Tony Pedregon Topeka Preview
17th annual O¹Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals Heartland Park Topeka Topeka, Kan. ŒQ¹ Racing Nitro Funny Car - Pedregon Racing NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Tony Pedregon NHRA Nationals Notebook TOPEKA, Kan. (May 25, 2005) * 2003 Funny Car champion, Tony Pedregon, will drive his ŒQ¹ Racing Nitro Funny Car during the 17th annual O¹Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. The ŒQ¹ Racing team driver will participate this weekend in the ninth race of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule. * Pedregon ruled in Heartland Topeka Park for three consecutive years that culminated in 2003 when the California native claimed the event trophy, the track record elapsed time with a 4.743seconds pass, and ended the season becoming the NHRA POWERade Funny Car champion. That year, Pedregon went a perfect 9-0 in final round appearances en route to the championship. * ³Topeka has always been one of the better tracks that we race at throughout the year,² commented Pedregon. ³We¹ve had a lot of success here and my challenge is to win here as a team owner and with our sponsor ŒQ¹.² * This year, Pedregon heads to Topeka as a second season team owner. And even though this entails a whole new set of responsibilities, Pedregon knows he can rise to the challenge. ³I enjoy everything about being a team owner,² explains Pedregon. ³My schedule is a lot more demanding and there is a lot more things that I am involved with now. It is not just challenging on race weekends anymore but throughout the week as well. The part I enjoy the most is being at the track and working with Cruz (Pedregon¹s brother) and interacting with the team.² * So far this year, Pedregon has qualified in the number one position in Pomona, Calif. and Chandler, Ariz. He also broke the elapsed-time record at Pomona Raceway with a 4.681-second pass at 323.35mph. In Chandler, Ariz., Pedregon broke Firebird International Raceway¹s elapsed time record at 4.703 seconds. Pedregon heads to Heartland Park Topeka 10th in POWERade Funny Car points with 353.