Cruz Pedregon

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Cruz Pedregon has learned a lot of lessons early in his drag racing career.

Probably the most significant advice came indirectly from Don “The Snake” Prudhomme. Prudhomme gave Pedregon the advice that inspired him to pursue owning a team of his own.

When his driving gig folded in the late-1990s, Cruz, the middle of the three Pedregon brothers, immediately adapted to a color commentary position on the NHRA’s ESPN2 coverage. Working on the opposite side of the fence enabled Pedregon to learn even more about the sport he loved, but eventually the advice to “do your own thing” guided his footsteps towards the future.

He rejoined the Funny Car ranks in 2002, and confirmed his reemergence as a serious contender by taking another win over Force. Cruz later set the stage for his younger brother Tony to branch out on his own. The two pooled their resources and formed a two-car team with a difference. The strategy the brothers agreed to employ would keep the two teams working under the same roof, but with each maintaining separate identities.

Tony had just won the 2003 NHRA POWERade Funny Car championship, but he walked away from the John Force camp in order to make the Pedregon family dream come alive. This is exactly the vision Cruz had when passing the time on the sidelines as a color commentator. He knew a program such as the one he now retains with Advance Auto Parts was on the horizon if he just went after it, and he wanted brother Tony to be involved as well.

One has to wonder, did Pedregon ever find his groove announcing or did it make him uncomfortable?

“Well, I think I felt and looked out of place the first couple races, but I kind of felt like I was doing what I was asked to do and that’s to tell the story on the track, tell the behind the scenes what’s going on and really try to be honest,” said Pedregon. “Sometimes by being honest I’d offend some people, but I wasn’t taking shots at people. There was a story to be told and when I met with ESPN, one of the executives asked me if I could be honest and I assured them I could.

“They assured me there were going to be times when you’re gonna have to be honest about people and people take offense to that,” pedregon continued. “I remember Tony slapping the wall one time and I really laid into him, partly because I was a little disappointed. The other part because, hey, when a guy slaps the wall you can’t sit there and compliment him. A lot of people would say, ‘Oh what a great job.’ I have to tell it like it is. Towards the middle part of the year I thought I was getting to where I wished other announcers would have said, ‘You know what? I might not be the most popular guy here. but I’m going to tell it like it is.”

One the more vocal issues that Pedregon tackled during his tenure was the one of “team orders.” This was an issue that eventually united the brothers.

“I called it like I saw it and there were times - not only with one team - there were questionable team strategies and when it comes to nitro cars, they are difficult to make four runs in a row. To be honest about it, with today’s technology when you have a driver make three to four great qualifying runs and squeeze his way through the field and then he goes up against a team car and out of the clear, something happens like it smokes the tires, I question that and I let it be known.”

One has to wonder, did the layoff between the Joe Gibbs driving gig until his current program take away some of his hunger to be champion? Pedregon says absolutely not.

“I’ve been fortunate to be successful in just about everything I have done in life, whether it was in go-karts or diesel trucks,” he said. “I won championships in oval track and then I went into alcohol racing. The opportunity to drive a Top Fueler for Larry Minor presented itself and I gave Top Fuel a shot. That was really my rookie year. Everyone thinks the 1992 championship season was my first year.

“I felt strongly about our chances in 1992, and I think that provided me with somewhat of an edge,” pedregon continued. “It was incredible; we were able to take down the ‘great’ John Force. I was as big of a fan of his as there could be. I mean here’s this guy I watched race for years and I’m still a fan of his in a way. But, in another way, it was great to beat him and the accolades that came with winning and knocking of a guy who won the championship two times in a row made it an unforgettable experience. As a matter of fact, he had t-shirts made that said `91-92 championships and we came from behind and it was sort of a Cinderella season. Fast forward through the years I’ve been through and I’ve gone through what most people went through at the beginning of their career. They learn, they hone their skills, they make it after years of trying where I had it backwards I won at the beginning and I had to learn all the pitfalls of personnel issues.”

One of the things that Pedregon discovered about Force is that he was emotionally attached to being the champion. Of course there was the rumored tale of Force’s kid getting a Pedregon diecasts in her Happy Meal during the days of his McDonalds sponsorship. Of course Pedregon heard the rumors that Force smashed the toy.

“John was just fighting for what he thought was his and he thought he owned the championship and reality was that he didn’t and we did what it took we came from behind. It was quite a comeback. It was a strange year for us. I was taking over for Ed McCullough, who is a legend and I stepped in and we had gone through like three crew chiefs that year, so it was really an unheard of in a season today.

“You know…rookie driver, three crew chiefs, and still have the ability to go out and set the national record two or three times that year. John was fighting. You got to respect that. Down at the end, he rolled the car over at the World Finals here at Pomona. It was crazy. I just kept my nose to the grindstone and I didn’t get in any kind of a verbal war with him. I mean, who was I to talk anyway? I was a young guy and I had a car to do my job.”

In the end, it all came back to the Snake’s advice. When asked if he would have taken a driving gig for Force following the 1992 season, he held his ground.

“No…because I knew that was John’s operation,” Pedregon replied. “He built it, he worked and he caught on fire. I always thought I wanted to do that - I’d like to build my own team. My dad always said there are followers and there are leaders. I’m not a follower. That would’ve been a great compliment. I know John mentions other drivers a lot of the time about hiring. I’ve even heard him say he’d hire Whit Bazemore.

But, if you really work at it, it’s like Prudhomme had a famous line for a few drivers who had gone up to him and asked him for advice - he said, “You gotta do your own deal kid, it’s really as simple as that.”

“He means build your own deals, go out and beat Force. It motivates people. It’s like…how are you gonna beat Force if your driving for him?”