Reading: Gary Densham Saturday summary

DENSHAM BUMPS IN THE FIELD DURING FINAL ROUND

READING, Penn. (September 17, 2005) -- Gary Densham didn't mean to make such a dramatic entrance into the final 16-car Funny Car field for the Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. It just worked out that way.

During the fourth and final round of qualifying Saturday, Densham drove his Racebricks Chevy Monte Carlo to a 4.887-second pass at 312.21 mph -- which was good enough for the 16th qualifying position. Densham was the only driver to come from outside the field during the last round.

To say the least, Densham was in high spirits following the round.

"That was just awesome and when I pulled the parachutes, I thought that run was good enough to get us in the field," Densham said. "I couldn't wait to get out of the car and hear what the time was.

"We would have liked to have qualified high enough on Friday to not have to worry about it on Saturday, but it didn't work out that way this time. We got a little behind on Friday but now we just need to focus on Sunday's eliminations. I'm happy we get to play in eliminations tomorrow."

Final eliminations start at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Densham was qualified in the 16th spot on Friday, but was bumped out during the third round on Saturday.

"To make a mistake on Friday and come back and get into the show on the fourth and final run without ideal track conditions is very exciting," Densham said. "I was just so impressed with the way the team pulled together and got the work done to make it all happen."

Densham will face Gary Scelzi in the first round. Scelzi earned the No. 1 qualifying position with a 4.766 at 322.11.

ESPN2 will broadcast qualifying of the Toyo Tires Nationals on Sept. 17 at 4 p.m. while eliminations can be seen Sept. 18 at 4 p.m. and Sept. 23 at 3 a.m. Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 18.

-gs-