Despite two NHRA POWERade Funny Car championships on his resume including last year's title, Chevy Funny Car driver Tony Pedregon has an elusive jewel missing from his crown - a victory at NHRA's premier race on the schedule, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. The driver of the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS looks to remedy that when teams invade O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis for the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals on Aug. 27-Sept. 1. The 43-year-old Pedregon was runner-up at Indy in 2001 and won the $100,000 U.S. Smokeless Showdown in 2003. With a win (Brainerd) and two semifinal appearances in the last four races, Pedregon is as confident as ever that this year he can add U.S. Nationals champion next to his name.

Recently, Chevrolet public relations specialist Jeff Romack spoke with Pedregon.

 

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Despite two NHRA POWERade Funny Car championships on his resume including last year's title, Chevy Funny Car driver Tony Pedregon has an elusive jewel missing from his crown - a victory at NHRA's premier race on the schedule, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. The driver of the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS looks to remedy that when teams invade O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis for the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals on Aug. 27-Sept. 1. The 43-year-old Pedregon was runner-up at Indy in 2001 and won the $100,000 U.S. Smokeless Showdown in 2003. With a win (Brainerd) and two semifinal appearances in the last four races, Pedregon is as confident as ever that this year he can add U.S. Nationals champion next to his name.

Recently, Chevrolet public relations specialist Jeff Romack spoke with Pedregon.

 

JEFF ROMACK  - Your thoughts on trying to get your first U.S. Nationals win this year.

TONY PEDREGON - "If you really break down what we actually do on the track, Indy should be just another race. However, because of the media attention and just so much more electricity, the schedule gets just as busy as if it were a race going down to the wire. It really is a bigger spectacle than anything that we do all year. If I could pick one race that I haven't won yet, I'd even give up some of my race wins to win Indy. It's just human nature to want to win the biggest event of the year, so that's something that's in the back of my mind. Going into it this year, I feel like my chances are as good if not better than they have ever been. I've been fortunate to be in some good cars in my career, and I just feel like this is as good of a chance as I've ever had."     

JR - Assess your season so far.

TP - "I think we've had an exceptional season if you take away the first four or five races. With the exception of Gainesville (win), we had a lot of first-round losses early.  We were going through a little transition with the increase in the fuel percentage, and it just took us awhile to get up and running. But you take the last couple of months and we've probably accumulated as many points as anyone.*** And Wilkerson, while we weren't at our best, he was racking up points and I think that's why you see the big points difference. But we've made up a lot of ground in the last six or seven races; I know the last few we've got a couple of wins and a couple of semifinal finishes. The goal for us is really going to be to minimize those early-round losses and I think that's going to be the key to success." [Editor's Note - Since his victory at Chicago in June, Tony Pedregon has the most round wins (18) of any driver in the Funny Car category.] 

JR - You won at Chicago after crashing in the final qualifying session on Saturday. Was that a turning point to the season?

TP - "Winning at Chicago really did a couple of things. We never had a low morale, but I think we really proved to ourselves that we have the capability of taking an adverse situation and making something good come of it. On that run where we burned up the car on Saturday, our incremental numbers were better than anyone's. We were actually racing Melanie (Troxel), and she set the quick time, and we were a couple of hundredths quicker than she was. 

"The end result was we had to replace a chassis and roll a new body out, but I've been in this business a long time and experienced the ups and downs. What it really proved was that we were on the right track that we thought we were; we just weren't getting the results that we were expecting. At that point it was just ironic that we had a wrecked car, we were able to rebuild a new car and win the race. Really at that point, mentally, for myself, Dickie (Venables, crew chief) and our team, that was pretty gratifying knowing that with all the work we were doing, we were heading in the right direction. Sometimes you don't want to second-guess yourself, but I have to, I have to constantly just to assure ourselves that we are preparing to really try and peak at the right time. I think that kind of confirmed that we were."

JR - With four wins this year, you now have multiple wins in an impressive 11 of your 13 full-time seasons.

TP - "I'm only as good as the people I surround myself with and the companies that we are partnered up with. I was joking with Dan Engel (GM Drag Racing Program Manager) that I can honestly say that GM, Chevrolet in particular, really saved me from purgatory. I know the challenge for every team this year was the fact that when the economy tightens up, we feel the direct effect of that. When you take a race like Pomona where we had heavy damage to the body - the body was a write-off and became an eBay item - and then you take Chicago, the one thing that I've been keeping in mind is going into this Countdown we're going to have to have depth. 

"When you get into the playoffs, that's when you really want to peak, and I'm only as good as the companies that I'm involved with, and not just from a financial standpoint. Some of the things we've tested we still haven't seen the results on the technical side, but we're always looking at safety. Just being able to have access to the technology that GM has provided has been a great partnership. Every company is just so essential, like GM, Quaker State, Snap-on, and the end result is we have the best equipment. But we've got good talent, too, and I've built a relationship with the crew chief, and I think one component that is very much underestimated is chemistry.  We've been able to maintain that and it takes work. It's quite an accomplishment for me to be able to go head to head with Force and Schumacher. We've been able to beat them on a regular basis and our goal is to continue to do that, but we certainly can't forget about Wilkerson. It's going to be competitive, but I do believe there are going to be some of those little details that make the difference and experience will be one of them. We're hoping to go into the Countdown with a little advantage."

JR - With testing being put on hold, do you think crew chief Dickie Venable's experience plays an even bigger part this time of year?

TP - "Without question. I felt that this year should be better than last year. We want the same result, an NHRA POWERade championship, and already we're on pace with what we won last year and we haven't even entered the Countdown. Dickie has more experience and he continues to evolve and accumulate information. I feel as comfortable and as confident as ever. I really believe we should be able to win more races and overall, my expectations were for us to finish the season a little bit better this year. That means going back to those last couple of races; Vegas was great, but I think going into Pomona we left quite a bit on the table and still came away with the championship. We're not looking at one or two specific teams. Our goal is to qualify the best position we can, be consistent and be solid on Sunday. All the other things, they come to us. That's something that can distract some other drivers with less experience. I've just learned in my career that being steady works for me and that's my approach as a driver and that's Dickie's approach as a tuner."

JR - Did you realize your win at Brainerd made you one of only two drivers (John Force) with 40 career Funny Car wins?

TP - "No, I rarely look at statistics. Most of the time I'm reminded after they happen, which is the way I prefer it. It's a lot of work, but the getaway for me has become the getting in the car. There's a lot of pressure, there are a lot of responsibilities, but I really enjoy working with my team and I enjoy working with our corporate partners. It puts a smile on my face when I find out after. Some of those things I'd like to look back on at the end of my career, but I don't feel like it's time to do that yet. I wake up in the morning and I try to figure out how I'm going to win today, not looking back at how I did it. How you did it then doesn't work for next week."

JR - How do you feel your team is positioned as we head into the Countdown?  

TP - "We're on track to being about as close to where we want to be heading into the Countdown. It doesn't bother me not to be on the pole position. Those 10 points are going to be pretty valuable, but we're excited that we're going to take what is now about a 125-point deficit and turn that into a potential 10- or 20-point deficit. If we can stay second, that will be great. If we can have a 10-point advantage over (third-place) Robert (Hight), that's going to work in our favor. Our goal at the beginning of the year was we wanted to be in the top three. If we can maintain this second position, that's going to put us in a very good position to start right after Indy. 

"I like the Countdown. I liked it last year, but even if you give last year the same format that we have this year, we still come away with the championship because those last six races we accumulated more points than anyone. I still think we can do it a little bit better than we did last year. We know that the competition is there, but I feel as good as I ever have to win some more races."

JR - It looks like both you and your brother, Cruz, are going to qualify for the Countdown. 

TP - "I think a lot of people can relate to the fact that I have a good relationship with my brother. We share a facility and we're brothers, but we're independent teams and we do challenge each other. I think people can relate to that, and at some point we're probably going to have to deal with Cruz, too.  But that's what this sport was built on; it's built on competition. And the sport has evolved to where it really reaches out more to that family-based audience. I think there are a lot of good things because of that.

"Unfortunately, my dad passed away when I was 16, but because of that it's been very, very important for me to continue that legacy. I have kids of my own, so I want to stay safe and still entertain our audience. We want them to buy in to what we're doing. We've also got a big Hispanic following, and that's very touching and very motivating to me. That's why I wake up early and why I can't sleep very well because I feel like this is an important time of my career where I want to win races, but I also want to be a good influence on those that follow the sport, knows our background and follows our heritage. It's a great sport. People forget, when you peel away the layers of our competitiveness, at the core of all of that is a big drag racing fan."