Cruz Pedregon wants to win the first-ever 1000-foot drag race.
Veteran Funny Car racer Cruz Pedregon has won 27 drag races and a world
championship at the conventional quarter-mile length. Now he'll try to
win the first ever contested to 1,000 feet at this weekend's Mile-High
NHRA Nationals.
"Winning this race would be gigantic for our Advance Auto Parts Toyota
Solara race team," Pedregon said. "Not because it's the first one to
1,000 feet, but because we want to win a race. I look at it this way;
someone is going to be holding a trophy up at about 5 p.m. Sunday night
and I want it to be us.
"I'm looking at this whole 1,000-foot thing as an interim deal. It
makes sense for a short-term fix but we're quarter-mile people all the
way. That's the way it needs to be and we'll get back to that as soon
as possible."
In response to the death of fellow Funny Car racer Scott Kalitta on
June 21st in Englishtown, N.J., NHRA officials have temporarily
shortened all races from 1,320 to 1,000 feet in an effort to curb top
speeds of 325-plus mph and provide racers with more shutdown area to
safely slow their racecars.