Tony Pedregon / Q Power Race Team - Gainesville Results

March 21, 2006 
TONY PEDREGON AND THE Q POWER RACE TEAM 
BACK ON COURSE AFTER GATORNATIONALS  

2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 3 of 23
ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals, Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway
Race Date: March 17-19, 2006

(GAINESVILLE, Fla., March 21): Tony Pedregon and his Q Power Race Team had a
competitive weekend and relatively smooth qualifying runs at the ACDelco
NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway, but struggled with a
first round loss after eventually timing last in the field.

After qualifying 16th in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series' Nitro Funny
Car division, only the fourth time in his career he has qualified in that
position, Pedregon was matched up with #1 qualifier John Force in the
opening round of eliminations. Although gaining the advantage at the start,
Pedregon was eliminated in that round after having to get off the throttle
when car lost traction, then right back on it quickly, in order to run Force
down.

"It could have been a tougher weekend had we not qualified, but even on an
off weekend we were able to make the show," Pedregon said of his first round
struggle. "Goodyear made it mandatory to run this particular tire, which
changed the power curve for our team. The absolute only thing we lack is
more runs on that tire. Our record speaks for itself. We have a car capable
of qualifying in the top half of the field and winning races. We stayed in
Gainesville to test on Monday and made a lot of progress. So I'm confident
that, going into Houston, we'll get back to form and go for another win in
that race." Pedregon is a four-time winner of the upcoming O'Reilly NHRA
Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston (Tex.) Raceway Park (1997,
1998, 2000, 2003).

A strong off-season testing program and renewed team focus for 2006 has
Pedregon and his Q Power Race Team excited for the upcoming race in Houston:
"We put in some good work in the off-season, and we feel like we've got the
best of everything to work with, good companies surrounding our program and
the best equipment on the race track. So we are really excited for the
upcoming races and the rest of the 2006 season."

In 2005, Tony Pedregon and the Q Power Race Team finished 7th in points with
two wins, was #1 qualifier three times and recorded the second quickest
elapsed time in NHRA history at 4.680 seconds in Chicago.

NEXT RACE: 

O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston (Tex.)
Raceway Park, March 31-April 2, 2006
RESULTS:

SUNDAY ELIMINATION ROUND 1

(W) John Force - 4.775 / 319.60
(L) Tony Pedregon - 5.018 / 279.32

FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:

1.      Ron Capps, 280
2.      John Force, 249
3.      Robert Hight, 221
4.      Phil Burkart Jr., 196
5.      Tommy Johnson Jr., 180
6.      Del Worsham, 159
7.      Eric Medlen, 145
8.      Cruz Pedregon, 139
9.      Gary Scelzi, 122
10.     Tony Pedregon, 121

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