Funny Car racer Tony Pedregon was a bit apprehensive about bringing an unproven chassis into competition after destroying his trusted unit during the final qualifying session at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago. He was likely wondering why he hadn’t made the switch sooner when he crossed the finish line ahead of Robert Hight in the final round of the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

Pedregon drove to his second victory since pressing the new chassis into service.

“I think people are probably thinking that it’s the chassis and I’ve always felt that a brand new chassis is much better than one that’s been run all over it,” Pedregon said. “It’s been put through the fatigue of the track and you think about the fatigue going down the road. But I believe that we were one or two adjustments away from having the same kind of performance with our old car but I think it was just a coincidence but it just shows the new rules that we implemented with this new compliant car. It drastically improves the safety and you really don’t compromise any performance so from that perspective most of the racers are happy about that.”

Pedregon was all smiles as he drove his way to a career 39th victory and vaulted his Q-Power team into second place in the Funny Car point standings behind Tim Wilkerson. Understandably the defending Funny Car world champion has experienced easier winning weekends.

 

Funny Car racer Tony Pedregon was a bit apprehensive about bringing an unproven chassis into competition after destroying his trusted unit during the final qualifying session at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago. He was likely wondering why he hadn’t made the switch sooner when he crossed the finish line ahead of Robert Hight in the final round of the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

Pedregon drove to his second victory since pressing the new chassis into service.

“I think people are probably thinking that it’s the chassis and I’ve always felt that a brand new chassis is much better than one that’s been run all over it,” Pedregon said. “It’s been put through the fatigue of the track and you think about the fatigue going down the road. But I believe that we were one or two adjustments away from having the same kind of performance with our old car but I think it was just a coincidence but it just shows the new rules that we implemented with this new compliant car. It drastically improves the safety and you really don’t compromise any performance so from that perspective most of the racers are happy about that.”

Pedregon was all smiles as he drove his way to a career 39th victory and vaulted his Q-Power team into second place in the Funny Car point standings behind Tim Wilkerson. Understandably the defending Funny Car world champion has experienced easier winning weekends.

“What a challenging weekend for us, mostly because of the weather. I mean these crew chiefs had to deal with all these grains of water and humidity and the rain and the storms and the storms that didn’t come that they said were going to,” Pedregon admitted. “But through it all we managed to get through the weekend, we did it in a safe manner. We think we gave the fans a real good show, the ones that stuck around. 

“I’m proud to win a race here because I’ve known the Bader family for a long time now. We mention there name a lot because we wish we could bring other track operators here and show them the model that the Bader family has put together.”

SLOWING DOWN – Pedregon confirmed there were no organized efforts amongst the Funny Car drivers to shave off speeds from their runs by deploying their parachutes just shy of the speed traps. He confirmed the slower speed were likely due to the racing surface.

“I think we were working with a track that has a new surface and there really wasn’t a lot of rubber on it,” Pedregon said. “You know it’s a good facility and both lanes were equal. We might want to think about scraping a little rubber off of all these tracks to control the speeds a little bit but it was really encouraging for the NHRA to meet with everyone.

“They hired a consulting company to evaluate what they’re going to do in the shutdown area; whether its barrels filled with water and nets. I think it’s all a step in the right direction, I hope that they still address the speeds that the cars run because you look at the entertainment today it’s pretty exciting. They don’t have to run 320, 330 miles an hour. But we’re going to continue to work with them and they’re going to continue to work with us because when we come out here we put it on the line. When we get in the car that’s all that matters to us.

“It’s just important for us to be safe and we really want to protect ourselves. We’ve got a pretty good audience that despite the tough time in the economy and market, still coming around watching the races. So we’ve got to do for them because they do for us.”

THE RUMORS – Pedregon heard all the rumor circulating throughout SREMP suggesting 1,000-foot drag racing was on the horizon. Such a move would not appeal to the two-time champion.

“I hope not, I would never vote against it because I think at this point we need to continue to find ways that make it safer,” Pedregon said. “I’ll never vote against anything that’s safe but I think we should keep in mind that if that’s the case I hope they’re not just thinking of just giving us an extra 320 feet.

“I’ve grown up around this sport. I believe that if I had an incident similar to what Scott suffered at this track I think the outcome would have been different. I think, to me, a quarter mile race track is standard this sports been around for a long time and to change that is not something I’d vote for.

“Something I would vote for would be for increasing sand traps, bringing more barrels in filled in with water. Bring a net in, bring a second net in. In my opinion, I think there are other ways to deal with it. When I open up Car and Driver magazine and talk to these executives it just seems like we’ve gone thirty or forty years racing in the quarter mile. I think if we can slow the cars down and address a couple of issues and if we can address the finish line and the sand traps, shut down and catch nets.

“I think there’s some other ways but I know some drivers think that maybe that’s a quick fix so maybe we need to look at that at some of the shorter tracks, I think. But to be fair I’d like to discuss it with some other owners and hear what their pros and cons are too. But that is my opinion.”