Nitro Fish racers Tony Pedregon and Matt Smith resume their quests for NHRA Full Throttle Drag
Racing Series championships Sunday at Memphis Motorsports Park.
Pedregon's two Saturday qualifying runs did not surpass his Friday night best effort of 4.105
seconds, but the Nitro Fish Impala Funny Car did run competitive times on a sunny, much warmer
afternoon.
He also held the No. 4 starting postition for Sunday's O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis
Motorsports Park, the third of six Countdown to 1 Full Throttle Series races.
Track conditions weren't as good as Friday night's, but Pedregon's colorful Impala did get down the
1,000-foot track in 4.123 and 4.149 seconds.
Pedregon continues the quest for a second world championship in three seasons when he races Mike
Neff (No.13, 4.188 seconds) in the first round of eliminations. Pedregon has 2,182 points and
current leader Robert Hight has 2,241.
Matt Smith runs 6.876 seconds Saturday
Matt Smith climbed into second place Saturday with a 6.876-second run at 194.30 mph. The driver of
Don Schumacher Racing's Nitro Fish Suzuki came back with a 6.932 at 193.40 in the afternoon
session.
He will be looking for round wins during eliminations. The 2007 world champion, Smith is among the
contenders for the 2009 Full Throttle title. He's fourth with 2,170 points, 20 behind the
runner-up and 148 behind Hector Arana, the current pace-setter.
Smith's first-round foe is Redell Harris (15th, 7.139 at 183.92).
