Tony Pedregon nearly chose a career in boxing.
 
He trained for months for his first bout, but his debut was postponed after his sparring partner opened a cut near his eye. So he informed his mother, "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is I'm not going to be a boxer. The bad news is I'm going drag racing."
 
With General Motors filing for bankruptcy in July and backing out of its agreement with Pedregon and several prominent Po Stock teams, the two-time NHRA Funny Car champion and current points leader is in a fight for his financial life.
 
Again, Pedregon has a good-news/bad-news situation.
 
The bad-news part is obvious.

Tony Pedregon nearly chose a career in boxing.
 
He trained for months for his first bout, but his debut was postponed after his sparring partner opened a cut near his eye. So he informed his mother, "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is I'm not going to be a boxer. The bad news is I'm going drag racing."
 
With General Motors filing for bankruptcy in July and backing out of its agreement with Pedregon and several prominent Po Stock teams, the two-time NHRA Funny Car champion and current points leader is in a fight for his financial life.
 
Again, Pedregon has a good-news/bad-news situation.
 
The bad-news part is obvious.
 
"I do believe (mine) was the only program going into this year with any level of support," Pedregon said. That amounted to vehicle support and what he called "a small monetary" investment. However, he said, "From last year to this year, it was substantially less." Certainly the 2010 season looks bleak, despite GM's announcement earlier this month that it plans to increase its advertising budget (though not necessarily in the racing industry).
 
"Without question, we're in survival mode," he said.
 
And what good news?
 
After all, Pedregon found himself scrambling to replace veteran crew chief Dickie Venables and proficient assistant crew chief Kurt Elliott days before the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn., in an apparent budget-cutting dispute.
 
Well, the independent team owner, who shares resources with reigning Funny Car champion and older brother Cruz Pedregon, does have positive news.
 
Although he has been unable to enjoy fully the points lead he regained at Sonoma, Tony Pedregon has taken command for the past three races. He has been to three of the past four final rounds, parlaying victories at Sonoma and Brainerd into a 35-14 elimination round-win record that boasts three victories and four runner-up finishes.
 
He has come from as far back as 13th place this year to challenge for his third series crown -- as the lone General Motors driver in the Funny Car's top 10.
 
Don Prudhomme's two-car Funny Car operation dissolved in 2004, when U.S. Tobacco shifted its sponorship to the team's Top Fuel side. With Del Worsham folding his family team to drive an Alan Johnson-owned Toyota, Tim Wilkerson switching to a Ford, and Cruz Pedregon moving to a Toyota, the GM contingent all but vanished.
 
Tony Pedregon said he stuck with GM for several reasons and said he doesn't anticipate any change for next year.
 
"I had an inventory of Impalas, and the Toyota support program was not where it's probably heading. And loyalty was part of it. We're measured by what we do on the track, but I think we're measured first by what we do off the track. You have to have some morals and ethics . . .  What's the word I'm looking for -- etiquette? I stuck with GM because they did a lot for me."
 
With the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals and the Countdown approaching, Pedregon has to strategize how to afford enough parts to finish the year and how he'll pay for an encore to his stellar 2009 performance.
 
Were he to win the $500,000 Full Throttle champion's purse, Pedregon knows that money would disappear quickly. So he has been searching for money as feverishly as he has the combination to keep Ron Capps and Ashley Force Hood and even his best friend, Bob Tasca III, at bay as the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals and the start of the Countdown approach.
 
Pedregon said he knows that "things take time to activate" but has been exploring every possible opportunity. That includes investigating Honda, he said, as well Roger Penske's latest acquisition, Saturn.
 
"We're on it!" Pedregon said with a laugh. "We've already inquired about Saturn," Pedregon said, "but Roger seems to have his hands full right now. That doesn't mean we won't circle back and inquire again when the timing is right."    
 
He said he doesn't know how long it will take to find the right partner.
 
"If it's a small program, I'm not interested," Pedregon said, explaining that he's not ready "to reload and start all over."
 
Pedregon, though dancing to stay off the ropes, said he wants the sport to be healthy with all manufacturers participating. At the moment, Ford -- with its Aug. 3 announcement of a multiyear agreement to become the "Official Car and Truck of the NHRA" -- has elevated its involvement in drag racing beyond safety technology and is gaining prominence once again.
 
Just as Tasca said that Ford welcomes the test from other automakers on the dragstrip, Pedregon said, "Competition is a good thing. We want all these companies (manufacturers) here (in drag racing)."
 
Pedregon wants to stay in the sport, too. He has knocked himself out to ensure that happens, and he has proved that he can withstand some staggering punches.
 
And maybe when this season is history, Tony Pedregon can say about it what Muhammad Ali said about the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical "Buck White" (in which he had a bit part): "It was pretty bad. But I was great."
 

Advertisement