Cruz Pedregon Qualifies 13th; Career Milestone Awaits

NHRA 2005 NOTES & QUOTES

NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
Bristol Raceway ­ Bristol, Tenn.
Advance Auto Parts Nitro Funny Car  - Pedregon Racing
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series

Cruz Pedregon Qualifies 13th
California Driver Going for 300th Career Round Victory

BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 30, 2005) ­ Cruz Pedregon, driver of the Advance Auto
Parts Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car, drove to the 13th slot for tomorrow¹s
NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

With rain being the order of the weekend and the first day of qualifying
washed away, Pedregon made his only qualifying pass of the weekend count
with a 5.093-second elapsed time at 313.15 mph.

³We knew there was a chance we were only going to get one qualifying session
in today,² Pedregon said. ³So we had to get down the track. (Crew chief) Wes
(Cerny) and the team did a great job in getting the car ready.

³We spun the tires and I had to catch it,² Pedregon continued. ³Then I had
to throttle the car a second time to get it the rest of the way down the
track. We should have better weather conditions tomorrow and I do feel good
about going some rounds.²

Pedregon will face off against long-time rival John Force in round one
tomorrow.

Advance Auto Parts Notebook:

MILESTONE: Advance Auto Parts Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car driver Cruz
Pedregon will reach an important career milestone with a round-one victory
tomorrow. Pedregon, the 1992 NHRA Nitro Funny Car World Champion, could
reach his 300th round victory.

Only two other active drivers, brother Tony Pedregon and round-one opponent
John Force have reached the same mark in their careers.

-PedregonRacing.com-