Tony Pedregon returned to Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Ca., following a
hospital visit in time to watch his brother Cruz drive to a runner-up
finish. His right hand was bandaged – the after affects of a serious
explosion that annihilated his Quaker State-sponsored Funny Car and
subjected the two-time and defending world champion to one of the worst
fires in drag racing history.
So intense was the fire Pedregon experienced that, on Motel6/ESPN2
video, the lower portion of his firesuit appeared burned away.
"A lot of times when something happens to your car, like when you drop
a cylinder, you feel it, and I would have reacted,” Pedregon said. “But
it blew up, and I had instant flames, like a flame-thrower in my face
and the scary part was I didn't know where I was. I hit the wall very
hard and I feel very lucky. I knew that my hands were burned and I knew
that I got beat up a little. When I got out of the car I thought, ' I
can't believe the car finally stopped and I'm going to get out of it.'
I got out of it slowly because I wanted to make sure the car was
completely stopped.