Tony Pedregon Sunday Wrap Up From Dallas
20th Annual O¹Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals
Texas Motorplex Ennis, Texas
Q Racing Nitro Funny Car - Pedregon Racing
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Tony Pedregon Dallas Wrap Up
ENNIS, Texas (October 9, 2005) Tony Pedregon had only one opportunity to
drive his Q Racing Nitro Funny Car down the Texas Motorplex quarter mile
during today¹s running of the O¹Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals.
Pedregon clicked off a 4.906-second elapsed time at 308.28 mph, but it
wasn¹t enough to eclipse round one opponent Del Worsham¹s 4.852-second pass
at 324.67 mph. Dickie Venables (crew chief) explained what happened to the Q
car on the starting line.
³We didn¹t have enough water for the burn out and the tires stayed dry,²
Venables said. ³When you can¹t perform a proper burn out, the clutch gets
hot and ends up damaged. Also, under those circumstances, the engine does
not read right when you step on the throttle. I am surprised we were able to
go as far as we went and not smoke the tires.
³We also dropped a cylinder during the run which may have happened anyway-
so I am not sure if the burn out was to blame for the loss, but it did have
an influence,² Venables concluded.
Pedregon added to his crew chief¹s comments about today¹s first round.
³Besides the unusual burn out, the Q car was ahead at the eighth-mile mark,²
said Pedregon, the 2003 POWERade Funny Car World Champion ³But once the
cylinder dropped, we lost the edge. Still, we¹ve had a good car this weekend
and qualified in the top half of the field. I am proud of the Q products we
use because I feel they¹re the best I¹ve had. We¹ll be ready to tackle Las
Vegas in two weeks.²