Pedregon earns third No. 1 of season
KENT, Wash. -- Tony Pedregon capped off an impressive two days of qualifying with a 4.174-second pass at a top speed of 291.13 mph on Saturday at the NHRA Northwest Nationals to earn his third No. 1 of the season in Funny Car.
The other No. 1 qualifiers for Sunday's eliminations at the 14th race in the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel) and Allen Johnson (Pro Stock).
Pedregon, currently in third place behind Ron Capps and Ashley Force Hood, was the overnight leader and he improved on a 4.182 from Friday night with the 4.174 in the first session on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Capps, who had two aborted qualifying runs on Friday, moved up to the No. 6 position with a 4.245.
In Top Fuel, second-place Dixon's 3.891 at 302.21 from Friday held up through both rounds of qualifying Saturday for his fourth No. 1 qualifier this season.
Johnson, set both ends of the Pacific Raceways track record with his 6.571 at 210.21 in the early session Saturday.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
