CRUZ PEDREGON / ADVANCE AUTO PARTS NITRO FUNNY CAR TEAM
DALLAS ADVANCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2006
Media Contacts:
Allison Holt, JRL Group, (847) 291-7080 x201,
allison@jrlgroup.com
Janie Vogel, JRL Group, (440) 915-7627,
janievogel@yahoo.com
CRUZ PEDREGON
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS NITRO FUNNY CAR TEAM
DALLAS ADVANCE
EVENT:
NHRA Nationals
TRACK NAME / LOCATION:
Texas Motorplex / Ennis, Tex. (near Dallas)
<http://www.texasmotorplex.com/> www.TexasMotorplex.com
DATE:
September 22-24, 2006
SERIES:
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Nitro Funny Car Division
CRUZ PEDREGON RACING TEAM MEMBERS
Driver/Owner: Cruz Pedregon
Crew Chief: Ron Douglas
Co-Crew Chief: Sam Shockley
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (September 19, 2006) – Cruz Pedregon, the 1992 NHRA Nitro
Funny Car world champion, and his Advance Auto Parts Nitro Funny Car Team
are headed to the NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Tex.
(near Dallas), this weekend for the 20th of 23 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series events in 2006. Last weekend's NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway
in Reading, Penn., was rained out and will be held on the weekend of Sept.
29 -Oct. 1. Pedregon retains 9th place in the NHRA point standings after
the last round in Indianapolis.
Billy Meyer’s revolutionary all-concrete supertrack, Texas Motorplex,
observed its 20th anniversary last season, celebrating two decades of high
performance and even higher drama. The only all-concrete quarter-mile on the
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule allows crew chiefs the opportunity
to unleash horsepower with little restraint, which guarantees explosive
performances, sometimes in more ways than one. The event’s position on the
schedule, as the fourth-to-last race on the annual tour, makes it a
strategically key race in the battle to the finish for NHRA POWERade world
championships.
"Dallas is really a special track to me, and the place where I had my most
famous drag race - the final round in 1992 where I ran against John Force.
Fans still talk about that run," Pedregon explained about the upcoming race
weekend. "The championship was on the line. We had won four in a row
coming into that race, which at that time was the second-to-last on the
schedule - there was no Las Vegas race back then. I really needed to win
that round to give us a good opportunity to win the championship in Pomona.
It was a real high-stakes final round for all of the marbles. The race had
a little bit of everything, and a lot of drama. John and I both left the
line and smoked the tires. He hit the wall, and we were both on and off of
the throttle several times. It was a great way to close the show...a
spectacular race. We won that final round, which helped me clinch the
championship, so I'll always remember the Motorplex for that race."
During his rookie season in Funny Car in 1992, Pedregon won the NHRA world
championship. With this accomplishment he became the only racer other than
John Force to win the championship in the 90s. In 1997, Pedregon was also
the first motorsports athlete to receive the “Premio De Oro,” the only
national award for Hispanic athletes. Born into a racing family, Pedregon’s
father, Frank, raced Top Fuel dragsters in the 1960s. His brothers Tony and
Frank also compete in the Nitro Funny Car ranks. In 1980, Cruz won his first
official drag race at the age of 15, driving a 1953 Kenworth truck.
How to get to the Texas Motorplex: The track is on Highway 287, two miles
west of Ennis between interstates 35 and 45. From Dallas, take I-45 to
Highway 287 west to the track, or take I-35 east to Highway 287 east to the
track. From Fort Worth, take Highway 287 east to Waxahachie and continue to
the track.
After conquering the quarter-mile Texas Motorplex, the NHRA warriors head on
September 29-October 1 back to Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Penn., for
the rescheduled NHRA Nationals that was rained out on Sept. 15-17. The
following week, on October 6-8, they go directly to the Virginia NHRA
Nationals, in Petersburg, Vir. (near Richmond), held at Virginia Motorsports
Park.
For more information on Cruz, please go to <http://www.pedregonracing.com/>
www.PedregonRacing.com.
CRUZ PEDREGON RACING STORY ANGLES:
· Cruz, along with brother and co-team owner Tony, has just opened up a
brand new 25,000-square-foot racing shop, located in the new headquarters
for NHRA teams in Brownsburg, Ind. The shop, housing both teams, was
designed specifically to address the unique needs of Cruz Pedregon Racing,
Inc., and Pedregon Racing, LLC (Tony Pedregon), along with input from Cruz's
wife Sharon, Tony's wife Andrea, and all of the crew chiefs;
· The new Pedregon Racing facility houses the restored version of the
Flamin' Frank Pedregon World's Fastest Coupe (a legendary top fuel dragster
from the 60's with a chopped Fiat body, driven by Cruz and Tony's father,
Frank Sr.);
· A special limited edition set of 1:64 scale Hot Wheels® models of Cruz and
Tony Pedregon's NHRA Nitro Funny Cars are now available exclusively at
Advance Auto Parts stores. These cars will be packaged in a special Hot
Wheels® 2-Pack Collector Car Set (while supplies last);
· Cruz owns a USAC Western States Midget Car Series team, with current point
leader Jerome Rodela behind the wheel;
· Cruz has a strong Hispanic following and is fluent in Spanish.
CRUZ PEDREGON HISTORY AT THE TEXAS MOTORPLEX:
Pedregon won this event in 1992 and 1994, and was number one qualifier in
1995.
2006 RESULTS:
Feb. 9-12 – Pomona:
Qualified: 16th, 4.807; 1st Round: Pedregon 6.432 vs Force 4.774
Feb. 24-26 – Phoenix:
Qualified: 2nd, 4.717; 1st Round: Pedregon 4.741 vs Wilkerson 10.109;
2nd Round: Pedregon 4.837 vs Force 4.792
March 16-19 – Gainesville:
Qualified: 15th, 4.896; 1st Round: Pedregon 5.526 vs Bazemore 5.706;
2nd Round: Pedregon 4.835 vs Medlen 4.829
March 31-April 2 – Houston:
Qualified: 10th – 4.821; 1st Round: Pedregon 12.741 vs. Burkhart 4.824
April 6-9 – Las Vegas – WON THIS EVENT:
Qualified: 8th - 4.780; 1st Round: Pedregon 4.871 vs Head 8.396; 2nd Round:
Pedregon 4.864 vs Bartone 7.530; 3rd Round: Pedregon 5.314 vs Johnson
6.583; Final Round: Pedregon 5.417 vs. Capps 6.474
April 28-30 – Bristol:
Qualified; 14th, 4.861; 1st Round: Pedregon 5.531 vs Force 4.808
May 5-7 – Atlanta:
Qualified: 7th, 4.747 / 318.24; 1st Round: Pedregon - 4.753 vs Capps -
4.792;
(Pedregon won this contest by .0029 of a second, about 16 inches); 2nd
Round: Pedregon 4.809 vs Hight 4.680 (Pedregon with a near-perfect light at
.001 with a nose-to-nose finish)
May 19-21 – Columbus:
Qualified: 5th, 4.744 / 326.56; 1st Round: Pedregon - 4.972 vs. Worsham –
4.873
May 26-28 – Topeka:
Qualified: 13th – 4.953 / 270.75; 1st Round: Pedregon 5.104 vs. Capps
4.993
June 9-11 – Chicago:
Qualified: 5th – 4.689 / 329.02; 1st Round: Capps 4.935 vs. Pedregon 5.311
June 16-18 – Englishtown:
Qualified: 13th - 4.854 / 314.46; 1st Round: Scelzi 4.929 vs. Pedregon
5.231
June 24-26 – St. Louis:
Qualified: 9th – 4.860 / 315.19; 1st Round: Scelzi 5.021 vs. Pedregon
6.706
July 14-16 – Denver:
Qualified: 16th - 5.177 / 286.32; 1st Round: Pedregon 5.311 vs. Densham
5.344; 2nd Round: Cruz Pedregon 5.588 vs. Tony Pedregon 6.866; Semi-Final
Round: Pedregon 5.610 vs. Gilbertson 5.961; Final Round: Scelzi 5.132 vs.
Pedregon 5.820
July 21-23 – Seattle:
Qualified: 7th – 4.925 / 313.95; 1st Round: Densham 5.019 vs. Pedregon
5.117
July 28-30 - Sonoma:
Qualified: 15th - 4.952 / 292.39; 1st Round: Pedregon 4.982 vs. Medlen
4.885
August 11-13 - Brainerd:
Qualified: 11th - 4.863 / 315.56; Scelzi 4.815 vs. Pedregon 4.812
August 18-21 - Memphis:
Qualified: 4th - 4.887 / 309.63; 1st Round: Pedregon 5.384 vs. Capps 5.058
September 1-4 - Indianapolis:
Qualified: 12th - 4.779 / 325.92; 1st Round: Pedregon 4.800 vs. Medlen
4.748; 2nd Round: Bazemore 5.072 vs.Pedregon DQ-Centerline
September 15-17 - Reading:
RAINED OUT - Rescheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 1
FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ron Capps, 1300
2. John Force, 1281
3. Robert Hight, 1141
4. Tony Pedregon, 1112
5. Eric Medlen, 1069
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 1008
7. Gary Scelzi, 1001
8. Whit Bazemore, 956
9. Cruz Pedregon, 759
10. Phil Burkart, Jr. 756
DALLAS WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, September 22
Nitro Qualifying Session (Funny Car / Top Fuel) – 4:30 pm CT
Nitro Qualifying Session (Funny Car / Top Fuel) - 7:30 PM CT
SATURDAY, September 23
Nitro Qualifying Session (Top Fuel / Funny Car) – 12:30 pm CT
Nitro Qualifying Session (Top Fuel / Funny Car) – 3:30 pm CT
SUNDAY, September 24
Final Eliminations (Top Fuel/Funny Car) - 11:00 am CT
DALLAS ESPN2 TELEVISION COVERAGE:
September 23 - Qualifying: 11:00 pm-1:00 am ET
September 24 - Eliminations: 7:00-10:00 pm ET
September 28 - Repeat Eliminations: 3:00-5:00 am ET
DALLAS LIVE AUDIO BROADCAST:
The public-address commentary from the NHRA Fall Nationals will be broadcast
live over the Internet from
<http://www.nhra.com/2006/events/race20/broadcast.html>
http://www.nhra.com/2006/events/race20/broadcast.html. Follow the
wire-to-wire, play-by-play coverage from the 20th race of the 2006 NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series season. NHRA members get exclusive access to
listen live to Friday's and Saturday's qualifying shows; check in Friday at
9:30 a.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m. Eastern. The all-access final eliminations
show – open, as always, to all NHRA.com visitors – begins Sunday at 11 a.m.
Eastern.
D R I V E R
C R U Z P E D R E G O N
The B A S I C S . . .
Nickname
"The Cruzer"
Car
Advance Auto Parts Monte Carlo
Birthdate
September 19, 1963
Residence
Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.
Website
<http://www.pedregonracing.com/> www.PedregonRacing.com
Career Wins
TOTAL: 27
FC - 23
TAD - 3
TAFC - 1
Career Final Rounds
TOTAL: 56
FC - 51
TAD - 3
TAFC – 2
Career Best Elapsed Time
4.680 sec.
Career Best Speed
330.80 mph
The B A C K G R O U N D . . .
· 2005: Earned a pair of No. 1 qualifiers (Englishtown and Chicago
2); Set the low E.T. at two events (Englishtown and Chicago 2); Set career
bests for both time and speed; Won at least two rounds at five consecutive
events and six of the first eight events to open the 2005 season; Won
$25,000 bonus for having closest margin of victory in Motel 6 Who Got the
Light award
· 2004: Earned first No. 1 qualifying position (Columbus) since 1998;
Was the runner-up at consecutive events twice (Denver & Seattle;
Indianapolis & Dallas); Established career-best performance numbers;
Qualified No. 11 in the quickest Funny Car field in NHRA history (Pomona 2)
· 2003: Highest finish in the Funny Car standings since 1998; was the
runner-up at Denver and Reading; established career-best time and speed
· 2002: After taking a year off from racing, Pedregon assembled a
team that qualified for 18 national events; Advanced to the semifinals at
Indianapolis
· 2001: Served as color analyst for ESPN’s drag racing coverage
· 2000: Raced part-time as an owner/driver, collecting one win
(Englishtown)
· 1999: Raced part-time as an owner/driver in the Funny Car category
· 1998: Earned the No. 1 qualifying spot a career-best 12 times; Won
NHRA all-star race; Set national elapsed-time record three times; Runner-up
in Funny Car bonus race
· 1997: The first motorsports athlete to received the "Premio De
Oro," the only national award for Hispanic athletes
· 1996: Competing in a limited amount of races, Pedregon won one race
en route to a third-place finish in the NHRA championship point standings;
Finished in the top three for the fifth consecutive season
· 1995: Won at Indianapolis for the third time in four years (1992,
’94-95); Recorded first career four-second run, a 4.991 at Dallas; Broke the
300-mph mark for the first time with a 300.90-mph pass at Indianapolis
· 1994: Was the only Funny Car driver to defeat John Force in a final
round the entire season; Qualified in the top half at 15 of the 18 national
events
· 1992: Won the NHRA Funny Car championship — the only Funny Car
driver other than John Force to win a title in the 1990s
· 1990: Won a career-best six races
· 1991: Raced part-time in Top Fuel competition
· 1990: Moved to Alcohol Funny Car competition
· 1987: Started his NHRA career in Alcohol Dragster
The F U N S T U F F . . .
· Wife: Sharon; Sons: Josh (4/16/82) and Gabe (9/20/85)
· Height/weight: 6´0", 180 lbs.
· Notable: Won first drag race in 1980 behind wheel of a 1953
Kenworth truck; Raced go-karts in 1986 and was track champion at Ventura
(Calif.) Raceway; Brothers Tony and Frank also compete in NHRA Funny Car
category
· Father, Frank, raced Top Fuel dragsters in 1960s
· Fluent in Spanish, Cruz enjoys working with Hispanic media
· Enjoys doing charitable work with children
· Avid NFL fan, especially of Oakland Raiders. Also enjoys listening
to sports talk radio
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series 2006 Schedule
February 9-12 –NHRA Winternationals, Pomona, CA
February 24-26 – NHRA Nationals, Chandler, AZ
March 16-19 - NHRA Gatornationals, Gainesville, FL
March 31-April 2 - NHRA Spring Nationals, Houston, TX
April 6-9 - NHRA Nationals, Las Vegas, NV
April 28-30 - NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol, TN
May 4-7 - NHRA Southern Nationals, Atlanta, GA
May 18-21 – NHRA Nationals, Columbus, OH
May 25-28 - NHRA Summer Nationals, Topeka, KS
June 8-11 – NHRA Nationals, Joliet, IL
June 15-18 - NHRA SuperNationals, Englishtown, NJ
June 23-25 - NHRA Midwest Nationals, Madison, IL
July 14-16 - Mile-High NHRA Nationals, Denver, CO
July 21-23 – NHRA Nationals, Seattle, WA
July 28-30 - Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals, Sonoma, CA
August 10-13 – NHRA Nationals, Brainerd, MN
August 18-20 - Mid-South Nationals, Memphis, TN
August 30-Sept. 4 – NHRA U.S. Nationals, Clermont, IN
September 14-17 - NHRA Nationals, Reading, PA
September 21-24 - NHRA Fall Nationals, Ennis, TX
October 6-8 - Virginia NHRA Nationals, Richmond, VA
October 26-29 - Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Las Vegas, NV
November 9-12 - Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Pomona,
CA
MANY THANKS TO THE ADVANCE AUTO PARTS TEAM
2006 SUPPORTERS
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS – <http://www.advanceautoparts.com/>
www.advanceautoparts.com
QUAKER STATE – <http://www.qpower.com/> www.qpower.com
SNAP-ON – <http://www.snapon.com/> www.snapon.com
GREAT STUFF – <http://www.greatstuff.dow.com/index.htm>
www.greatstuff.dow.com/index.htm
HERZOG – <http://www.herzogcompanies.com/> www.herzogcompanies.com
FETERL – <http://www.feterl.com/> www.feterl.com
SIOUX CITY TRUCK & TRAILER – <http://www.siouxcitykenworth.com/>
www.siouxcitykenworth.com
MR. GASKET COMPANY – <http://www.mrgasket.com/> www.mrgasket.com
MOUNTAIN VIEW CHEVROLET – <http://www.mountainviewchevrolet.com/>
www.mountainviewchevrolet.com
THE PALMS CASINO RESORT – <http://www.palms.com/> www.palms.com
ABOUT ADVANCE AUTO PARTS
Advance Auto Parts, Inc. is based in Roanoke, Va., and is the second largest
automotive aftermarket retailer based on sales and store count. With 3,000
stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the company serves
both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets. Additional
information about the company, employment opportunities, services, as well
as on-line purchase of parts and accessories can be found on the company's
web site at <http://www.advanceautoparts.com/> www.advanceautoparts.com.
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