One on one moment

Story, questions and photos © 2004 Dwight Drum Web work by Gary Larsen

Jerry Toliver is back in the Funny Car chase and his presence may elevate the already hot competition level during the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season. Toliver has assembled a veteran team with a big name manufacturer Toyota in his efforts to grab the win lights. Zoomster met with Toliver during a practice session near The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to bring you his thoughts about returning.

Dwight asked Jerry Toliver:

"Oh, it's wonderful to be back. I hated the time I was off. I never wanted to stop, and unfortunately when WWF decided to park the car, it left us very little time to put something together. I was October 2001 when they let us know. After 9/11 business was down, the economy bad and nobody wanted to talk to you about drag racing. I can tell you that right now. We talked to everybody."

"We just decided we're just going to take our time and find the right program and put it together and get out there and be able to compete and have a good team, a good well-financed car. It's not fun to be out here when you're not running well. Trust me. I've been there. When you're running well, it's very enriching.

"Oh, racing and the people. I really miss all my friends. It's like a big giant family out here. We fight. We fuss. We do everything, but the bottom line is it's great to see everybody. Everyone has been very friendly and very supportive of me coming back. It's like being gone from home for a while."

"No matter what I've done drag racing is in my blood. I've got two uncles in the NHRA Hall of Fame, so I've been around it all my life. I love the competition. There is nothing more exhilarating than winning. You gotta be patient. Sometimes there's a long time between wins. It can be frustrating. There's only one guy who wins every weekend out here, and the rest of the guys go home with their heads between their tails, or between their legs or tails, whatever."

"The bottom line it's very good to be here when you've got a good car. When you know you have blown away the racetrack. When you know you have a good or better opportunity as anybody else out here of winning that program that day.

"I'm excited by our whole program. I'm excited about the car we put together. Working with Toyota and TRD is going to be fantastic. Their engineers have been very supportive. They are going to be behind this program in a big way. They're excited about it. Working with Allen Johnson who has that Toyota program has been exciting. Allen is the epitome of a professional. He just lives, eats, and breaths drag racing. Between the crew I put together, the knowledge, the experience and just the desire to be back out here. It couldn't be better. "