Tony Pedregon Has New Confidence & Look for 2005
NHRA 2005 NOTES & QUOTES 45th Annual K&N Filters NHRA Winternationals Pomona Raceway Pomona, California Q Racing Nitro Funny Car - Pedregon Racing NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Tony Pedregon Opens Second Season As Team Owner New Look for Q Racing Monte Carlo in 2005 POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 10, 2005) Tony Pedregon and the Q Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car will be opening the 2005 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season this weekend with the traditional Winternationals at Pomona Raceway. Pedregon, who joined brother Cruz Pedregon as an owner at the beginning of 2004, heads into his second full season with his own team. With the 2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship under his belt, the California native has lofty expectations for 2005. ³We have some team continuity,² Pedregon said. ³That was something we didn¹t have last year as a new team. We¹re still a young team, but we¹re so much farther ahead. We¹ve been able to focus on some other areas and get better as a team this off season. ³The only thing we lacked on track last year was consistency,² Pedregon continued. ³It was one of our key focuses over the winter. This car has the performance and we demonstrated that last season. One of our goals this season is to have a top-five finish in POWERade Funny Car points this year. And to do that, we have to win races.² Pedregon¹s Monte Carlo has a new look -- a Q look -- this year, as Quaker State focuses on the Q identity debuted with its new super premium, high-horsepower Q line of synthetic and synthetic blend motor oils, in both street and pure racing formulations. ³The car has been re-branded with the big, gold Q and that¹s exciting for us. It looks sharp,² Pedregon noted. ³I¹m especially pleased about the great things they are doing with this technology in the Q line. We helped develop it and I¹m glad to see that work out there, both for the fans and the larger racing world. We know from our experience that Q race oil is a bulletproof product. It¹ll make us a better team too.² Pomona Raceway Breakdown: Tony Pedregon On PomonaŠ The echoes of history permeate every wall of Pomona Raceway, site of this weekend¹s season-opening NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series 45th annual Winternationals. Tony Pedregon, who pilots the Q Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car, broke down what fans might see on track this weekend. ³NHRA put a new starting line in, so we¹re going to have to evaluate how much of a change that¹s going to make. I almost wish they would of left it alone because we ran fine here last fall, even though we had some ignition problems. ³It¹s a great track with a great tradition,² Pedregon continued. ³We always get a great crowd here. Anytime there¹s a fast track with good conditions, this racecar performs. We want to qualify well and we feel we¹re an upper tier team and will be extremely competitive all season long.² -PedregonRacing.com- Public Relations Contact: David Harris, Cox Marketing Group Account Manager davidh@coxmarketinggroup.com (704) 756-9301 - mobile Alti Perea, Cox Marketing Group Media Relations Representative alti@coxmarketinggroup.com (704) 779-3648 - mobile Pedregon Racing Advance Auto Parts Nitro Funny Car Q Racing Nitro Funny Car (704) 799-2114 office