Cruz Pedregon, in the Snap-on Toyota, stunned a full house of boisterous drag racing fans at Maple Grove Raceway for the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals with a start to finish win over new Funny Car point leader Matt Hagan.

The win by Pedregon lessened the pain for all three of the Force Racing drivers who went out in the first round.

“We were flawless, with the exception of one round, and that is a credit to the team,” said Pedregon of his day. “Hagan had a little bit on everybody. I didn't think a 4.13 was going to win. We were going for broke because we thought that unless we could run a mid oh we knew this guy was going to send us packing. He must have had problems.”

Hagan did have some minor problems in the final round run. 

Cruz Pedregon, in the Snap-on Toyota, stunned a full house of boisterous drag racing fans at Maple Grove Raceway for the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals with a start to finish win over new Funny Car point leader Matt Hagan.

The win by Pedregon lessened the pain for all three of the Force Racing drivers who went out in the first round.

“We were flawless, with the exception of one round, and that is a credit to the team,” said Pedregon of his day. “Hagan had a little bit on everybody. I didn't think a 4.13 was going to win. We were going for broke because we thought that unless we could run a mid oh we knew this guy was going to send us packing. He must have had problems.”

Hagan did have some minor problems in the final round run.   

After he and Pedregon took off at the starting lights in the final, Hagan's DieHard Doge unexpectedly experienced tire shake. He quickly pedaled it in an attempt to regain traction, but was unable to recover in time, ceding the victory to Pedregon's 4.130/312.35 with a losing 4.242/301.13.

"There's nothing to complain about," said the 27-year-old Angus Cattle farmer from Christiansburg, Va. "I'm really, really proud of (crew chief) Tommy DeLago, (assistant crew chief) Glenn Huszar and the DieHard guys. They're doing a hell of a job out here. Everybody is handling the pressure well.

"I knew the conditions were getting pretty good out there and I thought we had it in the bag," he said of the final round. "But that's drag racing for you. We have a good race car. We went down the race track every single lap today except for the final, and that's just how it goes.

Even though Cruz is not one of the Countdown contenders his goal has been to influence the Countdown whenever he can.

“It's as satisfying as winning the race,” said Cruz when asked about his effects on the Countdown. “We're keeping score. My number one goal after Brainerd was to see how many points we can accumulate. I felt we had a car which could compete for a championship. I really feel like this is our mini championship.

“I told Matt and his dad, 'you guys are on the green, you just need to putt it in now.' “

Meeting Hagan in the final forced Pedregon to go for broke on the final run; not something he has wanted to do this year.

“It was everything but conservative,” admitted Pedregon of the final round run. “As good as Hagan was running; he made us push the issue.”

One positive of the Charlotte win and now this win is the doors they open.

“That is right,” agreed Pedregon about how winning attracts money, “(At the same time) we are not going to cry the blues. We have a good budget but not where we want to be. Winning is key. It has definitely opened up conversations.”

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