John Cannuli claimed the world record for alcohol funny cars last night at Willowbank Raceway when he charged to a 5.358 second run in the first qualifying session of the City of Ipswich Winternationals.
Cannuli’s pass edged out Gary Phillips’ previous world record of 5.360, set in Perth earlier in the year. The Queenslander said that the Crossroads team has been battling to get the car right since a chassis-tweaking wheelstand at Willowbank.
“We’ve had so many dramas with this car since that massive wheelstand,” he said. “We changed tune up, changed clutch settings, pulled the clutch apart, we have changed everything to get his car back to where we were in Perth when we won.
“My crew chief got the car right and the boys have been working day and night to sort the car out. He said let’s just try this and it will go.”
And go it did. The car got to the 60 foot clocks in just .927 of a second and was at half track in 3.54 seconds at 216mph. The top end speed was down at 254mph with Cannuli confessing the butterflies closed before the finish line.
“It was just smooth – shift light, shift light, went down the track,” he said. “I had no idea (it was so quick). I got off it early. When they told me it was a 35 it was pretty good. The emotions were unbelievable. This is why we do what we do, for these type of moments and to enjoy it and love it as much as we can.”
There may yet be more to come for Cannuli. With two sessions available to experiment with during Saturday qualifying, he is confident there is more to come.
“We can (improve). I was off it early and I knew I was off it early. I never thought it was a 35. I think it has got a 34 or a 33 in it.”
Make sure to keep up to date with everything happening at the Winternationals over the weekend via our live notes.
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