Championship Drag Racing

Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
Denver, CO
(July 13-15)

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Driver Profile

Tony Pedregon Pedregon Racing Toyota Camry

Denver, Sunday: Tony Pedregon, driver of the Q Horsepower Funny Car and 2003 Funny Car champion, came to the 28th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals looking to improve his fourth place position in the NHRA POWERade Championship standings.

Starting from the 14th qualifying position, Pedregon faced Mike Ashley in the first round of Sunday’s final eliminations. He was off the line with a .043 reaction time to Ashley’s .054 and crossed the stripe first with a solid 5.114 second pass at 272.01 mph. Ashley was out early as his Funny Car smoked the tires at the hit.

Pedregon faced 14-time Funny Car champion John Force in the second elimination round. A last minute lane change caused by an oildown in the previous round challenged the Q Horsepower Funny Car team. Veteran tuner and crew chief, Dickie Venables went to work adjusting the car for the opposite track. It was side-by-side until Pedregon dropped a cylinder. Force claimed the victory with a 5.142 second pass at 293.60 mph to Pedregon’s 5.265/265.27 mph.

 “I don’t ever make excuses,” said Pedregon. “We had to take our best shot at a lane that had just been oiled down in front of us. We had to make some adjustments after John Force switched lanes and we didn’t feel the left lane was capable of holding the set-up we had for the right lane. The draw back is that clutch adjustments will take some of the load off the motor and can lead to dropped cylinders and that’s just what happened to us about two seconds into the run.”

Pedregon remains fourth in the NHRA POWERade Countdown to the Championship points race. He’ll be looking to continue consistent performance as the POWERade Drag Racing Series heads to Seattle for the Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals.

“We are looking forward to continuing the Western Swing in Seattle this coming weekend,” said Pedregon. “We’ll be at sea level where we know this car will make the kind of power necessary to get us into the Winner’s Circle.”

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