Sonoma: Cruz Pedregon finals summary

Pedregon qualifies fifth at Infineon Raceway.

Sonoma, CA ---Clean air and a smooth track helped pave the way as Cruz Pedregon and the Advance Auto Parts Racing Team made their best pass of the weekend during their second qualifying session on Friday evening at Infineon Raceway. At a speed of more than 308 mph, Pedregon made quite an impression at the new facility with an elapsed time of 4.930 seconds, putting him in the top five qualifying category. As qualifying sessions ended late Saturday afternoon, Pedregon's run remained one the strongest, securing him in the number five spot at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals.

"Our qualifying spot proves that this car is capable of making quick passes," stated Pedregon, "We actually ran better on Friday evening than what we were aiming for. In this instance, the unpredictability of the car was in our favor -- but we still need to do our homework and gain more knowledge so that we know exactly how the car will react, according to the tune-up. We've made good progress over the past three races and are starting to feel more comfortable about our margins."

Marking the second match pairing for the 2002 season, Cruz Pedregon and Mopar driver Dean Skuza met at the starting line during first round of final eliminations on Sunday morning. With a good start for both teams, Pedregon and Skuza remained side by side until half track. Pedregon, then shutting the car down, unfortunately suffered the loss to Skuza's 4.980 (e.t.), Pedregon with a 5.217 (e.t.).

"We are still working on making our car not-so vulnerable to tire spins," commented Pedregon, "Certainly none of us likes to go out during first round, but we're going to continue to fight and work through it -- making our car better to get into Winner's Circle this season."

-www.cruzpedregon.com-