Tony Pedregon raced to his third Funny Car victory of the season Sunday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
Pedregon, who replaced longtime crew chief Dickie Venables with Tony Shortall earlier in the week, powered his Chevy Impala to a 4.149-second run at 295.59 mph to hold off championship challenger Ron Capps in the final. Capps’ Dodge Charger lost traction after the start and finished in 6.613 at 99.35. USA Today
“I’ve had a long and successful career,” said Pedregon. “I’ve been very fortunate to be able to drive for guys like Larry Minor and John Force. I’ve learned a lot from them, and I really felt that I’d been through everything, and I really didn’t anticipate this happening on such a short notice. Thursday I knew the reality and I didn’t really feel like I was in a panic. I’m very optimistic and I really believed that I had a good foundation to work with. I addressed my team when I showed up, and I told them that I really need them.
“I had all the information in front of me, and it was just a matter of putting the right people in the right places. There was a little bit of uncertainty, the fear of losing and wanting to win. I started to put things in perspective and I thought there is no need to panic. The first goal was to get here, put things in place, and I wanted to qualify. Once we qualified, I thought, well maybe we can go a round or two.” NHRA
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