Tony Pedregon Grabs Second Slot on Day One
Quaker State Racing Funny Car Pedregon Racing NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Infineon Raceway Sonoma, Calif. Friday Qualifying Notes & Quotes Tony Pedregon A Strong Second Out of the Box Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Funny Car On Track SONOMA, Calif. (July 30, 2004) Tony Pedregon drove his Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car to the second position during todayıs first two rounds of qualifying for this weekendıs Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway. Pedregon, who is going for his fourth number-one qualifier of the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season, made a 4.886-second elapsed time at 318.17 mph. ³We were happy we were able to adapt,² said Pedregon, on the changing track conditions. ³We were even better than the number two spot. We adjusted for the lower track temperature and the 85-percent rule. We are in different conditions from Seattle. ³Our Quaker State motor oil never fails and thatıs one of the factors in this great qualifying effort,² Pedregon added. ³The adjustments (Crew chief) Dickie (Venables) made were right on the money. I think if we were the last pair, we would have been able to go for a lot more. Any time you can qualify in the top three or four in one of these fields, youıre off to a good start. We donıt know what tomorrow holds, but if it warms up, that will be good for us. We have to make the changes as they come. Weıre real happy with the car.² Quaker State Racing Notebook: LOW VISIBILITY: The second qualifying session for todayıs Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals came at a tough time for the competitors. With the cars heading West, the sun was setting in their eyes, making visibility an issue. Tony Pedregon, driver of the Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car, commented on the low visibility. ³I couldnıt see the track out there on that last run,² Pedregon said. ³Thatıs only happened to me one time before. During the qualifying time in that car, the sun was right in my eyes. It really didnıt get bad until about half-track. I literally had zero vision. Fortunately the communication between my self and (Crew chief) Dickie (Venables) is really good. He told me that most of the cars had a tendency to move towards the inside of the track. ³From about 700 feet, I was literally driving by memory and feel,² Pedregon added. ³Because of what Dickie told me, I favored the car to the left and it was just enough to keep the car from going over the center line.² POWER PACK: Tony Pedregon drove his Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car through the traps at 318.17 mph, the second fastest speed so far this weekend. Only John Forceıs 318.84 mph is faster. ³Any time a car is accelerating like that running 318.17 mph it shows me the car is really making horsepower,² Pedregon said. ³I have to thank the Quaker State engineers because they have been able to reduce the friction enough in the engine for us to get to these great speeds. It looks like mechanically that everything is staying together as well.² PedregonRacing.com