Cruz Pedregon Starts Chicago As No.1 Qualifier

NHRA 2005 NOTES & QUOTES

AmeriQuest Mortgage NHRA Nationals
Route 66 Raceway ­ Joliet, Ill.
Advance Auto Parts Nitro Funny Car  - Pedregon Racing
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series

Cruz Pedregon Starts Chicago Weekend As No. 1 Qualifier
The Advance Auto Parts Entry Back On Track

JOLIET, Ill. (Sept. 30, 2005) ­ Cruz Pedregon and the Advance Auto Parts
Nitro Funny Car got back on track in a big way tonight capturing the
provisional No. 1 qualifying slot at Route 66 Raceway.

Pedregon, who failed to qualify in the two most recent NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series events, made a strong statement tonight laying down a career
best 4.680-second elapsed time at 330.80 mph ­ tying brother Tony Pedregon
for the second-quickest run in NHRA Nitro Funny Car history.

³I havenıt been this excited in a long time,² said a jubilant Pedregon, who
will be aiming for his 32nd career No. 1 qualifier tomorrow. ³It pinned me
in the seat like I had never been pinned before. My body had never felt like
that before and all I wanted to do was keep that thing in the center
(groove). 

³We did a lot of things to the car before the run tonight,² Pedregon added.
³We worked on the car, the engine and the clutch because we knew the
conditions were going to be good. We felt our first run was going to stay in
the field, so we really wanted to go for it. We were either going to light
the scoreboard up or go up in a whole lot of smoke ­ luckily it hung in
there.²

Pedregon was also happy for his brother as well.

³Its incredible to share this with Tony,² Pedregon said. ³We were able to
run the same elapsed time, but I got him a little on speed. This is a real
credit to the team.

³The biggest thing for us is we made a change in the crew chief department
after Memphis,² continued Pedregon, on changing from Wes Cerny to Ron
Douglas two races ago. ³We felt we were in the middle of the pack and just
running along. At this point I am in my career, I want to either be a hero
or a zero. That attitude cost us at Indy and Reading, but itıs something we
needed to do to compete with these guys.²

Brother Tony Pedregon completed the big night for Pedregon Racing, nabbing
the provisional second slot.