NHRA News: Pedregons join with Carlos Santana for charity (9/24/2004)

Pedregons join with Carlos Santana for charity

9/24/2004

Pedregon Racing announced a new marketing partnership with legendary musician and guitarist Carlos Santana to benefit and promote his and his wife Deborah's Milagro Foundation.

Drivers Cruz and Tony Pedregon unveiled two new special "Santana" paint schemes Friday at the Texas Motorplex. Former champ Cruz pilots the Advance Auto Parts Monte Carlo Funny Car, while Tony, the reigning Funny Car champion, drives the Quaker State Racing Monte Carlo. The special designs will be run during the fourth annual AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Oct. 28-31, with Santana scheduled to be on hand for the event.

"I am honored that the Pedregon brothers recognize the mission of the Milagro Foundation and want to join us in helping children all around the planet," Santana said. "The idea of bringing attention to Milagro through the popularity of the NHRA series, was an interesting idea that has turned into something rather unique. The Pedregon brothers are good people who believe that we should transcend cultural borders and biases."

Carlos and Deborah Santana founded the Milagro (meaning 'miracle' in Spanish) Foundation in 1998. The Foundation has given $1.5 million to charities and agencies that support children and youth in areas of health, education and the arts.

As a part of the partnership, which includes donations from Advance Auto Parts and Quaker State, proceeds from this partnership will be given to the Milagro Foundation. Special die-cast cars from Action Performance, depicting the Santana paint schemes, will also be available to commemorate this occasion.

"The Santana program is a dream come true for me," said Cruz, who won the 1992 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship. "Santana is like Elvis. He's a legend and an icon. We're from Southern California and we're very close to the Santana's roots. To be able to do a program and to get to work with Santana in person and have our cars painted with his likeness on it is just awesome. It's an honor for us to work with him and support the Milagro Foundation. It's a credit to drag racing to attract a person like Carlos Santana to the sport. I hope he becomes a huge fan."

"We race for a living and wanting to win is always important," said Tony, who joined brother Cruz as a NHRA team owner at the beginning of the 2004 season. "But there are things that are more important in the world. Our relationship with Santana and his Milagro Foundation allows Pedregon Racing to give back to the people who have given so much to us in the past. This is something a little more meaningful and helping out at-risk youth is so essential."

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