Laurie Cannister Martin wrap up

Cannister Smokes Out the Competition at US 131

August 4, 2008 – Johnstown, Ohio – So what exactly is IHRA Alcohol Funny Car driver Laurie Cannister trying to signify in this photo by holding the outstretched hand? Is it please, no more pictures? Talk to the hand? Maybe practicing to audition for The Supremes with her rendition of, “Stop In The Name Of Love”? Nope, it’s nothing other than indicating for the world to see the amount of wins for the Kalbones Grill’n Sauce team in 2008. Cannister snatched up the latest of those victories this past weekend at the Northern Nationals making it an even fist-full.

When the Kalbones AFC rolled into the IHRA Nitro Jam event this past weekend at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, it had been re-fitted with some of the components that had taken the team to its first four event wins. But the car didn’t come off the trailer running numbers anywhere near what tuner Dale Cannister expected.

“We started off having some clutch issues,” explained Dale. “As we went through the qualifying passes and were able to gain a little each time, we learned that the clutch problems were really due to a lack of horsepower.”

Following the final qualifying pass on Saturday night where the Kalbones team had finally managed to pull a mid-80’s pass out of the car, they found they were going to be in for more than just the normal race day maintenance routine.

“We were just finishing up and Steve found that the number two main cap had a crack in it,” said Laurie. “So with something like that, you don’t want to go race it with the thought that the crank just may fall right out of the engine. We ended up having to change motors.”

The Kalbones team worked well into the night. They swapped the long block and reassembled the car so that they were able to do a test fire before the track’s midnight curfew only to find a new problem, smoke and lots of it.

“It just started smoking out number two cylinder. We didn’t know why it was doing it,” Laurie said as she shrugged her shoulders. “Dale thought maybe the intake manifold didn’t get seated properly, so we took it back apart, squared it back up and resealed it. By then, it ended up being too late to fire it up again, since it was well past midnight.”
What the Kalbones’ team found Sunday morning was no better than the night before, still more smoke from the same cylinder and with only a short time before first round, Dale decided they needed to make a head change. “I thought maybe something night have been cracked in that head, like a pushrod tube. Started it back up again and no improvement. Next we changed the spark plug tube and we still had smoke. By that time, it was just minutes before we needed to head to the lanes for first round. We had no other choice but to just take it up and run it.”

It was none other than the number one qualifier, Dale Brand, who the Kalbones’ team was to face in the other lane for first round. Laurie, like most drivers, is not a big fan of the first round jitters. Plus knowing the fits the car had been giving them back in the pits over the last sixteen hours did not help the situation. “We were hoping for the best. But to go up there, with it smoking like that, Dale really thought that he was going to have to shut me off. The last thing we ever want to do, is to risk an oildown penalty.”

As Cannister lined up for the match against Brand, the smoke did continue to pour out of that same cylinder. While it may have looked pretty bad, especially to the average onlooker, Dale made the decision to let the car go and it proved to be a good one. Smoking and all, Cannister ended up laying down her best past of the event, a 5.74 to Brand’s 5.80, and snatching up yet another round win.

“Even before all the...smoke happened, “Dale paused as he smiles. “We had made several changes to the actual tune-up. We knew the track would be able to take whatever we threw at it first round and we were running Dale Brand number one qualifier, so we did everything I thought we could do to it.”

After the first round win, the team put the smoke situation out of their minds. Laurie tells how the team decided that they were just going to go about their normal between round activities. “At that point, we just forgot about it. We went about doing our normal turnaround, checking the weather and coming up with a tune-up for the semi-finals.”

That round, Cannister lined up with Terry Monroe. “We thought maybe the track might have gone away a little with the sun on it all day, so we did back it down a little. It still drove through the clutch a little in third gear. Terry’s car really stepped up for that round and we’re happy it wasn’t more than it was,” Dale added.

The round win would put Cannister and the Kalbones Grill’n Sauce car in its sixth final of the season, with only missing the last one at Grand Bend. Laurie admits, while it felt great to return to the championship round, the stellar reaction times of her final round opponent were definitely weighing on her mind. “It always does when you race Paul Noakes. I try not to get too wrapped up in what other driver is over there and what they may or may not do on the line. As a competitor, you know you have a hand full of drivers that can really cut a light, whether they have their own routine to make that happen or whatever it is. There are just some people who are just consistently great on the tree and Paul is one of them.”

What happened in the final was a first for Laurie and the Kalbones’ team in any round this year, a redlight win. “I actually expected, after Paul’s almost unheard of double-oh-seven light that he put on Atchison in the semis, that he might have been a little apprehensive. I thought that he would back off a little in the final and that’s not what happened. Yes, I was happy to win but when either driver redlights, you’re not racing for the win. It takes a little bit of the excitement out of it and I know those guys over there on Noakes crew try just as hard as any team. It would have just been more satisfying to really race for it.”

After the Cannister freight train literally puffed its way through eliminations to another IHRA Nitro Jam victory, the folks at Kalbones Grill’n Sauce may be on to a new flavor of mesquite smokin’ sauce.


(Release courtesy of Kathy Fisher - Photos courtesy of Kathy Fisher, 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) & Northern Nationals (Martin)
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