Cruz Pedregon Qualifies 12th

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

Cruz Pedregon 12th After Final Qualifying at Joliet
Advance Auto Parts Car to Face Brother Tony in First Round

JOLIET, Ill. (June 11, 2005) ­ Cruz Pedregon, driver of the Advance Auto
Parts Nitro Funny Car, grabbed the 12th spot in final qualifying for
tomorrow¹s eighth annual NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

Pedregon, the 1992 NHRA POWERade Funny Car champion, raced the Joliet (Ill.)
quarter mile in 4.840 seconds at 323.19 mph confirming his presence in
Sunday¹s elimination. For tomorrow¹s first round, NHRA rules establish that
the No. 12 qualifier races No. 5, in this case, Pedregon¹s brother Tony.

³From the Advance Auto Parts team perspective, we¹ll put on an strong first
run tomorrow,² said Pedregon. ³But from the personal side, I¹d rather race
Tony during the semifinals or the final round. The positive spin in racing
each other is that one of us is guaranteed to make it to the second round.

³The goal for this weekend was to be consistent during qualifying,² added
Pedregon. ³And we have achieved it with two passes in the 4.80¹s. Now, we¹re
working on different things so we can achieve 100% performance.²

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