TWO-TIME NHRA FUNNY CAR WORLD CHAMPION TONY PEDREGON WANTS TO KEEP MOMENTUM GOING HEADING TO SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA NATIONALS

NORWALK, Ohio — Tony Pedregon found out what his car and team are capable of with a semifinal performance at the most recent NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event in Bristol.

Instead of being satisfied, the two-time Funny Car world champion wants his best finish in a year to signal the start of a strong summer in his 10,000-horsepower Pedregon Racing Toyota Camry.

Pedregon has a chance to continue that momentum at this weekend’s ninth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, a venue where he hopes to pick up his second event victory.

“It’s important for us to pick up where we left off,” Pedregon said. “We want to be able to qualify well and really get past that first round again. That’s really our biggest goal. True progress for us is going to Norwalk and Chicago and doing that. We’re trying to be consistent and that starts in qualifying. We want to qualify in the top half and continue that into eliminations. The key for us is to just get some solid races in.”

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year’s winners of the popular Ohio event just west of Cleveland that will once again be televised nationally on ESPN2. It is the 12th NHRA Mello Yello Series event of the season and marks the circuit’s halfway point.

After struggling with consistency all year, Pedregon found his rhythm in Bristol, knocking off Alexis DeJoria and Del Worsham to reach his first semifinal of the season. He put together a number of solid runs, qualifying 12th and running well in warm conditions.

Pedregon, who has 43 career wins and 76 final round appearances, ran well against DeJoria in the first round before a rod broke near the finish line, and followed up with another consistent run against Worsham. Getting multiple satisfactory runs in one weekend was hugely beneficial for Pedregon, who is currently 14th in points, and gives him a major building point heading into a key stretch of the regular season.

“We had a good race in Bristol but we can continue to get better,” Pedregon said. “Bristol was the first race where we put together a string of some good runs. In terms of performance, it was a good weekend. The end result was good for us.

“We’ve been qualifying OK and we’ve made some good runs but we really have struggled to do it consecutively. It was encouraging to see us do that in Bristol. We adjusted for the conditions and just didn’t back into the semis. We got to the semis by performance and the car did what we were trying to do.”

That’s been the goal all along, but it’s also been a struggle trying to get that to happen in a loaded Funny Car field. Pedregon’s Camry has performed well at the starting line but has repeatedly come across difficulty at half-track. It’s happened multiple times during eliminations, a matter Pedregon hopes he solved in Bristol. But he must also walk a fine line in being efficient with the parts he has.

“The key to what we’re trying to do is to run good without hurting parts,” Pedregon said. “We’ve made quite a bit of progress and that’s important for us.”

Gaining traction in a star-studded class isn’t easy and Pedregon will face off against all of the category’s top challengers in Norwalk. The 16-time Funny Car world champion Force raced to his second victory of the season last year at Norwalk while points leader and defending world champion Matt Hagan is after his first victory at the track. Jack Beckman and Tim Wilkerson are the only other active Funny Car drivers with Norwalk victories, but other class standouts who are primed to turn on win lights include Ron Capps, Courtney Force, Del Worsham, Alexis DeJoria, Tommy Johnson Jr., Robert Hight, and Tony’s brother Cruz Pedregon, also a two-time world champ.

Norwalk has been a favorite track for Tony Pedregon since he competed in some match-races there in the 1990s. Since then, he’s watched it evolve into a state-of-the-art facility and blossom as a key stop on the Mello Yello Series tour. But Pedregon admires what the Bader family has done to continue to cater to the fans, making it a thrilling weekend for everyone involved.

“I’ve seen that facility evolve into the big facility it is,” Pedregon said. “The Bader family really pays attention to every detail and they really take care of the facility, and there’s great fans up there. It’s a really big event but they really accommodate all the fans and take care of them, and that means a lot.”

In Top Fuel, Brown took the Norwalk victory last season defeating Shawn Langdon in the final round, and comes into the event this season as the current points leader on the strength of three victories at the controls of his Matco Tools dragster. Competition will be fierce and will include the likes of Lucas Oil dragster pilot Richie Crampton, who has three wins this season including the most recent race, two-time Norwalk winner Larry Dixon, Doug Kalitta, defending world champion Tony Schumacher, rising star Leah Pritchett, Englishtown runner-up Brittany Force, J.R. Todd, class newcomer Dave Connolly, Steve Torrence, Spencer Massey and veteran racer Clay Millican.

Enders, the reigning Pro Stock world champ, has four wins to start 2015 including the most recent race to take over the points lead but red-hot Greg Anderson, who has two career Norwalk wins, is close behind. Vincent Nobile also has two Norwalk wins, and Jason Line, a two-time winner this season, Phoenix winner Rodger Brogdon, newcomer Drew Skillman, Shane Gray, Allen Johnson and Chris McGaha are just a few of the drivers who will also be putting up a fierce fight for the win in the 200-mph factory hot rod class.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hines is the defending race winner and currently sits second in the points standings. He leads his category with four career wins at Norwalk while his teammate, Eddie Krawiec, was the No. 1 qualifier at the event one year ago and is the current points leader. Hector Arana Sr., who is coming off a recent win in Atlanta, his son Hector Arana Jr., Gainesville winner Karen Stoffer and two-time event winner Matt Smith will all be contenders to hoist the Wally trophy on Sunday.

As always, fans will have the opportunity to interact with their favorite drivers as they’re granted an exclusive pit pass to the most powerful and sensory-filled motorsports attraction on the planet. This unique opportunity in motorsports gives fans direct access to the teams, allowing them to see firsthand the highly-skilled mechanics service their hot rods between rounds, and get autographs from their favorite NHRA drivers.

Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying begins Friday, July 3, with sessions at 5 and 7:45 p.m. The final two qualifying sessions will take place Saturday, July 4, at 5 and 7:45 p.m., followed by a fireworks show at 9:45 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, July 5.

To purchase tickets, call 419-668-5555 or visit www.summitmotorsportspark.com. For more information about the NHRA visit www.NHRA.com.

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SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA NATIONALS FACT SHEET

WHAT: Ninth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, the 12th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Drivers in four categories – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – earn points leading to 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world championships.

WHERE: Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio. The track is located at 1300 State Route 18, half way between Cleveland and Toledo; just an hour and a half north of Columbus. The Ohio Turnpike is less than 10 minutes away.

COURSE: Championship drag strip; Track elevation is 853 feet above sea level; Track direction is north to south.

WHEN: Thursday through Sunday, July 2-5

SCHEDULE:

THURSDAY, July 2 – LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying at 9 a.m.

FRIDAY, July 3 – LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations

NHRA J&A SERVICE PRO MOD SERIES qualifying at 4:15 and 7 p.m.

MELLO YELLO SERIES qualifying at 5 and 7:45 p.m.

SATURDAY, July 4 – LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations

NHRA J&A SERVICE PRO MOD SERIES qualifying at 4:15 p.m.; First round of eliminations at 7 p.m.

MELLO YELLO SERIES qualifying at 5 and 7:45 p.m.

SUNDAY, July 5 – Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m.

MELLO YELLO SERIES eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

TELEVISION:

Saturday, July 4, ESPN2 will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10 p.m. (ET).

Sunday, July 5, ESPN will televise three hours of eliminations coverage starting at 1 p.m. (ET).

SATELLITE (Digital HD feed):

Saturday, July 4, 10:30 – 11 p.m. (ET), SES 2/Transponder 14C

Sunday, July 5, 5:30 – 6 p.m. (ET), SES 2/ Transponder 14C

(3980 MHz, vertical; Data Rate: 40.46147055 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 29.27 Ms; FEC: ¾; Bandwidth: 36 Mhz)

Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners’ interviews on Sunday.

2014 EVENT WINNERS: Antron Brown, Top Fuel; John Force, Funny Car; Erica Enders, Pro Stock, Andrew Hines, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

MOST VICTORIES: Andrew Hines, 4, PSM; Larry Dixon, 2, TF; Mike Neff, 2, FC; Greg Anderson, 2, PS; Vincent Nobile, 2, PS; Matt Smith, 2, PSM.

TRACK RECORDS:

Top Fuel – 3.745 sec. by Shawn Langdon, July ’14; 329.83 mph by Brittany Force, July ’14.

Funny Car – 4.000 sec. by Del Worsham, July ’14; 322.04 mph by John Force, July ’14.

Pro Stock – 6.523 sec. and 212.63 mph by Erica Enders, July ’14.

PS Motorcycle – 6.844 sec. by Eddie Krawiec, July ’14; 196.93 mph by Hector Arana, July ’14.

NATIONAL RECORDS:

Top Fuel – 3.701 sec. by Antron Brown, Oct. ‘12, Reading, Pa.; 332.18 mph by Spencer Massey, April ’12, Charlotte, N.C.

Funny Car – 3.965 sec. by John Force, Feb. ’14, Pomona, Calif.; 325.06 mph by Courtney Force, May ’15, Topeka, Kan.

Pro Stock – 6.455 sec. by Jason Line, March ’15, Charlotte, N.C.; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May ‘14, Englishtown N.J.

PS Motorcycle – 6.728 sec. by Andrew Hines, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 199.88 mph by Hector Arana Jr., April ’15, Charlotte, N.C.

TICKETS: For tickets, call (419) 668-5555 or purchase online at www.summitmotorsportspark.com.

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NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS

GLENDORA, Calif. — Point standings (top 10) following the 11th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series (four of 16 for Pro Stock Motorcycle), number of wins listed in parentheses –

Top Fuel: 1. Antron Brown, 826 (3); 2. Tony Schumacher, 824 (2); 3. Richie Crampton, 754 (3); 4. Larry Dixon, 699; 5. Spencer Massey, 693 (1); 6. Doug Kalitta, 666 (1); 7. Shawn Langdon, 626 (1); 8. Brittany Force, 585; 9. J.R. Todd, 563; 10. Clay Millican, 511.

Funny Car: 1. Matt Hagan, 866 (4); 2. Ron Capps, 779 (2); 3. John Force, 713 (2); 4. Del Worsham, 704; 5. Jack Beckman, 669 (2); 6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 643; 7. Cruz Pedregon, 592; 8. Robert Hight, 576; 9. Alexis DeJoria, 574; 10. Tim Wilkerson, 570 (1).

Pro Stock: 1. Erica Enders, 964 (4); 2. Greg Anderson, 950 (3); 3. Jason Line, 828 (2); 4. Chris McGaha, 750; 5. Allen Johnson, 588; 6. Shane Gray, 583; 7. Drew Skillman, 573; 8. Larry Morgan, 570 (1); 9. Vincent Nobile, 561; 10. Rodger Brogdon, 526 (1).

Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1. Eddie Krawiec, 339; 2. Andrew Hines, 286 (1); 3. Hector Arana Jr, 273; 4. Hector Arana, 259 (1); 5. Karen Stoffer, 238 (1); 6. Jim Underdahl, 224; 7. Scotty Pollacheck, 207; 8. (tie) Jerry Savoie, 198 (1); LE Tonglet, 198; 10. Angelle Sampey, 193.