Last year, Tony Pedregon lost a body and most of a chassis during a qualifying run for the Route 66 Nationals, a race he eventually won.  This year Pedregon was as dominating as he was last year, it just didn't cost him nearly as much to grab the win.

“We had a good race and run tough opponents all day,” said Pedregon following an easy win of a tire-smoking Ashley Force Hood. “This win cost a lot less than the win here last year did. That’s definitely a good thing. The economy is tough so just like any other business is feeling the heat, we are too. We are trying to stay competitive and be the best we can be and use less, and I’m so proud for Quaker State. Getting to the semi-finals and getting to some final rounds is great - but it’s really all about winning. We feel confident that we are going to make the Countdown, we just have to keep doing the work in order to get there. We want to be in the top five, outside of that we just want to win races.”

Last year, Tony Pedregon lost a body and most of a chassis during a qualifying run for the Route 66 Nationals, a race he eventually won.  This year Pedregon was as dominating as he was last year, it just didn't cost him nearly as much to grab the win.

“We had a good race and run tough opponents all day,” said Pedregon following an easy win of a tire-smoking Ashley Force Hood. “This win cost a lot less than the win here last year did. That’s definitely a good thing. The economy is tough so just like any other business is feeling the heat, we are too. We are trying to stay competitive and be the best we can be and use less, and I’m so proud for Quaker State. Getting to the semi-finals and getting to some final rounds is great - but it’s really all about winning. We feel confident that we are going to make the Countdown, we just have to keep doing the work in order to get there. We want to be in the top five, outside of that we just want to win races.”

On Saturday, Pedregon talked about how he and his team had decided it was time to get a little more aggressive on race day; to push a little harder for the win.

“The last couple of races we lost we just got flat outrun, that’s not a good feeling,” Pedregon explained. “I think what Dickie was able to do is really find the medium. These cars can make all the power you want, you just have to apply it. I thought the conditions were there for them. The tricky part is going to be when we get to some other tracks that aren’t as nice as this. But on this track and on this day, I had a feeling we were going to be pretty hard to beat today.”

The feeling was right, even though one of his wins came against his brother, Cruz.

“Cruz and I have done this for so long that we are very professional about it. The way I look at it is Cruz, is very talented on the track when he’s driving and I think Dickie has that same respect for Rahn Tobler which probably explains the 4.06. Dickie knew what those guys were going to try to do and he had to give it all it had. Everyone hung in there and made it a good race. For Cruz and I both to make it to the semi-finals, that’s a good day at the office for us.”

A PAT ON THE BACK? - Caught up in the euphoria of victory, Tony Pedregon let it slip that John Force, his old boss, actually came up to him in the staging lines just before the final run and wished him luck.

“I wasn't sure what he was up to,” laughed Cruz, adding, “John and I have a lot of respect for each other and I think it was a great gesture for him to wish us luck.”
 

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