Cruz Pedregon Reaches Career Milestone

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 Reaches 300-Round Victories for Career
Advance Auto Parts Nitro Funny Car Makes Third Semifinal of 2005

BRISTOL, Tenn. (May 1, 2005) ­ Cruz Pedregon, driver of the Advance Auto
Parts Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car, advanced to his third semifinal of the
2005 season during todayıs NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

Pedregon also reached the 300th-round victory of his career when he defeated
long-time rival John Force in round one.

³Iım not much into statistics, but this one meant a lot to me,² Pedregon
said. ³And it was against Force. I know we have had our differences in the
past, but there is no one I respect more in this business than John. To beat
him for my 300th round victory is just awesome.

³I couldnıt have done this without my team,² Pedregon continued. ³We
complement each other very well. We need to keep going on what weıre doing.²

Pedregon defeated his brother Tony Pedregon in round two, after posting a
4.842-second elapsed time at 314.24 mph. The run was the quickest of the
second round. Pedregon then smoked the tires and lost to Jeff Arend in the
semifinal. 

³I felt we gave one away in the semifinal,² Pedregon said. ³The track got a
little slippery and we might have been a little aggressive. If the car would
have hooked up, we liked our chances. But you have to give Jeff Arend credit
because he did what he had to do.²

Advance Auto Parts Notebook:

POINTS BATTLE: Advance Auto Parts driver Cruz Pedregon moved to third place
in NHRA Nitro Funny Car points after his semifinal round appearance during
todayıs NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. He only sits two
behind second-place John Force heading into Atlanta.

The last time Pedregon was in the thick of a points race like this was back
in 1998, when he finished third. The Camarillo, Calif., resident was the
1992 NHRA Funny Car World Champion.

³The points are so important,² Pedregon said. ³This is the first time in
about seven years that Iıve been in the middle of one of these battles. But
when you have a great car and team, good things start to happen.

³This is our best start in a long time,² Pedregon said. ³Weıre still a
little rough here and there, but weıre getting better as we go along. The
competition is a lot tougher now than it was back when we were last in one
of these battles. Every team out here can win any given round.²

QUICK NOTE: Cruz Pedregon defeated both John Force and brother Tony Pedregon
today, earning the 300th round victory of his career in the process.
Ironically, those are the only two active drivers currently ahead of Cruz in
this department.

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