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Sonoma: Cruz Pedregon Satuday summary

Cruz Pedregon Maintains Fourth Position Advance Auto Parts Racing Stays at a Consistent Pace SONOMA, Calif. (July 31, 2004) -- Cruz Pedregon has done it again -- placing the Advance Auto Parts Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car in the top half of ...

Published: Aug 1, 2004, 3:18 PM

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Cruz Pedregon Maintains Fourth Position
Advance Auto Parts Racing Stays at a Consistent Pace

SONOMA, Calif. (July 31, 2004) -- Cruz Pedregon has done it again -- placing the Advance Auto Parts Racing Monte Carlo Nitro Funny Car in the top half of the field for tomorrow's Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

Pedregon clicked off a 4.903-second elapsed time at 311.56 mph, setting up a first round match with Tommy Johnson, Jr. It marked the seventh-straight race that Pedregon has qualified in the top half of the field, and the 10th time this season.

"I think we're in great shape for tomorrow," Pedregon said. "We were able to maintain our great qualifying effort from last night's second round. I'm very pleased with that, and I'm very pleased that this team has been able to maintain it's qualifying form. I don't see any reason why we can't go out there tomorrow and continue to win rounds."

Pedregon has drove to the finals in the last two events -- Bandimere Speedway (Morrison, Colo.) and Pacific Raceways (Kent, Wash.) -- while racking up eight round victories in the last three races. The most in the category, tied with point's leader and 12-time Funny Car champ John Force.

"Our strategy is going to be what it's been for most of the season," Pedregon said. "It's happened to work in the last two races."

ADVANCE AUTO PARTS RACING NOTEBOOK:

NHRA TODAY: ESPN2's NHRA Today will be broadcasting live from the Advance Auto Parts Racing pit tomorrow morning. Driver Cruz Pedregon will be featured, as he is one of the hottest drivers on NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series circuit. The show will broadcast at 1 pm, EDT/10 am., PDT. Check your local listings for details.

IGNITION TROUBLE: Cruz Pedregon and the Advance Auto Parts Funny Car team were unable to make it to today's final qualifying session at Infineon Raceway. The former Funny Car champ explained the problem.

"We did have a little hiccup during that last qualifying session," Pedregon commented. "Some of the electronics in the ignition system were wet from the fire bottle. I had to set off the fire bottle to put out a small fire in the third session. It was something we didn't find right away. We ran out of time there, but its better to make sure everything is a hundred percent. We would have liked to have made that run -- but it wasn't at a critical time."

TIRE SMOKE: Unseasonably cool weather conditions and a great racing surface created a high level of confidence for Fuel (Funny Car & Top Fuel) category competitors today. The third round of qualifying saw a lot of cars go up in tire smoke as a result.

"I think the track conditions we're made to look worse that they really were," Pedregon said. "It's easier to make power when the weather conditions are cool and we're at sea level. You saw some teams spin the tires out there a little. In the fourth session, drivers and crew chief's settled down a little bit. The track is excellent. I feel real good about tomorrow."

-PedregonRacing.com

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