Tony Pedregon Sets Pace in Funny Car Qualifying at U.S. Nationals
Fellow Chevy Driver Tim Wilkerson Runner-Up in $100,000 Showdown
INDIANAPOLIS, August 31, 2008 - Team Chevy's Tony Pedregon held on to his provisional pole in Funny Car to claim his third No. 1 qualifier of the season at the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park. The two-time NHRA POWERade Funny Car champ drove the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS to an elapsed time of 4.073 seconds at 301.94 mph to edge his brother, Cruz, for his 34th career No. 1 qualifier. He enters the last race before the Countdown second in points behind current leader and fellow Chevy driver Tim Wilkerson.
"Qualifying Nos. 1 and 2 is a big accomplishment for me and my brother," Tony Pedregon said. "The way Cruz and I look at it, we see Don Prudhomme walking around, and Kenny Berstein, and John Force, and Don Garlits, and there's a certain part of us that hasn't changed. We're like, 'Wow, can you believe we're actually doing this?' And I actually go out of my way to recall that. I'm going to reflect tonight, but tomorrow I'm going to come out here and do what I always do, turn all of that other stuff off and just turn into Tony Pedregon the driver and nothing else."
Despite two NHRA POWERade championships and being one of only two racers (John Force) to accumulate 40 Funny Car wins in their career, Pedregon has yet to add that elusive U.S. Nationals title to his formidable racing resume. The 43-year-old owner/driver's few shining moments at O'Reilly Raceway Park include a runner-up finish in 2001, his first Indy No. 1 qualifier in 2002 and a $100,000 winner's check for the U.S. Smokeless Showdown in 2003. This year, the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala driver now has three No. 1 qualifying awards (Indy, Denver, Gainesville), and four national-event victories (Brainerd, Norwalk, Chicago, Gainesville). Since winning the Route 66 Nationals in Chicago in June, Pedregon has more round wins than any driver in the category.
"That last run we made, there will be similar conditions tomorrow, maybe a couple of degrees cooler, is very encouraging to me," Pedregon said. "We wanted to get down the track. It's one thing to run low e.t. in the evening when the conditions are good, but we're not going to be racing in that. It seems like we're shining at the right time. It's been a work in progress and it's coming around. I feel good about tomorrow."
Three Chevy drivers, Pedregon, points leader Tim Wilkerson and Del Worsham, qualified for today's U.S. Smokeless Showdown, a non-points bonus Funny Car event held in conjunction with this weekend's 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park. The "race-within-a-race" features the top eight Funny Car drivers who have accumulated the most points in qualifying during the past year in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series with $100,000 going to the winner. Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS, advanced to the final round of today's Showdown before losing to Cruz Pedregon. In the finals Pedregon had a winning elapsed time of 4.184 at 291.32 mph to Wilkerson's 4.280 e.t. at 278.58. Wilkerson received $15,000 for his runner-up effort.
In Pro Stock, 1998 U.S. Nationals champ Mike Edwards qualified his Pontiac GXP No. 2 after posting the second-quickest run in this morning's fourth of five qualifying sessions for tomorrow's eliminations. Edwards' Young Life Pontiac ran 6.647 seconds at 207.37 mph and will face Chevy driver Steve Speiss in the first round.
"We're tickled to death," Edwards said. "What a great start. We ran pretty good in that last session. We made some changes, put some stuff on there that we hadn't tried and still ran okay. The track was pretty hot out there like it will be tomorrow so we feel good. I mean, this is the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals and Mac Tools is a big supporter of ours and has been with us for a long time. It's nice to be running good, especially at the U.S. Nationals; this is the big one. My team, the guys at the shop, just everybody on this team has just done an awesome job this weekend. We're in a great position. We'll just have to come out here tomorrow, hopefully make the right adjustments and hope the guy behind the wheel can do his job."
Jason Line is qualified third in the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP with a 6.661 e.t. at 207.05 mph. Team Chevy's Jeg Coughlin Jr. is qualified No. 4 with an elapsed time of 6.664 seconds at 206.23 mph, and ACDelco Chevy Cobalt driver Kurt Johnson rounds out the top five by qualifying fifth with a 6.666 e.t. at 207.72 mph.
"So far it's been an okay weekend," Line said. "I've never done that well at Indy and I'd like to change that this year. I think we have a decent car for tomorrow, so maybe with a little bit of racing luck we can go some rounds. From looking at the last qualifying session, it looks like the heat might be an equalizer and bunch everybody together, which is probably a good thing for most of us. Allen Johnson and Mike Edwards clearly have the two best cars, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully we can knock them out tomorrow."
"Considering the electrical nightmare we had to deal with on Saturday, we're pretty pleased to come back and qualify fifth with our ACDelco Cobalt," Johnson said. "Being 19th, as we were after the morning session yesterday, certainly raises your blood pressure a bit, but it also makes you pay attention to what you are doing, making sure you do your job.
"We're happy to run that 6.66 when we did. To even have a shot at the trophy, you have to make that perfect run when it counts, and we were able to do that this morning. It was a good performance by the entire team, and I believe we have a car capable of winning. It's our sport's biggest race and we are going to make sure we're on top of our game."
Defending U.S. nationals champ Dave Connolly is qualified in the No. 9 position with a 6.671 e.t. at 206.45 mph but feels confident going into tomorrow's eliminations. He will face GM Performance Parts Pontiac driver Warren Johnson in Round 1.
"We had a little bad luck at the wrong time this morning, but we have a good race car for Monday," Connolly said of the Cagnazzi Racing Charter Communications/LifeLock Chevy Cobalt. Mechanical problems prevented him from making the day's first run, which was run in cooler conditions.
"I think Tommy (Utt, crew chief) has a handle on the tune-up, especially in hot weather. We would've preferred getting lane choice, but the lanes have been pretty even all weekend. All I know is that we will be the first pair out (when Pro Stock eliminations begin).
In Top Fuel, Team Chevy's Larry Dixon and Team GMC's Cory McClenathan held down the top two spots, respectively, on the Top Fuel qualifying grid. Dixon turned in his second No. 1 qualifying effort of the season (Indy, Topeka) in the U.S. Smokeless dragster when the three-time U.S. Nationals champion ran an elapsed time of 3.841 at 307.23 mph. McClenathan drove the FRAM/GMC dragster to a 3.852 e.t. at 312.57 mph.
"I think the planets and everything are back in order again," said Dixon after points leader Tony Schumacher made the quickest pass in today's final qualifying session despite having qualified a surprising sixth. "But we don't have any control over their car, so we'll just go out there and do our best. The only thing I know is that we won't be racing in the final [because they are on the same side of the ladder], so we'll just go out there and do our best and see how the chips fall.
"That run just now was our only run down the racetrack in the day, so that was nice; yesterday we put a cylinder out and earlier today we pulled the tires loose. We got the car calmed down but it had some unbelievable early numbers, so we're working on it. Obviously the big prize is tomorrow and that's what we're all focusing on, but we've done as much as we can so far and we'll see what we can do tomorrow."
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services.
Fellow Chevy Driver Tim Wilkerson Runner-Up in $100,000 Showdown
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/GMLogo_99390.jpg" alt="GMLogo_99390" />
INDIANAPOLIS, August 31, 2008 - Team Chevy's Tony Pedregon held on to his provisional pole in Funny Car to claim his third No. 1 qualifier of the season at the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park. The two-time NHRA POWERade Funny Car champ drove the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS to an elapsed time of 4.073 seconds at 301.94 mph to edge his brother, Cruz, for his 34th career No. 1 qualifier. He enters the last race before the Countdown second in points behind current leader and fellow Chevy driver Tim Wilkerson.
"Qualifying Nos. 1 and 2 is a big accomplishment for me and my brother," Tony Pedregon said. "The way Cruz and I look at it, we see Don Prudhomme walking around, and Kenny Berstein, and John Force, and Don Garlits, and there's a certain part of us that hasn't changed. We're like, 'Wow, can you believe we're actually doing this?' And I actually go out of my way to recall that. I'm going to reflect tonight, but tomorrow I'm going to come out here and do what I always do, turn all of that other stuff off and just turn into Tony Pedregon the driver and nothing else."
Despite two NHRA POWERade championships and being one of only two racers (John Force) to accumulate 40 Funny Car wins in their career, Pedregon has yet to add that elusive U.S. Nationals title to his formidable racing resume. The 43-year-old owner/driver's few shining moments at O'Reilly Raceway Park include a runner-up finish in 2001, his first Indy No. 1 qualifier in 2002 and a $100,000 winner's check for the U.S. Smokeless Showdown in 2003. This year, the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala driver now has three No. 1 qualifying awards (Indy, Denver, Gainesville), and four national-event victories (Brainerd, Norwalk, Chicago, Gainesville). Since winning the Route 66 Nationals in Chicago in June, Pedregon has more round wins than any driver in the category.
"That last run we made, there will be similar conditions tomorrow, maybe a couple of degrees cooler, is very encouraging to me," Pedregon said. "We wanted to get down the track. It's one thing to run low e.t. in the evening when the conditions are good, but we're not going to be racing in that. It seems like we're shining at the right time. It's been a work in progress and it's coming around. I feel good about tomorrow."
Three Chevy drivers, Pedregon, points leader Tim Wilkerson and Del Worsham, qualified for today's U.S. Smokeless Showdown, a non-points bonus Funny Car event held in conjunction with this weekend's 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park. The "race-within-a-race" features the top eight Funny Car drivers who have accumulated the most points in qualifying during the past year in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series with $100,000 going to the winner. Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS, advanced to the final round of today's Showdown before losing to Cruz Pedregon. In the finals Pedregon had a winning elapsed time of 4.184 at 291.32 mph to Wilkerson's 4.280 e.t. at 278.58. Wilkerson received $15,000 for his runner-up effort.
In Pro Stock, 1998 U.S. Nationals champ Mike Edwards qualified his Pontiac GXP No. 2 after posting the second-quickest run in this morning's fourth of five qualifying sessions for tomorrow's eliminations. Edwards' Young Life Pontiac ran 6.647 seconds at 207.37 mph and will face Chevy driver Steve Speiss in the first round.
"We're tickled to death," Edwards said. "What a great start. We ran pretty good in that last session. We made some changes, put some stuff on there that we hadn't tried and still ran okay. The track was pretty hot out there like it will be tomorrow so we feel good. I mean, this is the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals and Mac Tools is a big supporter of ours and has been with us for a long time. It's nice to be running good, especially at the U.S. Nationals; this is the big one. My team, the guys at the shop, just everybody on this team has just done an awesome job this weekend. We're in a great position. We'll just have to come out here tomorrow, hopefully make the right adjustments and hope the guy behind the wheel can do his job."
Jason Line is qualified third in the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP with a 6.661 e.t. at 207.05 mph. Team Chevy's Jeg Coughlin Jr. is qualified No. 4 with an elapsed time of 6.664 seconds at 206.23 mph, and ACDelco Chevy Cobalt driver Kurt Johnson rounds out the top five by qualifying fifth with a 6.666 e.t. at 207.72 mph.
"So far it's been an okay weekend," Line said. "I've never done that well at Indy and I'd like to change that this year. I think we have a decent car for tomorrow, so maybe with a little bit of racing luck we can go some rounds. From looking at the last qualifying session, it looks like the heat might be an equalizer and bunch everybody together, which is probably a good thing for most of us. Allen Johnson and Mike Edwards clearly have the two best cars, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully we can knock them out tomorrow."
"Considering the electrical nightmare we had to deal with on Saturday, we're pretty pleased to come back and qualify fifth with our ACDelco Cobalt," Johnson said. "Being 19th, as we were after the morning session yesterday, certainly raises your blood pressure a bit, but it also makes you pay attention to what you are doing, making sure you do your job.
"We're happy to run that 6.66 when we did. To even have a shot at the trophy, you have to make that perfect run when it counts, and we were able to do that this morning. It was a good performance by the entire team, and I believe we have a car capable of winning. It's our sport's biggest race and we are going to make sure we're on top of our game."
Defending U.S. nationals champ Dave Connolly is qualified in the No. 9 position with a 6.671 e.t. at 206.45 mph but feels confident going into tomorrow's eliminations. He will face GM Performance Parts Pontiac driver Warren Johnson in Round 1.
"We had a little bad luck at the wrong time this morning, but we have a good race car for Monday," Connolly said of the Cagnazzi Racing Charter Communications/LifeLock Chevy Cobalt. Mechanical problems prevented him from making the day's first run, which was run in cooler conditions.
"I think Tommy (Utt, crew chief) has a handle on the tune-up, especially in hot weather. We would've preferred getting lane choice, but the lanes have been pretty even all weekend. All I know is that we will be the first pair out (when Pro Stock eliminations begin).
In Top Fuel, Team Chevy's Larry Dixon and Team GMC's Cory McClenathan held down the top two spots, respectively, on the Top Fuel qualifying grid. Dixon turned in his second No. 1 qualifying effort of the season (Indy, Topeka) in the U.S. Smokeless dragster when the three-time U.S. Nationals champion ran an elapsed time of 3.841 at 307.23 mph. McClenathan drove the FRAM/GMC dragster to a 3.852 e.t. at 312.57 mph.
"I think the planets and everything are back in order again," said Dixon after points leader Tony Schumacher made the quickest pass in today's final qualifying session despite having qualified a surprising sixth. "But we don't have any control over their car, so we'll just go out there and do our best. The only thing I know is that we won't be racing in the final [because they are on the same side of the ladder], so we'll just go out there and do our best and see how the chips fall.
"That run just now was our only run down the racetrack in the day, so that was nice; yesterday we put a cylinder out and earlier today we pulled the tires loose. We got the car calmed down but it had some unbelievable early numbers, so we're working on it. Obviously the big prize is tomorrow and that's what we're all focusing on, but we've done as much as we can so far and we'll see what we can do tomorrow."
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services.
