Cruz Pedregon Final Qualifying Notes

NHRA 2005 NOTES & QUOTES

U.S. Nationals Qualifying
Indianapolis Raceway Park ­ Clermont, Ind.
Advance Auto Parts Nitro Funny Car  - Pedregon Racing
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series

Cruz Pedregon Final Qualifying Notes

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 3, 2005) ­ Cruz Pedregon, driver of the Advance Auto
Parts Nitro Funny Car, was on the outside looking in as qualifying closed
for this weekendıs 51st annual U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

On his final qualifying pass, Pedregon smoked the tires at the hit of the
throttle. His previous 5.010-second elapsed time at 233.64 mph wasnıt enough
to crack the 4.852-second bump spot set by Phil Burkart.

³This one hurt a little bit, but we have a great race team and weıll be back
at the next one,² said Pedregon, the 1992 POWERade Funny Car World Champion.
³Crew chief Ron Douglas and co-crew chief Sam Shockley are awesome, and Iım
very confident this team will come back as strong as ever.

³We made really good passes,² Pedregon continued. ³But something happened in
every run and it just wasnıt our weekend. But Iım thankful I have the great
support of Advance Auto Parts and weıre not going to be down long.²

In the first round of todayıs Skoal Showdown, Pedregon led opponent Gary
Scelzi to half track. But the car moved out of the groove and Scelzi drove
by for the victory. Scelzi clicked off a 4.943-second lap at 309.20 mph,
while Pedregon had a 5.035-second elapsed time at 254.14 mph.

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