ENNIS, Texas — When Cruz Pedregon thinks about racing at the Texas Motorplex, one particular Funny Car shootout comes to mind.
He dials it back 20 years to his rookie season when he got on a roll and took out the circuit’s hottest nitro gunslinger at the time – John Force. As Pedregon prepares for round number two in the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship playoffs, the two-time world champion remembers his winning performance that day in the Lone Star State.
“Without question one win stands out and I’m smiling now, it really was my first win there in Dallas which was against John Force in the (1992) final,” Pedregon said. “The championship was on the line and you talk about pressure, man.”
That win was the last of a strong run of five consecutive victories for the young rookie driver that sealed his first world championship title, and in the process, stole it away at the last instant from Force, whose points lead was so large by mid-season his team went into test mode.
“I was under so much pressure there that I actually went on to relax,” Pedregon said. “I said, you know what, I’m going to go the other way. Then at the line we both smoked the tires and we ended up winning the round and it was a crazy race. They still play it on highlights; fans still talk about it 20 years later so that one stands out without question. But they are all important and they all mean a lot, but that one there sticks out.”
Pedregon, the defending winner of the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals, will be seeking more dramatic finishes this year as he comes into the event fifth in the points standings. Bob Vandergriff Jr. (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Michael Phillips (Pro Stock Motorcycle) join Pedregon as defending event winners. The Sept. 20-23 race, which also will showcase the weather-delayed Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Funny Car, will be televised on ESPN2HD.
Pedregon is a three-time winner at the Texas Motorplex, the sport’s first super track featuring an all-concrete racing surface, built by former Funny Car driver Billy Meyer. Last season Pedregon dominated the event from qualifying on through eliminations and his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry was incredibly quick despite the intense heat wave that hovered over the track the entire weekend.
“It means a lot, especially since we won there last year in really difficult conditions, extremely hot,” Pedregon said. “I love the Dallas fans, it feels like it is a second home for us and we really like running there. It is a challenging track when it is hot, any track is. Hot, cold, in between, we are going to be ready for it.”
Pedregon hasn’t added to his 29 career victories this season and is one of only two drivers in the Countdown Funny Car top 10 to not have won a race. However, he has showed flashes of brilliance with four No. 1 qualifying efforts, one runner-up finish and three semifinals. He hopes to get on a roll like he did in his 2008 title run.
“It depends on the weather, but I have always said this, the Snap-on Toyota runs very fast when it is hot, so me personally I’m hoping that it is on the warm side because the setup we used last year for it worked well, but again we can’t control that,” Pedregon said. “One of the challenges we’ve had this year is to really perfect all of the setups to run any kind of track, so I think we are close.”
Pedregon will be challenged by points leader Ron Capps, who won the playoff opener at Charlotte and Mike Neff, who moved to second in the standings with a Charlotte runner-up finish. Seven-time Motorplex winner and his ’92 nemesis Force will be in the hunt, as will Force’s 24-year-old daughter Courtney, who won her first race in only her 15th start in Seattle. Others to watch include Auto Club Ford driver Robert Hight, Jack Beckman, Tim Wilkerson, Johnny Gray and Jeff Arend.
In Top Fuel, five-time Motorplex winner Tony Schumacher holds the series lead in his U.S. Army dragster, but Charlotte winner Shawn Langdon has the momentum in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster. Texas natives and local fan favorites Spencer Massey, Steve Torrence and Brandon Bernstein are all in the Countdown and will be looking to score a hometown victory. Playoff top seed Antron Brown, Morgan Lucas, Doug Kalitta and defending winner Vandergriff are also among the pre-race favorites.
In the 200-mph Pro Stock class, Tennessee Mopar driver Allen Johnson continues to be at the top of the standings, but his lead is only three points over defending event winner Line. Charlotte top qualifier Vincent Nobile has emerged as a title threat, along with three-time season winner Erica Enders, from Houston. You can never count out past champs Greg Anderson, Mike Edwards and Jeg Coughlin.
Andrew Hines has the Countdown momentum in Pro Stock Motorcycle after winning the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals and the playoff opener in Charlotte. His Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson teammate Eddie Krawiec continues to lead the points standings after posting a runner-up finish at Charlotte. Together they have won all 11 bike races this season, with Krawiec taking six and Hines five. Other challengers in the two-wheel category are the Lucas Oil Buell team of Hector Arana Jr. and Hector Arana Sr., GEICO Suzuki rider Karen Stoffer and past world champs LE Tonglet and Matt Smith.
* SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 2 and 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22. Final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 23. Traxxas Nitro Shootout rounds are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22 at 12:45, 2:30 and 4 p.m.
* TICKETS: For tickets for the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals please call (800) MOTORPLEX (668-6775) or log on to www.texasmotorplex.com.
* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise 90 minutes qualifying coverage at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, Sept. 22, and three hours of eliminations coverage at 8:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Sept. 23.
* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals will feature competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series are born. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 10 a.m. on Sept. 20, and eliminations begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 21 and continue through Sept. 23.
* ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
AAA TEXAS NHRA FALL NATIONALS FACT SHEET
WHAT: 27th annual AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals, 19th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the second of six playoff races in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. The top 10 drivers in four categories - Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle - earn points leading to 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championships. The NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Funny Car also will be contested at this event. In 2012, NHRA is celebrating Nitro Generation, honoring all the generations of fans, drivers, and teams that have shared their passion for the sport and made NHRA the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body.
WHERE: Texas Motorplex, 7500 W. Hwy. 287, Ennis, Texas. Follow I-45 or I-35E to Hwy 287, then follow 287 to the track.
WHEN: Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 20-23.
SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY, Sept. 20 - LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying at 10 a.m.
FRIDAY, Sept. 21 - LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations at 8:30 a.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
SATURDAY, Sept. 22 - LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations begin at 8 a.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
TRAXXAS NITRO SHOOTOUT for Funny Car at 12:45 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
SUNDAY, Sept. 23 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10:15 a.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Saturday, Sept. 22, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise 90 minutes of qualifying highlights at 10:30 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, Sept. 23, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three hours of race eliminations at 8:30 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE (Digital HD feed):
Friday, Sept. 21, 9:30 - 10 p.m. (ET), AMC 9 / Transponder 19C
Saturday, Sept. 22, 7:30 - 8 p.m. (ET), AMC 9 / Transponder 19C
Sunday, Sept. 23, 7:30 - 8 p.m. (ET), AMC 9 / Transponder 19C
4080 MHz, horizontal; Data Rate: 40.461470554 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 29.27 Ms; FEC: ¾; Bandwidth: 36 Mhz)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners’ interviews on Sunday.
2011 EVENT WINNERS: Bob Vandergriff Jr., Top Fuel; Cruz Pedregon, Funny Car; Jason Line, Pro Stock; Michael Phillips, Pro Stock Motorcycle.
MOST VICTORIES: John Force, FC, 7; Tony Schumacher, TF, 5; Warren Johnson, PS, 5; Greg Anderson, PS, 4.
TRACK RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.784 seconds by Brandon Bernstein, Sept. ’10; 324.05 mph by Spencer Massey, Sept. ’11
Funny Car - 4.062 seconds by Matt Hagan, Sept. ’10; 309.63 mph by Jack Beckman, Sept. ’11
Pro Stock - 6.553 seconds by Jason Line, Sept. ’11; 211.20 mph by Allen Johnson, Sept. ’11
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.828 seconds by Hector Arana Jr., Sept. ’11; 197.22 mph by Michael Phillips, Sept. ’11
NATIONAL RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.735 sec. by Del Worsham, Oct. ’11, Reading, Pa.; 332.18 mph by Spencer Massey, April ’12, Charlotte, N.C.
Funny Car - 3.995 sec. by Matt Hagan, Sept. ’11, Charlotte, N.C.; 318.99 mph by Jack Beckman, Sept. ’11, Charlotte, N.C.
Pro Stock - 6.477 sec. by Jason Line, Oct. ’11, Reading, Pa.; 213.91 mph by Jason Line, April ’12, Charlotte, N.C.
PS Motorcycle - 6.750 sec. by Eddie Krawiec, March ’12, Gainesville, Fla.; 199.26 mph by Eddie Krawiec, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.
TICKETS: For tickets call (800) MOTORPLEX (668-6775). Tickets also are available at texasmotorplex.com.
NHRA FULL THROTTLE COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
GLENDORA, Calif. -- Point standings (top 10) following the first of six races in the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, NHRA's playoffs -
Top Fuel: 1. Tony Schumacher, 2,170; 2. Spencer Massey, 2,160; 3. Shawn Langdon, 2,151; 4. Antron Brown, 2,142; 5. Doug Kalitta, 2,105; 6. Morgan Lucas, 2,099; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 2,095; 8. Steve Torrence, 2,093; 9. Bob Vandergriff, 2,053; 10. David Grubnic, 2,043.
Funny Car: 1. Ron Capps, 2,230; 2. Mike Neff, 2,157; 3. Jack Beckman, 2,152; 4. Robert Hight, 2,113; 5. Cruz Pedregon, 2,087; 6. Johnny Gray, 2,081; 7. Courtney Force, 2,074; 8. John Force, 2,072; 9. (tie) Jeff Arend, 2,064; Tim Wilkerson, 2,064.
Pro Stock: 1. Allen Johnson, 2,209; 2. Jason Line, 2,206; 3. Vincent Nobile, 2,138; 4. Greg Anderson, 2,107; 5. (tie) Mike Edwards, 2,094; Erica Enders, 2,094; 7. Ron Krisher, 2,063; 8. Larry Morgan, 2,062; 9. V. Gaines, 2,052; 10. Jeg Coughlin, 2,031.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1. Eddie Krawiec, 2,215; 2. Andrew Hines, 2,205; 3. Hector Arana Jr, 2,151; 4. Hector Arana, 2,139; 5. Scotty Pollacheck, 2,092; 6. Karen Stoffer, 2,083; 7. Michael Ray, 2,074; 8. Shawn Gann, 2,062; 9. LE Tonglet, 2,061; 10. Matt Smith, 2,054.
