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Pedregon, Bradshaw, Johnson And Guidera Earn No. 1 Qualifying Positions At Gatornationals

GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? More than a month after suffering one of the most spectacular Funny Car explosions in NHRA history, Tony Pedregon raced to the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday at the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals.

Alan Bradshaw, Warren Johnson and Matt Guidera also were No. 1 qualifiers and will lead their respective categories into Sunday?s 11 a.m. eliminations at the third of 24 NHRA POWERade Series events in 2008.

Pedregon covered the quarter-mile distance at historic Gainesville Raceway in 4.780 seconds at 326.40 mph in his Q-Horsepower Chevy Impala for his 32nd No. 1 qualifying effort and first since July 2005.

?We got some cloud cover and it was a good call by Dickie (Venables, crew chief),? said Pedregon, the defending and two-time POWERade Series Funny Car world champion. ?This is really the best medicine for this team and we?ve put what happened in Pomona behind us.?

Bradshaw, a former Lucas Oil Series Top Alcohol Dragster world champion who is in his second season in Top Fuel, powered his Vis Viva dragster to his first career No. 1 performance in professional racing, covering the distance in 4.547 at 306.95.
?We left Phoenix with our heads down low, but we tested and did really well, and we made a pact to one another that we weren?t going to another race this season until we get the car to run,? Bradshaw said. ?We?re still working on some fuel-system issues right now, but we?re getting close. We almost made it to the finish line under power but didn?t quite get there, but we?re No. 1, and that?s what counts. These boys haven?t seen what we?ve got yet. Once we get the fuel system ironed out we?ll be in the 4.4s, I believe.?

Pro Stock?s Johnson raced to the 137th No. 1 qualifying position of his career, ninth at this event and first since Aug. 2005. He posted a 6.665 at 208.36 in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac GXP to lead the 16-car field.

?It?s always good to start off with a new car by qualifying No. 1,? said Johnson, a nine-time winner at the Gatornationals. ?My last No. 1 came during our first race with the GTO. It?s been a good start to the season. Early on we were making good power with the GTO at the first two races, which was a good indicator we had adequate power to qualify in the upper half of the field. This car seems to be a little quicker in the back half, which is where the mile-per-hour is coming from.?

Guidera claimed his first top qualifying performance in Pro Stock Motorcycle, riding his Mohegan Sun/Rocklin Motorsports Buell to a career-best performance of 6.922 at 192.85.

?We knew we left some on the table in the first session, about five-hundredths,? Guidera said. ?The bike went left, and I had to pull it right because it was up in the air for half the run and not very aerodynamic at all. The last pass it left hard and was stuck. The guys worked so hard our on our motor package in the off-season because we were about a tenth off last year, and all that hard work paid off. Running a 6.92 here in the humidity we had is really something.?

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 39th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the third of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel — 1. Alan Bradshaw, 4.547 seconds, 306.95 mph vs. 16. Bruce Litton, 4.755,
309.84; 2. David Grubnic, 4.555, 327.59 vs. 15. Michael Gunderson, 4.743, 316.01; 3. Rod Fuller, 4.555, 326.71 vs. 14. Urs Erbacher, 4.678, 316.08; 4. Antron Brown, 4.558, 327.51 vs. 13. Doug Foley, 4.676, 325.85; 5. Tony Schumacher, 4.579, 326.56 vs. 12. J.R. Todd, 4.659, 318.99; 6. Cory McClenathan, 4.581, 327.59 vs. 11. Hillary Will, 4.624, 314.75; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 4.586, 330.63 vs. 10. Clay Millican, 4.624, 325.77; 8. Larry Dixon, 4.612, 317.87 vs. 9. Doug Herbert, 4.620, 318.09.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Morgan Lucas, 4.762, 313.15; 18. Mitch King, 4.802, 302.82; 19. Doug Kalitta, 4.865, 295.14; 20. Luigi Novelli, 5.825, 177.58; 21. Bob Vandergriff, 6.027, 182.28.

Funny Car — 1. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.780, 326.40 vs. 16. Jerry Toliver, Dodge Charger, 4.973, 291.26; 2. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.816, 326.71 vs. 15. Gary Densham, Impala, 4.953, 311.70; 3. Tim Wilkerson, Impala, 4.820, 320.58 vs. 14. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.944, 291.01; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Impala, 4.841, 316.15 vs. 13. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.936, 312.86; 5. Jim Head, Toyota Solara, 4.847, 325.77 vs. 12. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.927, 319.45; 6. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.847, 324.12 vs. 11. Frank Hawley, Charger, 4.916, 319.60; 7. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.863, 318.39 vs. 10. Del Worsham, Impala, 4.903, 313.80; 8. Ashley Force, Mustang, 4.864, 319.45 vs. 9. Scott Kalitta, Solara, 4.892, 325.37.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Bob Bode, 4.979, 290.26; 18. Gary Scelzi, 5.014, 307.37; 19. Terry Haddock, 5.187, 277.15; 20. Tommy Johnson Jr., 5.226, 287.96; 21. Mike Smith, 5.412, 191.97; 22. Melanie Troxel, 5.854, 259.06; 23. Tony Bartone, broke.

Pro Stock — 1. Warren Johnson, Pontiac GXP, 6.665, 208.36 vs. 16. Matt Hartford, Dodge Stratus, 6.743, 204.48; 2. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.665, 207.27 vs. 15. Johnny Gray, Stratus, 6.741, 205.01; 3. Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.680, 206.51 vs. 14. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.721, 205.60; 4. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GTO, 6.685, 205.57 vs. 13. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.715, 205.41; 5. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.687, 206.13 vs. 12. Dave Northrop, GTO, 6.714, 204.76; 6. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.689, 206.45 vs. 11. Jim Yates, GXP, 6.713, 204.85; 7. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.690, 205.72 vs. 10. Justin Humphreys, GXP, 6.709, 205.19; 8. Jason Line, GXP, 6.705, 206.89 vs. 9. Rickie Jones, Stratus, 6.708, 205.60.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Vinnie Deceglie, 6.744, 203.89; 18. Kenny Koretsky, 6.746, 204.45; 19. Larry Morgan, 6.761, 205.13; 20. Max Naylor, 6.761, 201.79; 21. Tom Hammonds, 6.771, 205.60; 22. Bill Glidden, 6.776, 204.35; 23. Steve Spiess, 6.782, 204.26; 24. John Nobile, 6.793, 204.98; 25. Adam Flamholc, 6.807, 203.09; 26. Bob Benza, 6.816, 202.45; 27. Jimmy Alund, 6.824, 201.55; 28. Richard Sundblom, 6.844, 202.09; 29. Matt Scranton, 6.895, 199.70.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Matt Guidera, Buell, 6.922, 192.85 vs. 16. Hector Arana, Buell, 7.147, 186.54; 2. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.972, 190.38 vs. 15. Edward Murphy, Suzuki, 7.138, 184.40; 3. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.982, 190.51 vs. 14. Junior Pippin, Buell, 7.136, 181.67; 4. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.001, 190.97 vs. 13. Michael Ray, Buell, 7.135, 184.45; 5. Chip Ellis, Suzuki, 7.016, 187.70 vs. 12. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.092, 187.76; 6. Angie McBride, Buell, 7.024, 188.31 vs. 11. Wes Wells, Suzuki, 7.088, 186.87; 7. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 7.030, 186.82 vs. 10. Paul Gast, Suzuki, 7.080, 187.39; 8. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.035, 188.70 vs. 9. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.041, 190.27.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Steve Johnson, 7.181, 191.05; 18. Mike Berry, 7.226, 185.03; 19. Craig Treble, 7.265, 189.60; 20. Redell Harris, 7.265, 183.42; 21. Darin McCurdy, 7.346, 182.26; 22. Ryan Schnitz, 7.471, 177.16.

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