Drivers
- Series: Funny Car
- Car: Quaker State Chevy Monte Carlo
- Crew Chief: Dickie Venables
- Birth Date: March 8, 1965
- Hobbies: Designing and painting custom helmets
- Home Town: Ft. Gratiot, Michigan
BIOGRAPHY
Pedregon was the 2003 NHRA POWERade champion after posting four second-place finishes in 1996-97, 1999 and 2002. Since his Rookie of the Year season in 1996, the 40-year-old Pedregon has won 29 national events, advanced to 52 final rounds, posted seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. In 2004 he fulfilled a lifelong dream when he became a car owner for the first time, and last year, the Chevy Monte Carlo driver won two races including the season-ending NHRA Finals in Pomona which shot him from ninth to seventh place in the points standings. He has won at least one race in nine of the last 10 years and more than one national event in eight of the last 10 race season. Entering 2006, Pedregon has qualified for every national event since the O' Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., in April, 2001, a streak of 110 races.
Fast Facts:
- Career Wins: 29
- Career Final Rounds: 52
- Career-Best Elapsed Time: 4.68 seconds
- Career-Best Speed: 331.28 mph
CAREER
- Established career-bests for wins (eight), No. 1 qualifying awards (eight) and round wins (47) in 2003. Captured victories at Pomona, Las Vegas, Houston, Atlanta, Topeka, Columbus, Chicago and second Las Vegas event. Became the first NHRA Funny Car driver other than John Force to win the championship since 1992.
- Qualified for first NHRA event at the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster in 1993.
- Earned first career victory at Atlanta in 1996. Named the inaugural winner of the NHRA Road to the Future award. Finished second in Funny Car standings behind teammate John Force. Captured one win in seven final rounds.
- Raced in five finals in 1997. Defeated Cruz Pedregon at Houston in first Funny Car final-round between two brothers.
- Captured two victories in two final rounds in 1998.
- The no. 1 qualifier at four events and won three events in 1999.
- Went to the finals six times in 2000 and collected two victories.
- Earned six victories in eight final round appearances, and contended for the 2002 NHRA POWERade championship until the semifinal round of the last event. Claimed fourth career second-place finish.
- Has 10 top-10 and seven top-five points finishes.
TRACK STATS
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2005 Season
- Won Reading. Won NHRA Finals at Pomona and advanced from 9th to 7th place in the final standings.
- Runner-up at Chicago 2.
- No. 1 qualifier at Pomona, Phoenix and Sonoma.
- Ran career-best elapsed time at Chicago 2.
- Qualified in the top half of the field 15 times.
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2004 Season
- Finished No. 8 in the final championship standings, his ninth consecutive season finishing in the top 10.
- Established career-bests for both E.T. and speed; career-best E.T. is the seventh quickest Funny Car pass in NHRA history; recorded two of the 10 fastest Funny Car speeds in NHRA history (331.28, Chicago 1; 329.83, Atlanta)
- Qualified for all 23 events, upping his national event qualifying streak to 87 consecutive races dating back to Bristol 2001, fifth-best among all active pro drivers.
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2003 Season
- Won the Funny Car championship with a career-best eight wins on the season.
- Became fourth on the all-time Funny Car win list with 24 career victories.
- Earned $100,000 for winning the Funny Car bonus event.
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2002 Season
- Earned six victories in eight final round appearances.
- Finished No. 2 in the standings for the fourth time in his career.
- Finished in the top five of the standings for the sixth time in eight professional seasons.
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2001 Season
- Won back-to-back races for the first time in his career.
- Won a race as the No. 1 qualifier for the first time in his career.
