Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: ‘99 Rookie of Year still seeking first win

Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002 | 9:30 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Walk into the pits at any NHRA national event and Funny Car driver Scotty Cannon immediately stands out from the rest of the competitors with his Mohawk haircut and funky Oakley sunglasses.

But the 40-year-old driver would like to stand out for another reason -- as a winner in the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series.

Well into his fourth season, the 1999 NHRA Rookie of the Year still is searching for his first victory as the series heads to Route 66 Speedway in Joliet, Ill., for this weekend's Craftsman 75th Anniversary Nationals.

"We've been knocking and knocking at the door and we need to open it soon," said Cannon, in his first season driving for team owner Don Schumacher. "We're running out of races and it's time to push forward and be aggressive; it's not the time to hold back.

"We have the talent and resources to get into winner's circle, we just haven't put all of the pieces together on the same weekend."

After a slow start this season, Cannon twice came close to his first victory. He lost to Del Worsham in the finals at Route 66 in June and again advanced to the finals four weeks later at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill., where he lost to John Force. He is sixth in Funny Car points after 19 of 23 events.

"We've had the performance to win but we just haven't gotten the right break at the right time," Cannon said.

"Whit (teammate Whit Bazemore) went through the same thing and then all of a sudden everything started to click and he won two straight races. That's encouraging for us because our combinations are similar and I truly feel we also have the talent to put a string of wins together."

Details of the sponsorship agreement, including length of the contract, were not disclosed.

The NHRA also is expected to announce next month that ACDelco will return next year as the title sponsor of the fall NHRA national event at The Strip at LVMS. The second annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals will be held Oct. 24-27.