Cruz Pedregon tops Funny Car qualifying

Cruz Pedregon topped Funny Car qualifying Friday in the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway. The two-time Funny Car series champion,

Cruz Pedregon, a two-time Funny Car series champion,had a pass of 4.086 seconds at 310.41 mph :: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Cruz Pedregon topped Funny Car qualifying Friday in the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway.

The two-time Funny Car series champion, the winner this month in Las Vegas, had a pass of 4.086 seconds at 310.41 mph in his Toyota Camry.

"It was a flawless pass that really set me back in the seat right at the hit of the throttle," Pedregon said. "It really pulled hard all the way through, and I knew it was a good pass. But we weren't trying to knock it out of the park, and our goal was just to keep all eight cylinders lit all the way to the finish line. I honestly would have been happy with a 4.12 or a 4.13. So we were really thrilled with the 4.08."

Doug Kalitta led the Top Fuel field, Jeg Coughlin topped the Pro Stock cars, and Hector Arana Jr. led in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Kalitta had a run of 3.791 at 321.65, Coughlin covered the distance at 6.569 at 211.20 in his Dodge Avenger, and Arana finished in 6.876 seconds at 195.39 mph on a Buell.