Tony Pedregon NHRA Southern Nationals Notebook
25th Annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals Atlanta Dragway Commerce, Ga. ŒQ¹ Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car - Pedregon Racing NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Commerce, Ga. (May 10, 2005) * Tony Pedregon, the 2003 Funny Car champion, heads to Atlanta Dragway this weekend for the seventh race of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule. Pedregon will drive his ŒQ¹ Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car during the 25th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. * It was 1996 at Atlanta Dragway, Pedregon won his first race in his first final round. His adversary in that final round was none other than Pedregon¹s car owner at the time, John Force. Since then, Pedregon won again in 2003 (against Johnny Gray), this time as team owner as well. * Also in Atlanta, a year ago, Pedregon grabbed the number one slot with a track record elapsed time of 4.765 seconds and track speed record of 329.83 mph. ³It was one of those runs that everything just went right,² explained Pedregon. ³It was a combination of Dickie (Venables) and Kurt (Elliott) reading the conditions right. Two other teams nabbed the pole from us in that last session and Dickie made a last minute adjustment and we had a great run. I could tell by the way the engine was revving up that it was a good pass. Afterwards I got on the radio and said that it at least felt like a 4.78 and they told me it was a 4.76 and went 325 mph, and I am thinking Œalright that¹s great.¹ Then I was told 329 mph and got a little loud after that.² * So far this year, Pedregon has qualified in the number one position in Pomona, Calif. and Phoenix. He also broke the elapsed-time record at Pomona Raceway with a 4.681-second pass at 323.35mph. And in Chandler, Ariz., Pedregon broke Firebird International Raceway¹s elapsed time record at 4.703 seconds. Pedregon heads to Atlanta 11th in POWERade Funny Car points with 266.