Championship Drag Racing

O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals
Madison, IL
(June 23-25)

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Tony Pedregon Pedregon Racing Toyota Camry

St. Louis, Sunday: Tony Pedregon and his Q Power Race Team beat John Force in a final round match-up at Gateway Int'l Raceway in Madison, Ill., during the NHRA Midwest Nationals this past weekend in the NHRA Nitro Funny Car division. Pedregon moved up to fourth place in the 2006 point standings, 247 out of the lead.

Force led most of the way down the track during Pedregon's final round match-up, but a broken blower belt left Force without power at 1,100 feet and Pedregon's Q Power Chevrolet Monte Carlo was able to zoom past and take the win. Pedregon is money when there's a trophy up for grabs, winning all three finals he's raced to this year. The champion in 2003, Pedregon now has 32 career wins.

"I heard him (Force) out there and I saw him put a fender on me at about 800 feet," Pedregon said. "In this class that's usually not a good thing. But the cars have to run to 1,320 feet and I guess his fuse was a little short. I really like John. To beat the 13-time champ is always special."

"What a wild weekend – it was very big for Quaker State and the rest of our sponsors like Snap-on, Great Stuff, Mr. Gasket, Herzog, PUG, Sioux City Truck and Trailer and our other great partners," Pedregon continued. "Of course, we had to deal with the elements (heat) just like we expect to do in St. Louis every year. It's exciting to be with an oil company like Quaker State where we can test a product like Q in extreme conditions. They are really excited for our progress this year because they are just as competitive in business as we are on the track. I'm really proud of our team – they pulled together and did what it took to win.

"It all happens because we have good people behind us – we're a well-rounded team and it's exciting when it all comes together after we put so much hard work into each weekend's race. It is sure nice to head into the mid-part of the summer on a bit of a win streak."

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