CRUZ PEDREGON / ADVANCE AUTO PARTS NITRO FUNNY CAR TEAM ST. LOUIS RESULTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2006
Contact:  
     Allison Holt, JRL Group, (847) 291-7080 x201, Allison@jrlgroup.com 
     Janie Vogel, JRL Group, (440) 915-7627, janievogel@yahoo.com 
Hi- and low-resolution photos available upon request


CRUZ PEDREGON AND THE ADVANCE AUTO PARTS

RACE TEAM OUT EARLY IN ST. LOUIS RACE



2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series 
Round 12 of 23 
NHRA Midwest Nationals, Gateway Int'l Raceway, Madison, Ill.

Race Date:  June 23-25, 2006
  
MADISON, Ill. (June 26, 2006) - Cruz Pedregon and his Advance Auto Parts
Race Team qualified 9th, but fell out of competition after the first round
in NHRA POWERade Nitro Funny Car action from the NHRA Midwest Nationals at
Gateway Int'l Raceway in Madison, Ill., this past weekend.  However they
retained their top-10 point standings heading into the next race in Denver. 

 

"We felt good during the first part of the weekend, and qualified ninth,"
Pedregon explained of his weekend's progress.  "Sunday afternoon we were the
first pair to run, and it was the hottest it had been the whole weekend, and
it's the hottest it's been with this new chassis, so we found out another
thing it doesn't like.  Hopefully we've worked out the bugs with the car and
can move into the second half of the season knowing what it likes.  Our
season is like a football game - it's "half time" right now, and we get a
couple of weekends off.  The second half is usually where teams need to win.
There's a lot of racing left, and a lot to race for.  We have a win early in
the first half of the season (Las Vegas), and with hard work, we can win
more in the second half.  We'll regroup and come out swinging starting with
our next race in Denver.  

 

"Tony won and moved into fourth in points, and I'm sure we'll get good data
from his weekend's success.  We'll do what we have to do to and improve for
our great sponsors like Advance Auto Parts, Snap-on, GREAT STUFF, Herzog,
PUG, Mr. Gasket, Sioux City Truck and Trailer, and our other sponsors.  We
have two weeks off, but we're not resting - we'll run at Norwalk (OH)
Raceway Park's "Night Under Fire" and smooth out our strategy.  We won Vegas
recently, and we haven't forgotten how to win since then.  I'm confident
we'll get back on track very soon."

 

NEXT RACE:   July 14-16, 2006 - Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, Bandimere
Speedway, Morrison, Colo. (near Denver)


ST. LOUIS RACE RESULTS:   
  
QUALIFIED:

9th - 4.860 / 315.19

 

FIRST ROUND:   
(W) Gary Scelzi - 5.021 / 303.16

(L) Cruz Pedregon - 6.706 / 174.57

 

FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ron Capps, 975

2. John Force, 931

3. Robert Hight, 742

4. Tony Pedregon, 728

5. Eric Medlen, 692

6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 684

7. Gary Scelzi, 641

8. Whit Bazemore, 592

9. Del Worsham, 536

10. Cruz Pedregon, 530


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