Laurie Cannister Grand Bend preview

Cannister Puts the “Can” Do in Canada
Looks Forward to Second Half of Season

July 13, 2008 – Johnstown, Ohio - The Kalbones Grill’n Sauce IHRA Alcohol Funny Car team and its driver Laurie Cannister continue to wow the fans with their fantastic on-track performances that started with the very first event in 2008. While the team always goes into each race looking to win, as any serious team does, even they are a little surprised by the current 171 point lead they hold over Three-time World Champion, Rob Atchison, who sits number two.

Looking back it really should be no surprise, even if only reviewing the results for the Kalbones’ crew at the first event on the IHRA Nitro Jam Series at San Antonio. With no pre-season testing and no information on a hot 1/8 mile track, tuner Dale Cannister gave the Kalbones’ car just what it needed to take down some stiff competition during the season opener. Driver Laurie Cannister lived a driver’s dream that weekend not leaving one available point on the table, including number one qualifier, national E.T. record and of course, winning the race.

Since the fantastic start, the Kalbones Grill’n Sauce team has all but laid down the gauntlet. Cannister has dominated on race day, losing only a single round of competition during her five final round appearances in as many events. Cannister has also picked up the Ironman at Rockingham, Budds Creek and most recently Edmonton. Her worst being the runner-up finish at Milan, which during the entire event the crew tuned the Kalbones’ AFC entry the old-fashioned way, as the computer was rendered useless.

In what some may perceive, as a whole, to be a fairly new team, what could the Kalbones crew possess that seems to be keeping them well ahead of the pack? Well, that answer would vary depending on which member of the Kalbones’ team you would ask. Maybe that in itself is their secret. There seems to be such a pure synergy amongst the entire crew, that each knows they couldn’t do it without each other.

It was that synergy that put the Kalbones AFC in the winner’s circle during the team’s latest outing at the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This race, like so many others this season, threw a whole new set of tuning challenges at the Kalbones team. Prime example would be over 5000 feet of air to tune for and then there, of course, was Mother Nature to deal with and her lazy clouds that would not hold their moisture.

The Kalbones crew was short a few members during the Edmonton event, including Crew Chief Mike Couch along with team owners Kevin and Wendy Sims, due to important business at home in Virginia to tend to. As luck would have it, long time friend and Edmonton local, Adam Crain was ready and willing to step up and help the team.

“It was great. Adam did all my "mechanic" jobs for me,” said Laurie. “It gave me a little extra time for myself and, since I was the driver and the cook this weekend, it helped me keep the team happy and fed.”

Tuner Dale Cannister was looking forward to the extra qualifying pass that was scheduled for the event, but as mentioned before Mother Nature had other ideas. This kept the Alcohol teams to their usual three hits at the track instead of the four that were planned. One would think that this scenario would hurt a team with no information, but come race day it proved to be just the opposite.

With not only the rain during qualifying, but the horrendous downpours on race day, the extra time in-between rounds gave Dale the time he needed to study every inch of their log books. After their first round win against Scott McVey, Dale knew he was going to need to throw a lot more at the Kalbones car. Their next round matchup would pit them against Dr. Tom Carter. At this point Carter had low E.T. of the meet, 5.849.

Speaking of the Kalbones’ team’s thoughts going into the semi-final, Laurie explains they were confident they were going to make it a good drag race. “Dale studied the computer and decided all the changes we were going to make; and there were a lot of them. I don’t know exactly how many changes there were, but he said ‘It can’t hurt’. He was more confident than I thought he would be and when he was, the rest of us were.”

Laurie’s reaction times weren’t hurting either. Clocking a .053 in round one and five hours later a .054 in the semi-final, helped boost the Kalbones’ team confidence even higher. Combined with the 5.841 low E.T. of the event they managed to lay down during the semi-final round win, they were excited about their chances at another IHRA Ironman. But first they had to get through Paul Noakes.

Noakes and Cannister have met previously this season with one of those meetings in the final at just the last race in Budds Creek. Cannister knew she would once again need to be on her game, since Noakes is not only a great competitor with his Les Mellows power but a terror on the tree.

Reflecting on the final Laurie explains the team’s mindset, “Dale was looking to just adjust for the air and try to see if we could duplicate our number from the previous round. I shook a little on that final pass, or we think it would have been at least an eighty-six. I had to pedal it and was lucky Paul wasn’t any closer than he was.”

“There are no ducks in Funny Car,” exclaimed Laurie. “Not one. We take everyone very seriously.”

The half-way point of the IHRA Nitro Jam series has arrived and the Kalbones Grill’n Sauce AFC still have a long way to go in the championship hunt. Grand Bend will be the next stop on the 2008 tour and maybe a little more familiar tuning experience awaits them. The last time Cannister competed at the Mopar Canadian Nationals was 2002, where she lost to Dale Brand in the semi-finals.

“Yeah, the fans in Edmonton are just great, but I’m looking forward to seeing the folks in Ontario who have always supported me every time I have raced there in Pro Outlaw and Alcohol Funny Car,” Laurie said. “I hope now that we only have one stop in Ontario this season, the fans will all come out to Grand Bend and let us put on a show for them!”

“We may even mix up a special batch of Kalbones’ Grill’n Sauce just for the occasion,” she laughed.

Whatever the flavor of Kalbones Grill’n Sauce the team chooses to run, look for the sparks to fly again during the next event on the 2008 IHRA Nitro Jam tour. The excitement rolls into Grand Bend Motorplex for the Mopar Canadian Nationals July 25-27.

(Release courtesy of Kathy Fisher - Photos courtesy of Roger Richards and CompetitionPlus.com)

Laurie Cannister Fast Fan Facts
Birthday - July 23
Hometown - Johnstown, Ohio with husband, Tuner Dale Cannister
Children - Samson "Our Son" - Norwegian Elkhound
2008 IHRA Alcohol Funny Car Champion - Texas Nationals (San Antonio), Spring Nationals (Rockingham), President’s Cup Nationals (Budds Creek) & Rocky Mountain Nationals (Edmonton)
2008 IHRA Alcohol Funny Car Runner-Up – Motor City Nationals (Milan)
2002 & 2007 IHRA Alcohol Funny Car Champion - President's Cup Nationals (Budds Creek)
2000 IHRA Pro Outlaw World Champion
1999 IHRA Pro Rookie of the Year
Career quickest Quarter Mile elapsed time is 5.669
Career fastest Quarter Mile speed is 246.89
Career quickest Eighth Mile elapsed time is 3.731 (Current IHRA ET Record)
Career fastest Eighth Mile speed is 198.32 (Current IHRA Speed Record)
Cannister is the fastest and quickest female driver in IHRA Alcohol Funny Car history (Eighth & Quarter Mile)


About Kalbones Grill'n Sauce:
Serious Sauce for Serious Grill'n! We make it easy for you to become a grill master with our unique family recipe using only the finest and freshest ingredients. There are two secrets to producing great barbecue. The first is the slow cooking process which allows the meat to tenderize while maintaining all of the moist, natural, mouth-watering juices. The second is the sauce. Kalbones is a Southern Virginia style sauce which enhances and compliments the natural flavor of the meat with a distinctive home-style barbeque flavor. Whether the occasion is a pig pickin', tailgate party, or a backyard barbeque, Kalbones is your essential ingredient to success. Six mouth watering flavors to choose from and a new rub.

Better yet - Try them all! Mop Kalbones on beef, poultry, and seafood too - It's "not jus' for yer butts!"

For more information about Kalbones Grill'n Sauce, ordering, contests and great recipes visit - http://www.kalbones.com

Special Thanks to – Flatout Gaskets – www.flatoutgaskets.com


For More Info or Photos Contact – Kathy Fisher
Performance by Fisher Productions
Lima, Ohio
Web – www.performancebyfisher.com
Email – team_pr@performancebyfisher.com