When you’ve spent more than three decades driving Funny Cars, won world championships, raced at virtually every major dragstrip in America and earned a place on NHRA’s 75 Greatest Drivers list, there aren’t many surprises left.
Maryland International Raceway was one of them.
Cruz Pedregon had heard about Budd’s Creek for years. He’d just never been there.
The irony wasn’t lost on him. As NHRA celebrates its 75th anniversary by bringing national events to new markets, one of the sport’s most accomplished veterans found himself experiencing something new as well.
This season has already taken NHRA to South Georgia Motorsports Park and will eventually bring the series to U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. Maryland International Raceway became the latest stop on a schedule that feels reminiscent of drag racing’s Super Season era, when new venues helped shape the future of the sport.
For Pedregon, the move represents more than a schedule adjustment.
It’s NHRA taking its biggest show to people who otherwise might never experience Top Fuel and Funny Car in person.
“I want to thank the NHRA first of all for having the guts and the fortitude and the understanding as businesses go that companies need market to go to different markets and for them to cut out a couple races that were redundant, a couple of races at some of these events, and come into Budd’s Creek here and then South Georgia to make up for the Commerce event,” Pedregon said.
“We lost some great ones, man, through the years. Commerce, Bandimere, Englishtown, one of my favorite tracks. So for the NHRA to reach out and fly in during the offseason and to come out and visit these facilities, meet with the owners, and for them to really put on events where fans have never seen this show, the greatest show, the big show, as they call it, as it were, the NHRA is really commendable to everyone involved, the track operators, everyone.”
Funny Car drivers aren’t known for handing out compliments.
Pedregon certainly wasn’t planning to.
He admitted he walked the track looking for reasons not to like it.
Instead, he found himself impressed by what he saw.
“And the track, believe it or not, I walked yesterday and I’m looking for reasons to not like this place and I’m walking there and they said, ‘Oh, the transition’s 300 feet from concrete to asphalt.’ And believe me, I’m looking to be critical.
“And I walk, I’m going, damn, this track’s pretty good to me. Other than it’s a little tiny bump, the transition, it’s good. They know their stuff here.”
The strongest endorsement might not have come from Pedregon’s words. It came from his reaction.
Veteran racers tend to spot flaws before they notice strengths. Pedregon went looking for problems and left talking about the people who built the place.
The experience extended beyond the racing surface.
For Pedregon, one of the most rewarding parts of the weekend came while walking through the pits and meeting fans who had waited years for NHRA’s arrival.
“It’s really cool for me,” Pedregon said. “I’ve gone to all these race tracks, but I have heard of Budd’s Creek before through the years. I was thinking to myself, man, this is Budd’s Creek.
“For a veteran like me to go to some of these new events and meet new fans, I got to tell you, I walked out of the pit area and I met some fans.”
The conversations reminded him why expanding into new markets matters.
“What’s really cool and refreshing is to have fans make me really feel old by saying, ‘I’ve been watching you for 100 years.’ I’m going, dang, 100 years. But for them to see us in person and they’re only an hour and a half or within driving distance, really means a lot to us.
“Not every fan can drive to some of these venues. So it’s really cool that we get to race. I got to hand it to NHRA. They reached out and carved out some new markets.”
That’s the part statistics don’t measure.
For every fan who has spent decades driving hundreds of miles to see nitro cars, there are thousands more who simply never had the opportunity.
The fact Pedregon ended Friday atop the Funny Car qualifying sheet almost felt secondary to the conversation.
Still, the numbers were there.
His 3.951-second pass at 323.19 mph in the Snap-on Dodge Hellcat placed him at the top of the field and gave a team that has endured a frustrating start to the season a reminder that speed has never been the issue.
Pedregon failed to qualify earlier this season in Pomona and entered Maryland still searching for a breakthrough after six consecutive first-round losses.
Yet he has repeatedly maintained the car is capable of running with anyone in the category.
Friday backed up that belief.
“My crew asked, ‘What were you thinking when you pulled the parachutes?’ I said, I was thinking to myself, man, this felt pretty fast to me. I don’t have a radio in the car. I have no idea. I just go by feel.
“I get out of the car. They tell me what it ran. But in the car, I felt that it was a fast run and smooth run.”
Pedregon doesn’t expect the number to survive Saturday untouched.
Neither does anyone else in the Funny Car pits.
“Oh, probably not,” Pedregon said when asked if it would hold for No. 1. “Somebody was, or Jim Head’s car with Spencer was nipping on our heels and ran right there with us. And so I think there’s a .92 or .93 out there, and we’re going to give it a shot.
“It’d be nice to stay number one. It doesn’t win the race, but it gives us some confidence. Numbers matter. We’re in the numbers game, so being in that top three or four is important.”
Spencer Hyde closed Friday just behind Pedregon with a 3.953-second effort, while Jordan Vandergriff sat third at 3.970.
The confidence came from more than one run.
Pedregon believes Maryland and South Georgia share many of the same characteristics, allowing his team to return to a setup that had already proven successful.
“Well, it does because we ran so well there,” Pedregon said. “We had only three runs there. We lost a run due to weather, but we had three really good runs there.
“We just went back to the notebook and really set the car up similar to how we had it at South Georgia.”
The veteran also pointed toward geography.
“If you think about this place, it’s near the ocean,” Pedregon said. “Anytime you get near the ocean at sea level, you’re going to get good atmospheric conditions, which is why you see Pro Stock, Pro Stock bikes, alcohol cars. All these cars are going to run fast.
“The challenge for our cars is we have more power than we really need. So the challenge for us is to pull it back and not get too fancy and cute. So we had a good balance and it ripped, man. It was a good run.”
At 62, Pedregon has reached the point where accomplishments are measured differently.
Wins matter. Championships matter. So does perspective.
Being named one of NHRA’s 75 Greatest Drivers gave him a moment to reflect on a career that now spans generations of fans.
“It means a lot to me. I really couldn’t put it into words that we were chosen in the top 75,” Pedregon said.
“And I can be honest with you, the fact that my brother Tony was right alongside me, it meant a lot to me. I was almost more excited for Tony.”
Then came the realization that his name appeared alongside some of the racers he once idolized.
“Don Prudhomme, the Snake, was one of my heroes. And also a guy by the name of Danny Ongais,” Pedregon said. “For us to be in the book right within a few pages of those guys, man, you want to talk about an emotional moment.
“When I saw that, I thought, okay, then I guess we had a pretty good career.”
The pause didn’t last long.
“But hey, I’m not done yet. I’ve got some fight left in me. I’m 60-something going on 40-something, feel good. People are trying to send me out down the pasture, but they’re a little bit premature in that.
“I’m going to be like Sugar Ray Leonard.
“I’m retired, but not quite yet.”
