Reading: Tony Pedregon Saturday summary

Tony Pedregon Moves Up To Ninth Will Face Brother Cruz in Tomorrow's Opening Round MOHNTON, Pa. (Oct. 9, 2004) -- Tony Pedregon, driver of the Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car, moved up to the ninth-qualifying position for ...

Tony Pedregon Moves Up To Ninth
Will Face Brother Cruz in Tomorrow's Opening Round

MOHNTON, Pa. (Oct. 9, 2004) -- Tony Pedregon, driver of the Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car, moved up to the ninth-qualifying position for tomorrow's NHRA National Event at Maple Grove Raceway.

Pedregon maneuvered his machine to a 4.835-second elapsed time at 315.85 mph. His qualifying jump proved bittersweet however, as it positioned Tony to face off against his brother Cruz Pedregon in round one.

"We didn't take advantage of the cool track conditions today and you never like going up against your brother," said the 2003 Funny Car Champ. "We would have run into the mid 6.70's, but we dropped a cylinder in that run and lost the momentum.

"We had a good qualifying streak too," Pedregon added. "But with the conditions so good, and each team being able to throw everything into it, the competition is really tough out there."

Pedregon had qualified in the top half of the field for seven-straight races.

Quaker State Racing Notebook:

ONE MORE TIME: Quaker State Racing's Tony Pedregon is looking for a second-straight round victory over brother Cruz Pedregon tomorrow. In their first and only other match up of the season, Tony defeated Cruz in the opening round of the Checker Schuck's & Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird International Raceway -- the second race of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season.

"It's never fun racing Cruz," said Pedregon, who also drove to the finals of that event. "But I know both of us want to win this race. I would like to go some rounds tomorrow, and I know Cruz will be ready to go."