Cruz Pedregon, by his standards, has had a bad year.

No, Pedregon has had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year, for anyone familiar with classic children’s literature. In that children’s tale of a similar name about Alexander and his bad day, the main character learns that bad things are going to happen, but when you’re surrounded by people that support you, you can still achieve your dreams.

That was Pedregon’s year in a nutshell, as the two-time world champion bounced back from a season of disappointments with one of his finest performances in years, producing a series of career-best runs en route to a win Sunday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals.

“I wanted to finish on a high note for all of the people that supported our team this year,” Pedregon said. “I was kind of embarrassed by how we’ve done this year. We really underachieved and never got on track. We never got in any kind of groove until this weekend.

“I’ve won some big races in my career. I won Indy three times. This race probably tops them all just considering where we came from and where we were today. This car is as good as the great McDonald’s ‘92 car that dethroned the great John Force. This is the best race car I have ever driven by a longshot. This weekend has just been surreal to me.”

Pedregon capped perhaps his most complete weekend ever with a run for the ages against newly crowned Funny Car champion Ron Capps.

Capps, who clinched the title when he staged the car in the final round, had his best run of eliminations, but could not match Pedregon who produced a career-best elapsed time and speed in earning his 39th career win and his first in more than a year at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Pedregon drove his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to a 3.839-second pass at 335.65 mph in collecting the win. Capps, who secured his second consecutive championship and third overall, had a 3.850 at 333.16 mph in the runner-up effort.

“It was very unique to go into the final round against a guy that is competing for a championship as long as he didn’t create a foul that would deduct points,” Pedregon said. “I did think about that. Before I put my helmet on, just for a second, I thought about it, but I realized I just need to run my own race and not get caught up in what he can and can’t do.

“On race day drivers cheat the light a little bit and try to enhance their reaction time. I rolled in a little bit against Capps because he is such a good driver and I didn’t want him to wipe the floor with me. For it to run an 83, and if you do the math it probably ran an 82, is pretty awesome in the final. I give everyone on this team credit. The guys knew they were up against a formidable opponent. That NAPA car is a good car and they were doing all they could to get that win.”

Capps came into the NHRA Finals second in the championship standings, more than two rounds behind Robert Hight. After two days of jockeying for position and bonus points during qualifying, including going from outside the field to No. 1 on Saturday, Capps was able to narrow that gap to less than two rounds entering eliminations on Sunday.

And when fellow championship contender Matt Hagan lost in round one to Steven Densham, and Hight lost in round two to Bob Tasca, it opened the door for Capps to earn a third career championship. When he staged the car and made a clean run in the final, it was finally decided in his favor.

“The Countdown was crazy. I feel so bad for Robert Hight. He’s such a great champion and for that team to win eight races and not win a championship, that is crazy. It just tells you the competition we have out here,” Capps said. “You talk about a rollercoaster of emotions to go from not getting any points, and even losing some, to waking up Saturday morning and Guido telling everybody it is going to be alright. And then to throw down low ET and gain all the points and put it under two rounds was huge.”

Capps also had championships in 2016 and 2021, but this year was extra special as it was his first as a team owner after many years with Don Schumacher Racing.

“I just didn’t think this was going to happen,” Capps said. “To win it and then go as a team owner as the number one car and beat that AAA car, who has had phenomenal success here at this track, it hasn’t even sunk in yet. So many people believed in us. It blows my mind.”

Pedregon, who advanced past the second round for only the second time this year, reached his first final round of the year with wins over Jason Rupert, John Force and Alexis DeJoria.

Rupert and Force both ran into trouble during their runs, Force in particular as he suffered a catastrophic failure when his engine let go, while DeJoria gave Pedregon a great race in the semifinals. But following four-consecutive 3.84-second passes in qualifying and three more tremendous runs on Sunday, Pedregon was easily able to advance to the final round. Pedregon had passes of 3.862, 3.876 and 3.864 during eliminations.

Pedregon places much of Sunday’s result on the decision to bring former crew chief Lee Beard back to the team to act in a consulting role alongside current crew chief John Collins. That decision, along with a complete overhaul of the motor program, led to a race for the ages for the veteran racer.

“This says a lot about this team. We added Lee to the team and I want to give J.C. and the team that I had that has been grinding with me for two years credit because what Lee brought to the table fit what we were already doing,” Pedregon said. “It was a decision we made back in Reading. I decided I wanted to change course and I called J.C. and said we need to change our program completely. To his credit, he was very receptive. We welcomed Lee with open arms. By Dallas we switched to the six-disc and then made a lot of little changes to the engine program.

“I am even amazed at how quick it came together because that normally doesn't happen. We are racing guys out here like Jimmy Prock and Guido that have been running at the top of the game for years and came out here and pretty much dominated. The four consecutive 3.84s were unprecedented, but I knew if we screwed this up and don’t win we are going to look like fools. The fact that we were able to close the deal today says something.”

Capps, behind the wheel of his NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, had wins over Jeff Arend, Tim WIlkerson and Bob Tasca.

Pedregon now enters the offseason riding the high of a stellar season finale. And while he would certainly love to continue this momentum at another race or two, he has bigger plans for where this team can go in 2023.

“Considering the year that we’ve had and the changes that we’ve made, I just think it was a perfect storm bringing in Lee and making those changes,” Pedregon said. “Sometimes the chips just fall the right way. What we had before was competitive, solid, but it wasn’t a difference maker. What we have now, there is another hen in the hen house for sure.

“I’m going to go into the offseason and try to build our inventory up and come out here next year and compete for a championship. I really do have a desire and I think I am young enough and still have the skillset to maybe win a third championship. That would put my career where I would like it to be.”