Tony Pedregon / Q Power Race Team - Houston Results

April 3, 2006
 

TONY PEDREGON AND THE Q POWER RACE TEAM 
REACH QUARTERFINALS IN HOUSTON

 

2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series 
Round 4 of 23 
O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals, Houston (Tex.) Raceway Park
Race Date: March 31-April 2, 2006

 

(BAYTOWN, Texas):  The O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil,
has been very good for 2003 Funny Car World Champion, Tony Pedregon, and his
Q Power Race Team.  Pedregon has had a lot of success at Houston (Tex.)
Raceway Park, winning four previous NHRA events, and was looking forward to
a return to the homebase of his sponsor, Q Power.

 

His 8th-fastest qualifying speed after three solid runs produced a time of
4.798, but he elected not to make a fourth qualifying run after mechanical
gremlins plagued his car on Saturday.

 

"We had a mechanical problem we found Saturday, and it turned out it was a
bent valve in the engine, so we decided to not make a final qualifying
attempt," explained Pedregon.  "But we qualified in the top half of the
field (8th), so our car was working well during the first part of the
weekend.  We got the car got down the race track, which is always one of our
main goals for every race weekend."

 

Pedregon was paired against Whit Bazemore during the first round of
eliminations, winning that battle with a nice pass.  During the second
round, Pedregon had to try to beat his former car owner and teammate John
Force, and did not have the run he expected based on the progress during the
weekend, going up in smoke right off of the starting line after getting the
initial jump.

 

"All of our recent work in testing, especially after Gainesville, really has
paid off," Pedregon said.  "I think we've turned the corner.  Our
expectations are to go to Vegas and get back to the way the car was running
late last year.  We just need to fine-tune the combination we have right
now."  


The focus was not only on Pedregon as a four-time NHRA Funny Car winner in
Houston, but it was also on this champ because of the presence of his
sponsor's representatives:  "It was an important weekend for our team and
our sponsors.  My primary sponsor, Q Power, has their headquarters in
Houston, so we had quite a few of their associates out to the track.  It's
always nice to meet with fans and our corporate partners face to face.  I
hope, with our recent performances, we are giving them something to look
forward to in Las Vegas and the rest of the upcoming races."

 

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:   NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals from The Strip at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway, April 6-9, 2006

 

HOUSTON RESULTS:

 

QUALIFIED
8th - 4.798 / 318.32


SUNDAY ELIMINATION ROUND 1
(W) Tony Pedregon - 4.869 / 316.67
(L) Whit Bazemore - 6.819 / 137.85

 

SUNDAY ELIMINATION ROUND 2
(W) John Force - 4.761 / 325.85
(L) Tony Pedregon - 9.461 / 91.32


FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS: 
1. Ron Capps, 395 
2. John Force, 327 
3. Robert Hight, 258 
4. Phil Burkart Jr., 249 
5. Eric Medlen, 221 
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 214 
7. Del Worsham, 213 
8. Bob Gilbertson, 205 
9. Tony Pedregon, 174 
10. Cruz Pedregon, 171 


# # #