Cruz Pedregon Grabs Top Qualifying Spot at Virginia NHRA Nationals

Cruz Pedregon qualified first in the NHRA Fuel Funny Car class for this weekend’s Third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals POWERade Drag Racing in Petersburg (Richmond), VA. Pedregon’s 4.041 second E.T. at 306.88 MPH put his Advance Auto Parts Toyota Solara out in front during the third round of Qualifying on Saturday. Cruz is currently sixth in the Countdown to the Championship. He is 115 points behind points leader Tim Wilkerson and is only 43 points behind second place Jack Beckman. With a good performance this weekend, Cruz can dramatically improve his POWERade Championship Point Standing.

Tony Pedregon ran his Q Horsepower Chevy Impala to a second place qualifying position. Tony’s quickest run happened in the last round of qualifying on Saturday with a 4.041 E.T. at 305.22 MPH. The third place qualifier, and third driver to hit a 4.041 E.T. was Mike Neff in his Old Spice Ford Mustang. Melanie Troxel qualified fourth with a 4.047 E.T. at 309.98 MPH, the fastest speed so far this weekend. Troxel's performance was consistently fast in each round of qualifying and could have a a very good weekend if she maintains consistency. Ashley Force took the fifth qualifying spot with a 4.048 E.T. at 304.46 MPH. The top five qualifiers have an elapsed time spread of just 0.007, which will make for some close racing this weekend.

ESPN2 will air the Virginia NHRA Nationals Eliminations from 7:30 PM to 10:30 ET on Sunday October 12th, and will replay Eliminations on Friday October 24th from 2:00 AM to 4:00 AM ET.

First round pairings and qualifying results:

Cruz Pedregon         Advance Auto Parts Solara            4.041  306.88
Tony Bartone         Canidae Pet Food Monte Carlo         4.157  292.71

Tony Pedregon        Q Horsepower Impala                   4.041  305.22
Jerry Toliver          Rockstar Energy Drinks Charger     4.125  299.00

Mike Neff                Old Spice Mustang                        4.041  304.80
Ron Capps              NAPA Auto Parts Charger               4.088  295.98

Melanie Troxel        ProCare RX Charger                       4.047  309.98
Gary Scelzi             Mopar Oakley Charger                    4.081  301.00

Ashley Force            Castrol GTX Mustang                   4.048  304.46
Tim Wilkerson        Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala              4.079  302.48

Robert Hight            AAA of So. Cal Mustang               4.056  304.32
John Force               Castrol GTX Mustang                    4.078  298.21

Jack Beckman          Valvoline/MTS Charger                 4.059  301.54
Del Worsham          CSK Impala                                    4.078  296.70

Tommy Johnson Jr. Monster Energy Drink Charger        4.070  303.64
Jeff Arend                DHL Solara                                     4.078  302.55