FRANK PEDREGON TO DRIVE FOR GILBERTSON IN VIRGINIA
Wed, 2006-10-11 12:17
When the Torco Racing Fuels
NHRA Nationals were rained out and re-scheduled for this weekend, nitro Funny
Car racer Bob Gilbertson had a big decision to make.
Gilbertson was scheduled to fly to Las Vegas with
his family for this weekend's U.S. Open of SuperCross to support his son Jake
and the rest of the Trick Tank Moto-X team at their biggest race of the year.
He desperately wanted to be there for his son but also had to be across the
country at Virginia Motorsports Park to race his Autolite XP Spark Plugs Funny
Car to fulfill sponsor commitments.
When the Torco Racing Fuels
NHRA Nationals were rained out and re-scheduled for this weekend, nitro Funny
Car racer Bob Gilbertson had a big decision to make.
Gilbertson was scheduled to fly to Las Vegas with
his family for this weekend's U.S. Open of SuperCross to support his son Jake
and the rest of the Trick Tank Moto-X team at their biggest race of the year.
He desperately wanted to be there for his son but also had to be across the
country at Virginia Motorsports Park to race his Autolite XP Spark Plugs Funny
Car to fulfill sponsor commitments.
After checking the rules about substitute drivers
and finding out that he could put another driver in the car, the search was on
for somebody to fill the seat allowing Gilbertson to go to Las Vegas for his
son.
A lot of names were put on the list and the
choice was made to put Frank Pedregon, who seemed to be a good fit with the team
and the sponsor and was willing to help Gilbertson out, in the car for the
weekend.
"I did a lot of soul searching the past few
days," Gilbertson said. "I've had plane tickets and hotel rooms for the
SuperCross since February and I didn't want to disappoint Jake so I made the
decision to let somebody else drive the car in Virginia. Family is more
important than drag racing any day and I want to be with my son more than I want
to drive the Funny Car. Three other drivers have been in my car during testing
the past year, J.R. Todd, Ron Capps and Del Worsham have all made laps in the
Autolite car and Frank will be the fourth. I'm confident that he'll do a good
job, he's a past champion and can get a car down the track under any situation.
It's the first time anybody but me has driven the car in competition so it will
be a little weird watching the ESPN TV coverage, hopefully he'll do well and
bring the car back in one piece."
Pedregon was surprised and excited when he got
the call Tuesday.
"I was stunned when I answered the phone and Bob
was on the other end asking me to drive his car," Pedregon added. "I haven't
driven in the past six months or so as I've been working on getting funding for
my own team for next year and this opportunity to drive, even for just one race,
will help keep my name out there. I'm very happy that he had the confidence in
me and my driving ability and picked me over all the other candidates for the
ride. Bob's got a good car and I'm sure his co-crew chiefs, Nicky (Boninfante)
and Tommy (Delago) will give me a car that I can do well in and hopefully go
some rounds."
You can bet that Gilbertson's cell phone will get
a workout this weekend as he juggles running both of his race teams on the same
day. Jake races in two different classes (65cc & 85cc) Sunday while at the
same time Pedregon will be wheeling the Autolite Dodge in eliminations,
hopefully both teams will score big to make this all worth while for
Gilbertson.
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