coming off of last season's up and down year, it really feels good to be in this position for the whole team. I guess hard work does pay off."

Qualifying begins on Friday for the alcohol cars, with two sessions. One final session will conclude qualifying Saturday morning and first round of eliminations will start that afternoon. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday.