BROWN, PEDREGON REACH SEMI-FINALS TO LEAD TOYOTA AT CHICAGO NHRA
JOLIET, IL – Cruz Pedregon advanced to the semi-finals in Funny Car and Antron Brown reached the Top Fuel 
semi-finals to lead Toyota at the Lucas Oil Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., Sunday. Both drivers were the number one qualifiers.
Pedregon defeated John Hale and John Force in the first two rounds before falling to eventual winner Tommy Johnson Jr. in the semi-finals. He earned his fourth number one qualifier and ran the quickest Funny Car pass of the year earlier in the weekend.
“We wanted to go further and thought we had the car to win today,” said Pedregon. “The Snap-on Camry was really good all weekend. We’re going fast at every track we go to and we’re gaining consistency.”
Brown appeared to be on the way to the finals as he led at the 330’ mark before losing grip against Larry Dixon in the semi-finals. He had eliminated Luigi Novelli and Doug Kalitta in the first two rounds. On Saturday, Brown earned his fourth pole position in the last seven races.
“We can’t complain about our weekend,” said Brown, the 2012 Top Fuel world champion. “We were the number one qualifier and we’re getting the car happier. Everyone is working hard and we’re getting results and we’re getting the consistency we’ll need for the Countdown. In the semis, we just got too aggressive in the middle of the track. We live and we learn. It’s still too early to worry about points with six races left before the Countdown – and that’s when the championship race starts.”
In addition to Pedregon’s efforts in Funny Car, Del Worsham made history today in becoming just the 17th driver in NHRA history to earn 500 round wins by defeating Robert Hight in the opening round. Unfortunately, numerous delays earlier in the round combined with live television left the DHL Camry squad with roughly 30-35 minutes to prepare (70 is the standard) for round two and the team was unable to make a clean run in round two.
Tony Pedregon also advanced to the second round today after eliminating fellow Toyota driver Chad Head in the opening round before losing to Matt Hagan. Alexis DeJoria and Head were both eliminated in round one today with DeJoria running an impressive 4.087, but losing on a hole-shot to John Force.
In Top Fuel, both Richie Crampton and Shawn Langdon lost in their opening runs as track conditions appeared to favor the opposite lane throughout the session.
After taking next weekend off, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will begin the annual Western Swing in two weeks with the Mile High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, July 24-26.
