PEDREGON
FULLER COUGHLIN AND ELLIS LEAD ACDELCO GATORNATIONALS QUALIFYING
Story by NHRA
Photos by Les Welch
GAINESVILLE,
Fla. -- Following a race in which he failed to qualify, former Funny Car
world champion Cruz Pedregon raced to the top of the 16-car starting
order Friday at the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals.
Rod Fuller, two-time Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin and Chip Ellis were
the leaders in their respective categories at the NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series event at historic Gainesville Raceway.
Pedregon hired crew chief Wayne Dupuy in the offseason to make his hot
rod quicker. In just three races, it appears the decision was a good one
as Pedregon moved to the top position on the Funny Car ladder with a
4.792 at 295.21 mph in his Advance Auto Parts Chevy Monte Carlo.
"We came out of Phoenix with a teammate [Tony Pedregon] who won the race
and set a national record so I sat down with Wayne and said, 'Let's use
the knowledge those guys have gained, be true teammates with them, and
share all of our info.'," Pedregon said. "Fortunately he and Dickie [Venables,
Tony's crew chief] have developed a great friendship already, so it was
an easy thing to do. There's some of his tune-up in that car and some of
Dickie's tune-up in ours and together we're both running strong now."
John Force's 4.802 at 316.97 mph in his Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford
Mustang has him comfortably in fourth place with two rounds to go.
Daughter Ashley Force, a rookie driver competing in only her third race
in the 7,000 horsepower category, is eighth with a 4.832 at 306.67 in
her Castrol GTX Mustang. Six-time NHRA world champ Kenny Bernstein, who
is returning to the cockpit after three years of retirement, is
qualified 12th in his Monster/Lucas Oil Dodge Charger with a 4.910 at
306.40.
Phoenix winner and category points leader Fuller continues to prove he
has the best Top Fuel car, covering the quarter-mile distance in 4.535
at 323.66 mph in his Valvoline dragster. Fuller teammate Whit Bazemore
was second overall with a 4.542 in his Matco Tools dragster.
"There's no way our time will hold through tomorrow," Fuller said.
"We'll see a bunch of 4.40s and hopefully Whit and I will be right there
with all the other fast teams."
In Pro Stock, 34-time winner Coughlin only has eight career No. 1
qualifying awards, the last one coming 53 races ago at Dallas in 2004.
But he's on track to end that streak here, posting a track-record 6.632
at 207.75 mph in his Slammers Ultimate Milk/Jegs.com Chevrolet Cobalt.
