News and Media Releases

Final Round Appearance At Memphis

04/10/2009

Quaker State Driver Gains a Position in the Point Standings

Tony Pedregon and the Quaker State team headed into Memphis Motorsports Park coming off of two straight weeks of first round elimination losses. Hoping to make a strong showing and rebound in the championship point standings Pedregon did just that making his way to the finals before losing an elimination round. With his performance the Quaker State driver picked up a spot in the championship point standings and now sits in the third position with three races remaining.

Racing action got underway on Friday with the first two rounds of qualifying. Pedregon had two solid passes ending up in the top-five after the sessions were complete. Saturday's rounds proved to be just as strong with the two-time champion maintaining the fourth qualifying position going into Sunday's elimination rounds.

The skies opened up on Sunday causing a delay in racing action at the track. Officials finally called the day's activities and rescheduled elimination rounds for Monday.

Once Monday rolled around conditions were much more favorable and eliminations got under way. In his first run for the day Pedregon was paired with Mike Neff. The past champion rebounded from a slight starting line disadvantage to take the win. The second round saw the Quaker State driver up against Matt Hagan where Pedregon had the starting line advantage but banged the blower around half track sending the Quaker State body flying in the air. However the Quaker State driver had enough of an advantage to keep the win.

The semi-final round saw Pedregon in a race with Ron Capps. The Brownsburg, Indiana native has won all four times when paired with Capps in prior events this season. Once again the Quaker State driver pulled off the win advancing to the final round.

With two straight first-round losses the Quaker State team was hoping to redeem themselves with a win. Pedregon faced off against Jeff Arend for the final pass but was late getting to the starting line and had problems as soon as the light turned green. Arend took the win with Pedregon finishing in the runner-up position.

Next up for the NHRA Funny Car Series is a stop at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Virginia. Racing action for the Virginia NHRA Nationals is set to begin on Friday, October 9 with qualifying rounds. Elimination rounds are set for Sunday, October 11.