CRUZ PEDREGON AND THE ADVANCE AUTO PARTS RACE TEAM HEAD TO BRAINERD AFTER A HOT WEEKEND IN SONOMA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 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 HEAD TO BRAINERD AFTER A
HOT WEEKEND IN SONOMA

 

2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series 
Round 15 of 23 
NHRA Nationals, Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, Calif.

Race Date:  July 28-30, 2006
  
SONOMA, Calif. (July 31, 2006) - Cruz Pedregon and his Advance Auto Parts
Race Team qualified 15th going into Sunday's race at the NHRA Nationals at
Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.  Having to bring out a back-up car for
eliminations after his primary car experienced a rapidly spreading fire in
the last qualifying session on Saturday, Pedregon got eliminated from
competition after the first round in NHRA POWERade Nitro Funny Car action.
Pedregon retained ninth in the 2006 point standings heading into the next
race in Brainerd, Minn.

"The weekend was pretty good, although we did have a pretty bad fire - it
didn't want to go out.  We had a loose fuel line in the cylinder head, which
caused a domino effect with the other parts, causing the fire.  I barely got
out of there, as I was running out of clean air - my options were running
out because the heat was overwhelming me.  The NHRA Safety Safari were on
their game, once again, and did their job, and I am thankful for that.
Unfortunately, we lost the car.  We had to pull out our backup car, which
ran great, although we had a little gremlin we thought we had fixed in the
past, but we didn't.  But we're not going to find that problem sitting still
- you have to run the car.  We'll get everything freshened up and the broken
parts fixed and head to Brainerd.  There are a lot of positives we have
taken out of this weekend, including our Advance Auto Parts Team rebounding
well after Saturday and being ready for Sunday eliminations.  This is a true
example of the team's spirit and work ethic.  This was also a good weekend
for Pedregon Racing, as Tony (Pedregon, teammate and brother) reached his
fourth final of the season and moved into 3rd place in points."


NEXT RACE:   August 10-13 - NHRA Nationals, Brainerd, MN


SONOMA RACE RESULTS:   
  
QUALIFIED:

15th -  4.952 / 292.39 

 

FIRST ROUND:   

(W) Eric Medlen - 4.885 / 315.78

(L) Cruz Pedregon - 4.982 / 280.78

 

FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:

1. Ron Capps, 1139

2. John Force, 1069

3. Tony Pedregon, 948

4. Eric Medlen, 928 

5. Robert Hight, 913

6. Gary Scelzi, 841

7. Tommy Johnson Jr., 824

8. Whit Bazemore, 809

9. Cruz Pedregon, 640

10. Del Worsham, 635

 


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