Life has been a blur for Tony Pedregon's interim crew chief, Tony Shortall. Since he was given the last minute assignment of joining the two-time Funny Car world champion, the racing has been pretty fast.

Through it all, Shortall has been having a good time.

“Yes. Yes, and then some,” Shortall said when asked if he was adjusting quickly to his new position. “It's been good and it's been fun. Working with these guys has been simple and obviously you don't have to worry. The driver does a great job. The crew does a great job.”

Life has been a blur for Tony Pedregon's interim crew chief, Tony Shortall. Since he was given the last minute assignment of joining the two-time Funny Car world champion, the racing has been pretty fast.

Through it all, Shortall has been having a good time.

“Yes. Yes, and then some,” Shortall said when asked if he was adjusting quickly to his new position. “It's been good and it's been fun. Working with these guys has been simple and obviously you don't have to worry. The driver does a great job. The crew does a great job.”

Shortall’s assignment might be defined as temporary but two races into the swing he’s feeling right at home.

Are you starting to feel like you are home?

“It is,” Shortall pointed out. “I've been spending some time at the shop during the week. It's a nice easy fit.”

After two weeks of racing and one off week, Shortall feels far more comfortable this weekend then he did in Brainerd.

“Well, going to Brainerd just happened so quickly,” Shortall said. “It was just a matter of going there and going racing and talking about all the other things later. Coming here, definitely a little more time to prepare and use the runs that we've acquired and go back and look at some more data from previous in the year when Dickie was here. A little more comfortable.”

As for his status next year, that’s not really on the radar screen at this point.

“We're just talking about this race, that is where my focus is,” Shortall said. “Just as going into Brainerd, focusing on Brainerd and Reading the same way. Right now we're just looking at coming here, being competitive and trying to win.”

 

Advertisement