Pedregon Drives to Memphis Quarterfinals
Quaker State Racing Funny Car Pedregon Racing NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series O¹Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park Elimination Notes & Quotes Tony Pedregon Drives to Quarterfinals MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 21, 2004) Tony Pedregon and the Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car drove his way to the quarterfinals of today¹s O¹Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Memphis Motorsports Park. Pedregon manuevered to a 5.135-second elapsed time at 265.69 mph in the second round of competition, but it wasn¹t enough to outrun Tim Wilkerson and his 5.073-second pass at 293.15 mph. The California resident talked about the weekend. ³We didn¹t back down enough in the second run,² Pedregon said. ³Most of the time, we¹re making as much power as we need. So our goal is to get it under control. We need to make the right adjustments to deal with the changing conditions. It probably could have run a little better, but we gave it a little too much.² Pedregon advanced to the quarterfinals with a victory over Jim Head. The 2003 POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car World Champion logged a 5.135-second elapsed time at 265.69 mph. Head ran a slower 5.253-second lap at 280.95 mph. ³We¹re getting closer,² Pedregon continued. ³We¹re going to test over the next couple of days. I¹m going to Cordova next weekend and compete in a match race. It will allow is to further test the car. We¹ll be ready for the big one in Indy.² Quaker State Racing Notebook: TOUGH OPENER: Tony Pedregon, driver of the Quaker State Racing Nitro Funny Car, experienced his first big engine explosion of the 2004 season in today¹s first round victory. Quickly after shutting off his car, Pedregon¹s ride came to an abrupt stop with flames emerging just under the body. Pedregon described the trouble. ³The car performed despite ignition problems,² Pedregon said. ³This was really this first motor we¹ve blown up all year. I think that says a lot about the precision this team has. And to do it at this part of the year really tells me how good this team is. ³We did our job and this team is battle tested,² Pedregon added. ³They thrashed between the first and second rounds. They did a great job of getting the car back together. All we needed to do was make a bit different call on the clutch, and I think that would have been the difference. Either way, we¹re on track and we¹ll see what happens at Indy.² PedregonRacing.com Contact: David Harris, Cox Marketing Group Media Relations Manager Pedregon Racing (704) 799-2114 office (704) 756-9301 - mobile (704) 756-9301 - mobile