Tony Pedregon Fifth To Open Memphis Qualifying

Quaker State Racing Funny Car

Pedregon Racing
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
OıReilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil
Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park
Friday Qualifying Notes & Quotes

Tony Pedregon Fifth After the First Two Sessions
Quaker State Racing Completes Solid Memphis Opener

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 20, 2004) ­ Tony Pedregon, driver of the Quaker State
Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car, blistered the Memphis Motorsports Park
quarter mile, grabbing the fifth slot after the first night of qualifying
for this weekendıs OıReilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil.

The California resident, clicked off a solid 4.964-second elapsed time at
298.73 mph during tonightıs second session. Pedregon was happy with the run
considering the hot and humid weather conditions.

³It was a good run considering,² Pedregon said. ³We dropped a cylinder at
about half track on that last run ­ so I was only on seven cylinders.
Regardless, it was a good run. I think we dodged the weather. It didnıt look
good when I got up this morning and the forecast didnıt look promising
either.

³I donıt know what the weather holds for us tomorrow,² Pedregon added. ³If
it gets warm, then Iım pretty happy with what we did tonight. It allows us
to go out tomorrow and be a little more aggressive, depending upon the
conditions. Occasionally we have a tendency to get a little greedy. We
needed to take a step back and look, weıre qualified fifth and thatıs a good
position to start the weekend in.²

Quaker State Racing Notebook:

NIGHT CHALLENGES: This weekendıs OıReilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals
presented by Pennzoil features only the second night race of the 2004 NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series season. With that offers a few challenges for
driver Tony Pedregon and the Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny
Car.

³The lighting conditions werenıt the best out there,² Pedregon said. ³To
compound the matter, we dropped that cylinder and the aerodynamics sent the
car towards the center line. Especially when you drop a cylinder on the
right bank and youıre in the left lane. It was difficult. I think we made
the best of it, but I do think it makes it a little more challenging for us.
It will sure separate the good drivers from the bad.²


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