He’s a two-time NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion, but those two titles tell you an awful lot about Cruz Pedregon. The Torrance, California-born second-generation drag racer won his first championship in 1992 and his second in 2008. For those counting on fingers and toes, that’s a couple of years less than two decades.
Yes, Cruz Pedregon’s on-track activities tend to run either hot or cold, but rarely in between. During the time when John Force was ruling the Flopper class, Pedregon showed just how strong he could be, the sole driver to win a title during the 1990s – not named John Force. In 1994, he was the only driver who beat Force in a final round. He’s a three-time U.S. Nationals victor, winning the most prestigious event on the NHRA calendar for sportsman and professional ranks.
And yet.
By forming his own team in Funny Car, Pedregon emulated the all-conquering Force but was unable to equal his fellow Californian’s success. He retired for a year, becoming a color analyst in 2001 for ESPN’s coverage of the sport, a job now held by his brother Tony, also a two-time champion in Funny Car. Cruz found that time of retirement somewhat less than satisfying and went back on the tour, where he’s been racing ever since.
Wanting to take control of his destiny, Pedregon’s team has, for the most part been self-run, thanks to his long-time relationship with Snap-On, the tool purveyor whose name is currently embossed on his team’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. he’s gone through crew chiefs and team members on a regular basis, kind of like a revolving door…
But when he finds the sweet spot, Cruz Pedregon knows how to capitalize. He’ll go years without earning a Wally winner’s trophy and then get hot. After failing to win a race for six years, Pedregon won in 2006. After failing to win a race in three years, Pedregon won at Norwalk the final weekend of June, in this year’s Summit Racing NHRA Nationals at Norwalk, Ohio.
Right now Cruz Pedregon has an excellent talent turning the knobs in John Collins, who most recently worked with Tommy Johnson Jr. at Don Schumacher Racing. Collins knows the equipment well and, obviously, knows the tracks. He could be one of the better crew chiefs in an exceptional class of Funny Car tuners, one who assisted the exceptional Rahn Tobler before gaining his ability to work with Johnson Jr.
But will the drought between 2018 and 2021 mean anything? Can Pedregon and Collins, together with their crew, do it again? And again and again? That remains to be seen, but for now, they’ve got bragging rights before the teams hit the hot, high air in Denver the third weekend of July.
Pedregon’s 37th Funny Car victory in his 77th final round appearance made the driver quite emotional at the Winner’s Circle. His hole-shot victory over points leader Bob Tasca III shows how much the sport is evolving, where two drivers who could only dream of winning are now able to show their expertise. After a 2020 year in which Don Schumacher Racing’s four drivers took the top four championship spots and won all 11 contests, seeing new faces – or even old ones like John Force and Robert Hight – taking wins makes 2021 the year of the unexpected, at least in Funny Car.
Last weekend, Cruz Pedregon defeated a very hot Tim Wilkerson (Ford Mustang) in the first round, No. 2 qualifier Robert Hight’s Chevrolet and Alexis DeJoria, whose Toyota Camry was qualified sixth. Tasca, for his part came to the finals after defeating No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps of DSR in the semis. Important note: after winning every race last year, thus far Don Schumacher Racing has won none.
In that final, Pedregon was slower than Tasca but beat him off the line to take the win. He drove better and it paid off. “I felt like I was kind of holding my team back a little, but I dug deep,” Pedregon said. “You work your way into winning again, and these guys taught me to be in that winning mode. This win means I’m as good as the car, and I know we have a good car, so I think I can be there for the car as well,” he remarked.
Can Pedregon do it again? There are always 15 – sometimes fewer – losers at any drag race, but it’s said that momentum in this sport rules. In just a few weeks, the Western Swing of consecutive races at Denver, Sonoma and Pomona begins. The first one is a Dodge-sponsored contest, the Dodge//SRT Mile-High Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Bandimere Speedway. It’s an even bet Cruz Pedregon, currently seventh in the standings and 173 points out of first, will be ready to take his momentum sky-high.
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