Cruz Pedregon Lands Second No. 1 Qualifier of 2005

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 Grabs No. 1 Position in Chicago
Pedregon Racing Dominates Funny Car Qualifying This Weekend

JOLIET, Ill. (Oct. 1, 2005) ­ Cruz Pedregon, driver of the Advance Auto
Parts Nitro Funny Car, captured his second No. 1 qualifier of the 2005 NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series season for tomorrowıs AmeriQuest Mortgage NHRA
Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

Pedregon is back on a positive track as well, after missing the field in the
two most recent events in Indianapolis and Mohnton, Pa. The California
native drove to a career best 4.680-second elapsed time at 330.80 mph. It
was Pedregonıs 32nd No. 1 qualifier of his career.

³This a great start towards recovering from our last two races,² Pedregon
said. ²Changing crew chiefs earlier in the year (from Wes Cerny to Ron
Douglas following the Memphis (Tenn.) race) was done for the betterment of
this team. It may have hurt us in the short term, but we should be set up
for the future.

³We backed off a little bit today so we could get down the track and gather
as much data as possible,² Pedregon continued. ³For Advance Auto Parts and
this entire race team, our 4.68 run last night is a great boost. These guys
were feeling pretty beat up after Indy and Reading.²

Pedregon, along with brother Tony, who claimed the second slot for a
Pedregon Racing sweep of the top-two qualifying spots, also leads the
quickest 16-car Nitro Funny Car field in NHRA history.

Pedregon will take on Gary Densham in the first round of eliminations
tomorrow morning.

³Our strategy is to come out and win this race,² Pedregon said. ³Iım not
going to put any extra pressure on the team or myself, but I think we have a
real opportunity to do some big things tomorrow.²