Two-time Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon, hit hard by the country's downward economic spiral and that of General Motors in particular, said in a Saturday interview with WFO Radio that he has some sponsorship help to continue racing and has a possible deal or two in the works to keep him competitive.
 
He also indicated that he hasn't completely let go of the problem he had with former boss John Force that erupted last Labor Day at Indianapolis. He also hinted that he isn't afraid to stand up for his opinions again.
 
Pedregon said he and two-time titlist brother Cruz Pedregon, who share a shop in Brownburg, Ind., are "trying to figure out how to survive, how to remain competitive. One thing Cruz and I have been able to do is win championships, be competitive, and be very efficient. We've been able to do a lot with very little, and you can only do that for so long. We can't even get close to outspending the John Force team and the Don Schumacher team and some of the other competitors we face."

Two-time Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon, hit hard by the country's downward economic spiral and that of General Motors in particular, said in a Saturday interview with WFO Radio that he has some sponsorship help to continue racing and has a possible deal or two in the works to keep him competitive.
 
He also indicated that he hasn't completely let go of the problem he had with former boss John Force that erupted last Labor Day at Indianapolis. He also hinted that he isn't afraid to stand up for his opinions again.
 
Pedregon said he and two-time titlist brother Cruz Pedregon, who share a shop in Brownburg, Ind., are "trying to figure out how to survive, how to remain competitive. One thing Cruz and I have been able to do is win championships, be competitive, and be very efficient. We've been able to do a lot with very little, and you can only do that for so long. We can't even get close to outspending the John Force team and the Don Schumacher team and some of the other competitors we face."
 
His one solace is his conviction that "money doesn't buy you everything." But he understand he needs it to thrive, and he took a positive approach.
 
Kenny Koretsky has sponsored Tony Pedregon with his Nitro Fish brand of apparel for three races this season, and Pedregon said Quaker State is going to be his primary sponsor for eight or nine more events with its Gumout and Slick 50 brands. (Meanwhile, Cruz Pedregon's primary sponsor.) - What does this mean?
 
"There's another company or two that we're working on . . . I would love to be able to announce something soon," he said.
 
"So there's some good things out there," Tony Pedregon said. "We're very persistent, very motivated to stay out here. You're never going to hear me complain about the economics. You hear it everyday on the news. Things seem to be stabilizing. It's still a great sport. It's a great product. There's still a lot of value here that companies are intrigued by, interested in. The glass is half full."
 
The aces that the Pedregons have in hand are their four series championships and their Hispanic heritage.
 
"We are Latinos. We have been able to leverage our ethnic background," Tony Pedregon said. "It's important to our sponsors. It's important to us. We do want to leverage our assets -- our experience, our championships, our background. We do want to tap into the Hispanic market. You look into the eyes of some of these people, and they really want to connect with you. [With] some of them, you might be the reason they're out here."
 
He defended his display of emotion at last year's U.S. Nationals, when he confronted former boss John Force at the top end of the track. Racing, he said, fundamentally is cars, machines, but what people connect with are the personalities, the charismatic drivers -- the ones, he said, "who stepped out of the box and let their true colors show."
 
Said Pedregon, "Our job is to leverage that and spin it in a positive way. It's about the drivers and their personalities, and we need more of that."
 
He did say he was a bit chagrined to learn that his 10-year-old daughter's teachers and classmates were discussing the Labor Day incident in school the next day. But he hinted that the public might see more of it from him, if he feels it's necessary.
 
"There's unsettled business," Pedregon said, "and if it rears its head again, we'll do it again."

The full interview is accessible at www.wforadioradio.com.