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Denver: Scotty Cannon eliminations summary

Scotty Cannon defeats Tony Pedregon in first round DENVER, Colo. (July 20, 2003) - Scotty Cannon was the ultimate team player today in his Oakley Funny Car by defeating his teammate Whit Bazemore's fiercest rival Tony Pedregon in the first round ...

Published: Jul 21, 2003, 11:08 PM

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Scotty Cannon defeats Tony Pedregon in first round

DENVER, Colo. (July 20, 2003) - Scotty Cannon was the ultimate team player today in his Oakley Funny Car by defeating his teammate Whit Bazemore's fiercest rival Tony Pedregon in the first round of eliminations. Cannon made it down the Bandimere Speedway's quarter-mile straight and clean, crossing the finish line with a 5.207-second elapsed time at 291.32 mph to Pedregon's tire-smoking 6.109/191.02.

In the second round, Cannon, whose Bandimere Speedway record includes one runner-up finish in 2000 and one No. 1 qualifying effort in 2002, was paired with Tony's brother Frank, against whom he he's won in six out of 11 meetings. Pedregon didn't exactly tear up the quarter mile with his 5.506/256.89 pass, but Cannon blazed the tires at the hit of the throttle, resulting in a 14.946-second elapsed time at 77.25 mph.

Defeating Tony Pedregon was valuable to his teammate, but advancing to the second round was Cannon's true goal. "We're just trying to make one round at a time," said the Lyman, N.C., resident. "We didn't go out there to try to run any faster than we ran yesterday in the heat. We just didn't want want to go out there and beat ourselves; we wanted to let him beat us or him beat himself, and that's what happened."

Cannon and Bazemore were notorious antagonists before they became teammates. Today, they are the best of friends. Cannon was glad to do him a favor, but it came at a cost, Cannon remarked. "It just looks like a favor, but you can't go up there and run a Tony Pedregon doing Whit Bazemore a favor. It just winds up a favor and he just cashes in on it. He owes me. I want my check in the mail. He can mail it today and I want it by Tuesday; next-day air will be fine. Or he can just walk it over here," he laughed.

Cannon remains 14th in the POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings, with 475 points.

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