Tony Pedregon loses to brother Cruz in Winternationals opener

“We are a work in progress,” said Tony Pedregon Sunday following his team’s performance in NHRA’s Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Pomona, Calif.

Pedregon qualified 16th in his American Racing Wheels Chevrolet Funny Car.  He lost to his brother, Cruz, in the first round.  Both cars lost traction on the 1,000 foot run. Cruz won in 4.573 seconds at 283.97 mph to Tony’s 4.896 at 231.68.

“Our program was late coming together,” he said.  “We need more time to get everyone working together.  We had clutch issues and we lost one qualifying round because of bad weather that we could’ve used.”

 “The reality is that we didn’t have an opportunity to test before this race,” he continued.  “I am certain we will perform better in Gainesville.”