Past Mexican drag racing champion turned NHRA Pro Stock racer Fernando Cuadra has zero problem being labeled a dreamer, and with good reason - he is one. But one by one, those dreams are starting to come true.

The latest comes this weekend at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragster when a third Cuadra son enters the complex world of NHRA Pro Stock driving a new Mustang sponsored by the family's Corral Boots brand. David Cuadra will transition from the Top Sportsman division into the Camping World Drag Racing Series.

Months ago, while David was still learning the ropes, his father celebrated the family's inclusion in the Countdown to the Championship. In a significant milestone, one of the three drivers, Cristian, earned a berth organically, while Fernando Sr. and Jr. earned a spot with revised rules.

"The most important that we finished good and strong," Cuadra said. "I mean, we ended up racing each other, my son and myself; Fernando was running fairly good. Now, with all these changes, after we finish the season, you will see many changes [for 2023]."

Last season, the team made some changes, namely parking the elder Cuadra's green Mustang and sending it to what he described as "intensive therapy hospital" with tuning specialist Justin Elkes. Their cars are now cloned under the management of Elite Motorsports.

After a decade of getting his brains beat in figurately, with little return on investment, Cuadra finally saw a glimmer of hope last season.

"We were making good decisions," Cuadra said. "I stopped listening to other people because they tell you an advice with another intention, how to take your money or how to just distract from another guy. Just the decisions we made it was very wise decisions. Being teammates with Richard [Freeman] and Erica Enders, that's an extremely very good decision to be made. I mean, just to tell you, we were testing the new car from Christian, the Rick Jones car, the brand-spanking new one; they run with the racing engine within .001."

As Cuadra sees it, joining forces with Elite Performance was money well spent.

"I learned one thing: it is what it is," Cuadra said. "Pay the bills at the price that it is what it is. Don't try to save money, number one. Number two is to be open on technology and analyze the rounds. And the third, the people that are working [Mark] Ingersoll and the rest of the crew, even Erica, that is giving good advice on how to stage, what to do, what not to do, how not to be a distraction has been one of the major plusses.

"Money is one thing, but let me tell you, money doesn't fix all the other things. And with them, we have the full package: acknowledge information, learning, and performance."

Occasionally, Cuadra wonders, 'How will we top what we did last year?" As he sees it, improvement should come naturally, no matter how high they raised the bar.

"We got it much better organized. We got much better cars and the newest, latest updated technology," Cuadra explained. "So I don't see why we cannot step up and finish all three on the top 10. People say they want to win the championship. Well, we need to show respect to the other competitors, that's Erica, Aaron, Troy Coughlin, there is Greg Anderson. There are a lot of good competitors out there, but being on the top 10, challenging these guys that they have a lot of experience, that you tell me.

" And also, we have full-time support from Elite. So if something happens, we can go and test, and we need to change, we change. Engines, just to swap engines just with the snapshot. This guy is like, 'Okay, I don't like this engine. Put in a new one." Wow. So that's going to be a key."

While Cuadra has no reservations about dreaming, he dreams of how he will react when one of his sons or even himself wins a national event. It might not be far off the horizon as Cristian experienced a runner-up last season and reached the final quad in the Vegas NHRA 4Wide.

"My heart's going to be out of my chest," Cuadra said. "I can tell you that. And it is very emotional. When Cristian went to the finals and Fernando, it's very heavy and emotional. Now, with the management on details, we will be prepared for the emotional crying. I can tell you that, my wife and myself." And for the dreamer Cuadra, it will be part of the routine. You see, that's how dreamers roll.