Brainerd: Tony Pedregon Friday summary

Tony Pedregon Manages Sixth After Day One
Strong Opener for the Quaker State Racing Team

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 13, 2004) -- Tony Pedregon guided the Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car to the sixth position after the first day of qualifying for this weekend's NHRA National Event at Brainerd International Raceway.

Pedregon, who smoked the tires on the first pass of the weekend, drove to a 4.899-second elapsed time at 315.42 mph on his second pass. The Chino Hills, Calif., resident talked about his day.

"That run was even a little conservative," Pedregon said. "Under the circumstances though, we made a very good run. Any time you can get down the track without any information, I think a good thing was accomplished. I think we're to the point now where we can rely on a lot of the data we've acquired in the past -- we really couldn't say that earlier in the year. I think we can expect more of that tomorrow."

Pedregon plans on being aggressive tomorrow, trying to garner his fourth number-one qualifier of the season.

"We're going to be at the mercy of the conditions tomorrow," Pedregon commented. "I think we have a good chance at firing a shot tomorrow and putting this Quaker State Monte Carlo in the No. 1 qualifying position.

"At this point we're in, and we're going to stay in," Pedregon added. "There's nothing for us to shoot for but No. 1."

Quaker State Racing Notebook:

NUMBER ONE: Tony Pedregon, driver of the Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car, is aiming for his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season. Pedregon has already grabbed top spots at The Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Dragway and Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

-PedregonRacing.com