Tony Pedregon unleashed all the horses as he beat John Force to win the 23rd annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton (near Reading, Pa. ). It was the second win of the season for Pedregon and his Q Horsepower team and his 34th National event win. He moves into 4th place in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship and will compete in the first round of the new NHRA playoffs, the Countdown to Four.
“It was well worth the wait, ” said Pedregon of the victory. “Anytime you can beat John Force in the final round, you’ve had a good race. We know the power is there and our Q Horsepower sure came in handy today. “
“This was a big win for the team. We moved up a couple of positions and we’ve done what we have been working towards which is getting our car back to where it’s starting to respond to what we do to it. This win gives us a little momentum going into the start of the Countdown to Four. ”
After qualifying in the No. 5 spot with a 4.839 E. T. at 321.27 mph, Pedregon and the NHRA stars were rain delayed until Monday. When competition resumed, he defeated Jim Head in the first round after Head crossed the center line and was disqualified.
Pedregon faced current Championship point leader, Ron Capps in the quarterfinal round. He was quick off the line (. 055 to Capp’s. 103) and went on to the round win with a 4.848/315.78 mph to Capp’s 4.826/318.17 mph. It was a classic hole shot win for Pedregon.
After another rain delay, competition resumed Wednesday morning with Pedregon facing Del Worsham in the semifinal round. Worsham needed to win the event to be included in NHRA’s Countdown to Four. However, it was Pedregon who was first out of the gate and he zipped across the stripe with a solid 4.789/318.99 mph to Worsham’s losing 5.772/200.38 mph.
“We are heading right back to work to get ready for the biggest race of the year, the U. S. Nationals, ” said an optimistic Pedregon. “At this point we are going there with confidence knowing we have a car that’s capable of winning. ”
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