Tony Pedregon Takes Home Eighth Qualifier

Quaker State Racing Funny Car

Pedregon Racing
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals
Route 66 Raceway
Final Qualifying Notes & Quotes

Tony Pedregon Grabs Eighth Qualifier
Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Extends Streak

JOLIET, Ill. (Oct. 2, 2004) ­ Tony Pedregon and the Quaker State Racing
Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car continues to impress during qualifying, wrapping
up the eighth slot for tomorrowıs Carquest Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at
Route 66 Raceway.

Pedregon, who extended his streak of qualifying in the top half of the field
to six races, clicked off a 4.828-second elapsed time at 309.07 mph during
todayıs third and final session. The California resident will take on Bob
Gilbertson in the first round of eliminations tomorrow.

³Weıre off to a good start,² Pedregon said. ³We still made the top half of a
pretty elite Funny Car field. We had good conditions, even though there was
a little bit of adversity because we lost that qualifying run yesterday.

³We should be able to pick up on our performance,² Pedregon added. ³If
thereıs any place you can utilize that horsepower, itıs at this race track.
I think tomorrow is going to be a tough day for everyone. Especially how
tough the competition is going to be. Weıre going to work with some of our
horsepower and look to that Quaker State reliability . The rest is up to us.
Whether we start from the first two positions, eighth or 15th, I think our
chances are good. I donıt think there isnıt any reason we couldnıt really
perform and be competitive tomorrow.²

Quaker State Racing Notebook:

ONE QUICK FIELD: Tony Pedregon, driver of the Quaker State Racing Monte
Carlo, qualified eighth within the quickest Nitro Funny Car field in NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series history. The bump spot for tomorrow Carquest
Nationals at Route 66 Raceway is a blistering 4.862 seconds.