Tony Pedregon had every reason in the world to celebrate today. He had just won his third race of the season and second at the Texas Motorplex since 1999.
 

Pedregon defeated his brother Cruz in an all-Pedregon final round.

Pedregon admitted it was tough celebrating after witnessing his former employer John Force suffer a devastating crash in the second round of eliminations.

“Coming into this weekend, I felt like we had a missed opportunity in Memphis,” Pedregon said. “We came in here with pressure and I knew the clock was ticking. We didn’t really qualify as well as we would have liked. It really worked out for the best because I looked at the pairings and I felt like we had a great opportunity to make a move today.”

Pedregon didn’t make a move; he made a quantum leap from third to the lead with this victory.

“I knew a lot had to happen to make it all fall in place,” Pedregon said. “It’s hard to ask the competition to cooperate but things just fell into place.”

Tony Pedregon had every reason in the world to celebrate today. He had just won his third race of the season and second at the Texas Motorplex since 1999.
 

Pedregon defeated his brother Cruz in an all-Pedregon final round.

Pedregon admitted it was tough celebrating after witnessing his former employer John Force suffer a devastating crash in the second round of eliminations.

“Coming into this weekend, I felt like we had a missed opportunity in Memphis,” Pedregon said. “We came in here with pressure and I knew the clock was ticking. We didn’t really qualify as well as we would have liked. It really worked out for the best because I looked at the pairings and I felt like we had a great opportunity to make a move today.”

Pedregon didn’t make a move; he made a quantum leap from third to the lead with this victory.

“I knew a lot had to happen to make it all fall in place,” Pedregon said. “It’s hard to ask the competition to cooperate but things just fell into place.”

Pedregon said he had a front row seat to Force and Kenny Bernstein’s second round accident.

“I had just beaten Tommy Johnson, Jr. and felt we had a good race coming with Force in the semis. I was looking at the monitor and watched it happen. I have to admit it threw me back to childhood when my father used to tell me and Cruz about the wrecks and the cars getting cut in half.”

Pedregon said he ran over to the accident scene to offer assistance.

“I jumped over the fence and ran to offer some kind of help. There was no cockpit. That really scared me. All I wanted to know was that he was okay. Broken bones heal. I wasn’t concerned with anything else other than whether or not he was talking and if he was swearing … well, that was even better.”

Pedregon admitted watching the accident created a severe psychological obstacle for him.

“[Crew chief] Dickie [Venables] and I talked and I knew what I had to do to get myself mentally back in the game,” Pedregon said. “Dickie really capitalized in that semi-final round.”

Pedregon said the inconsistency of the car is sending a message.

“I’m thinking it’s time for a chassis change,” Pedregon said. “I’ve never had so many consecutive runs where we make a good one and I’m fighting it. Then I drop a cylinder and it gets out of the groove and stops. I don’t know if it is this race track or this car, but we are going to take a hard look going into the next race – not that we can afford to do that.”

When Cruz Pedregon won his first round match against Gary Scelzi, it was pointed out that he had assisted his brother’s championship aspirations.

“Forget Tony, this is about all of those people that have helped my team,” Cruz said after his victory. “Tony has been carrying me. We are equal and have similar budgets and under the same umbrella.”

It wasn’t long before Cruz entered the PC [politically correct] zone.

“That’s Rahn Tobler and Dickie Venables – two best friends. That’s what happens when you bring the right people on board. You know I’ve had guys, who uh … uh … let’s just say I’m glad to have Rahn Tobler.”