Cruz Pedregon Opens Winternationals With Third Quickest Time
NHRA 2005 NOTES & QUOTES 45th Annual NHRA Winternationals Pomona Raceway Pomona, California Advance Auto Parts Nitro Funny Car - Pedregon Racing NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Cruz Pedregon Opens Pomona With Provisional Third Advance Auto Parts Monte Carlo Continues To Impress POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 10, 2005) Cruz Pedregon, driver of the Advance Auto Parts Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car, opened the season with a statement, posting the third quickest pass during the first round of qualifying for this weekendıs 45th annual Winternationals at historic Pomona Raceway. Pedregon logged a 4.768-second elapsed time at 323.74 mph. Through veteran crew chief Wes Cernyıs leadership; the Advance Auto Parts machine was the first Nitro Funny Car to make it down the entire quarter mile during the session. ³If we were to write a script, that run would be how it would have turned out,² said Pedregon, who made four final-round appearances last season. ³It takes a little pressure off the rest of the weekend. We were able to carry what we did in testing into this weekend. ³Its just a credit to Wes and this great team,² Pedregon added. ³To be able to keep our test set up, adjust to the different weather conditions at an entirely different track and still make a great run is a very positive sign. It was dark and a little difficult to see, but we did what we had to do. This is when its fun. When you start to see results of all that hard work. Now Wes needs to find a groove for the weekend.² Even though Pedregon made a solid run, thereıs still more left in the Advance Auto Parts Monte Carlo. ³Weıre not sure where the edge is just yet,² Pedregon said. ³Itıs kind of a calculated risk to go out there and create a baseline sometimes because you never know how the rest of the weekend may play out. But youıre better off being conservative, getting down the track and receiving a full runıs worth of data, than you are to go out there, blow the tires off the thing and wind up stressing the final day of qualifying.² Advance Auto Parts Notebook: Recreating HistoryŠ Cruz and Tony Pedregon will be celebrating the life of their cherished father ŒFlamingı Frank Pedregon when they debut an exact replication of his famous ŒFiat Coupe; in the Pedregon Racing pits tomorrow. ŒFlamingı Frank, as he was called back in the mid-1950s and 60s, was a legend around the dragstrips of Southern California and a fan favorite with the unusual way his car performed itıs burnouts. Long-time, front-engine and slingshot dragster builder and driver Pat Foster built the car, while legendary crew chief and engine wizard Dale Armstrong designed and recreated the original engine. The car will on display throughout the weekend.