The following excerpts are an interview with Top Fuel points leader Tony Schumacher, Funny Car points leader Courtney Force and most recent Funny Car event winner Cruz Pedregon. All three discussed their seasons to date and the upcoming Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals fueled by Full Throttle at zMAX Dragway April 19-21.
THE MODERATOR: We'll get started today with our call. The 2013 season is four races into a 24-race schedule, and we've had some great racing so far to date. During the course of our call, we'll be joined by three racers that have enjoyed success thus far in the season: Top Fuel racer Tony Schumacher, then later Funny Car racers Courtney Force and Cruz Pedregon.
We'll start the call today with seven-time Top Fuel world champion and current points leader in Top Fuel Tony Schumacher. Tony has powered his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster to two wins this season at the events in Phoenix and Las Vegas. His two wins lead the category, and it marks the 90th time he's led the points following an event. Tony, thanks for joining us. Talk about your weekend in Las Vegas. You said after the event you may not have had the best car all weekend, but you were able to grind out that victory. How important is a win like that going forward to a championship hopefully?
TONY SCHUMACHER: You know, it's very important as a team and just in general to morale. When you're running really, really good, expecting to win on any given Sunday, it's exciting. But we came into that race, we were running good, but we weren't running amazing. We weren't hundredths of a second ahead of anybody. We qualified third. I think what really helped, and I mentioned it before, is that first run when other cars ran 3.81, you kind of go, “Man, .85, what's wrong with this car?” But what (crew chief) Mike Green and (assistant crew chief) Neal (Strausbaugh) learned from that run helped them win the race. They could run their car all day. The data they got from that run allowed them to do that.
Conditions changed throughout the day. The changes that Mike would make would repeat. I've been kind of saying it all year long: We have this tune-up now where we can make a change, and the car's performance will reflect change. That was a perfect race to show it. Cars were going out there, you ran a 3.81 first round, but how do you back it down? They went out second round and smoked the tires. We went right down the racetrack because we had the car and tune-up right for that situation.
Q: Have you had a car like that in the past where you can make small changes here or there and it reacts so quickly and so noticeably during the course of the event, qualifying and all the way through eliminations?
TONY SCHUMACHER: Not as good as what we have right now. I really think we have something very special. So do Mike and Neal. They come in there, and they smile. It's a relaxed atmosphere because of it. It's not, “Here is what I did, turned the knobs, not exactly sure what it's going to do.” They say, “All right, calm, cool”; it's all they have to do. I know what they put into the car; it's going to take it. It doesn't mean it's going to go out and run the quickest on that particular run, but it's going down the racetrack. When you get in a car as a driver, it was tough. Every car in front of me smoked the tires. I'm thinking, “Is my car going to do that when every other car did it?” It went right down the racetrack. That is an incredible confidence boost.
Q: When you came on the call, the moderator asked you how you were doing. You said, “Living the dream.” You didn't waste a second in saying that. What does living the dream mean to you? What should it mean for others? How would others be able to get that dream also?
TONY SCHUMACHER: That's a fantastic question. You guys do understand that I do hundreds of speeches a year to kids, high school kids, college, vocational schools, Army soldiers, people in corporations. I like to start and say, “I'm a gifted driver.” They all laugh. Sounds cocky, but it's not what you're thinking. I mean, it's a gift to drive a race car, only because it's what I want to do. May not be a gift for someone else terrified of going fast. But it's what I wanted to do as a kid. Living the dream, that means I chose my job, and I'm very fortunate to have actually gotten to do it. When I speak to the youth, I always say, “Spend some time every day, every week, thinking of what you really want to do. If you won the lottery tomorrow, had all the money in the world, what would you do anyways?” I would race a race car. That's a gift. That's living the dream because it's what I enjoy. It shows in the results, shows in the smile on my face all the time, and it's a very easy-to-answer question. When someone says, “How you doing?” Living the dream. “How do you feel?” I feel like a champ. It's phenomenal to be able to do what I've wanted to do since I was a young kid, to be able to do that. Our youth, I try to steer them from waking up when they're 30 years old, looking in the help-wanted ads for what jobs are left. From all those people that went out and chose their job, worked in school, got the jobs they wanted, you're going to get what's left if you don't go out there and work at it. That's a key for us. We're what they call centers of influence; we're adults. We influence the youth. It's our job to help them, guide them. It's what we do when we bring out, the Army brings out, thousands of kids to each race. Look, you don't have to join the Army, but choose a job. NHRA has 4,000 jobs at every race, and we show them. It doesn't just take a driver. Heck, I can't even start my own car. It takes nine guys. What's the use of starting your car if there are no TV crews around to show you what you've done? Spend some time thinking about what you want, what's going to make you smile every day. You could have a terrible job that pays all and not be happy with life. I'm in a fortunate job that I absolutely love doing every day.
Q: How do you think your attitude transfers over to your team?
TONY SCHUMACHER: I think they love it. It's not that my attitude transfers over to them. Theirs transfers to me, too. We have a very good team. We have a group of guys that understand you can't win every race, but you have to be there and give your best. If you walk away knowing you put in 100 percent. Great example: I talk to the kids, I say, “How many of you have a test?” They all put their hands up because they're in high school. “How many of you studied so hard because you were going to get an A?” They all laugh and put their hands down. I understand that because I was that way, too. We all think growing up, “I'll get an A next time; I'm going to try really hard next time, really put an effort out next time.” Then school ends, and there's no next time.
What day are you going to change so when you get in your race car or job, you figured out how to bring an A-plus game? Because the guy I'm racing, Antron Brown, he's not showing up with a B-plus. He's studying, working out, eating healthy, he's doing whatever he can to beat me. And I understand that because that's his job. I can't show up with anything less than 100 percent, and my guys can't either. It takes all of us with that attitude to go out and win those races and championships.
Q: Tony, I had the opportunity to watch you start a new program with Oakley. I was wondering how that is going.
TONY SCHUMACHER: It's going well. It's an important program. Anyone that's ever dealt with Oakley Corp. knows they do it right. As a matter of fact, I'm wearing the shirt and the hat right now as we speak. Just happens to be cool, and I like it. I've been driving for the Army for 13 years. I've met some of the greatest people out there. It's so nice to see a big company, not only a big company, but a big company with really awesome marketing people, the guys that work there get behind the military and a program like that. That's great. Were you at Pomona (Calif.) last year, the World Finals?
Q: I was accompanied by my brother, a retired Air Force colonel. You impressed him with the things you said. I believe there was a sergeant in the Army that spoke at that, too. That was just incredible.
TONY SCHUMACHER: It's amazing. I get to drive the Army car, and I point this out, the recruiting effort is for the Army, but the best part of that U.S. Army car is the “U.S.” before the “Army.” It's the United States. I don't drive for the tool companies and the beer companies; it's for the United States, all the branches. I've been blessed to go to Afghanistan, fly there in a U.S. Air Force plane. I've gotten to surround myself with all the branches. Yes, I drive for the Army, but they all understand it's all of 'em, all the branches, all the people that have served, will serve and are serving now. Amazing group. I'm living the dream.
Q: As exciting as it is to be in Top Fuel right now, and arguably it is one of the most competitive groups of fuel cars in the history of NHRA, how do you feel about being able to compete at this time with this group of racers?
TONY SCHUMACHER: I feel old (laughter). You look around, man, I was the young guy not that long ago. They're good. They're a great group of people. I think I said it at the last press conference. There haven’t been too many silly seasons in the last couple years. In other words, come Indy, when we normally frantically are moving crew chiefs around and drivers, it's been consistent. Because of that, the racing's gotten tighter and better. The teams have stayed together; they build bonds. The performance — now would be the ultimate time to be an NHRA Top Fuel, Funny Car fan, and Pro Stock has always been that way. Very, very tight. It's incredible racing. You don't know who is going to win a race when you show up. Used to be one, two, that guy has kind of a shot if that car doesn't start. It's not like that. You show up there, first round is difficult, first round. And I think that that makes our team better. I've always said that we are a high-pressure team. We've won championships through the years under pressure. The funny thing is the seasons where I've had to start outrunning against (Doug) Kalitta, first round Sunday morning at Pomona, at the Winternationals, I've always performed better that year because from the first push of the pedal, we had to be great. For whatever reason, our team is good; we're great at that moment. Even getting beat last year in the Finals, if you had me run (Brandon) Bernstein 10 times, I would give you a .40 light and run low e.t. in the weekend and win. He beat me. I don't remember what he had, a .20 light or something like that. Not only are you going to win, I'll go over, shake your hand, tell you you whooped me. I'm not going to give you that. I'm going to do you my best and bring you what textbook would win most of those races. Put the pressure on like that, like we have more often than not, and we're going to win races.
Q: What unique pressures do the Four-Wide Nationals bring and challenges as a driver?
TONY SCHUMACHER: Well, if you don't leave first, they're really loud. When you have a car on each side, you feel like the sky's falling on you. It's intense. It's an incredible amount of pressure. First of all, I haven't won that race in Atlanta. Now they've added Epping (N.H). We won Charlotte (N.C), the first ever. Not the Four-Wide. I want to put that on the list. Always we'll find a way to add pressure to a situation. I just think I perform better that way, and I enjoy it. Who wants to show up and race an average race? No one dreams of an average football game, a blowout baseball game. You dream that it's tied in big moments. That's what we at NHRA have. Every time you stage a car, it's a big moment. You lose, you go home. There's no mulligan. No, “No, let's do that one again.” It's not there. It's wicked pressure. Our team is very good at that. We enjoy that moment. Last year, I'm not kidding, we were going into that final run. I had joked while Antron and I were doing the Track Walk in Pomona last year, he was standing next to me, I said, “We all know what's going to happen, dude: You're going to smoke the tires first round, and I'm going to have to win the race.” He said, “Why is that?” I said, “Because it happens all the time.” I've seen Titanic 500 times, and, guess what, the boat always hits the iceberg. Movies are always the same. I swear, when he smoked his tires, my guys were laughing. Are you kidding me? I was just joking, but wow. We got put in that position again to have to win round after round and very close races, very intense. Three more rounds in front of you where you’ve got to go out and do this job. But my guys laughed through it, smiled, were comfortable. This is when we're the best, when we have to go out and do it. We have to go out and perform. Again, a .40 light, low e.t. wins most races.
Q: Tony, a little while ago, you talked about the wonderful adjustability of the car. Could you get more specific about what you've been able to adjust?
TONY SCHUMACHER: Well, that's a great question. It's obviously a combination between a lot of different things. I think a lot of times, it's clutch discs. We know how to make a car make power and take away power. Most teams know how to do that. You end up getting a series of discs, a combination, where one's not working. You don't know if you should put a used one in. My guys just have found a good thing. Now, that being said, the tune-up they have is phenomenal right now. The power level is outstanding, as many of them are. I would be willing to bet Alan Johnson's power is right there with us, if not more. Alan Johnson knows how to make horsepower. So we found something that is better than his. Without being able to walk over and look at theirs, all I can tell you is our adjustability is as good as it ever has been. From testing in West Palm (Florida) at the beginning of the year, we were making changes. The first thing they said is, “When I make a change, the car responds to it.” Whether it's good or bad, sometimes you make changes, and it does nothing. That's when you go, “Wow, this is not good because we don't know how to back a car down because we don't know what the car is telling us it wants.” If you asked Mike Green, he'd probably give you a different answer. I guarantee you it's a smarter answer because he understands what he's tuning. I just know what I'm hearing. The guys have an amazing clutch program, blower program, overall fuel program. It's working well. It's working well enough where we can put different pieces on the car at different times and actually try it and go, “Wow, that piece worked or didn't work” because we don't have to start second-guessing the tune-up. That's probably the most difficult thing in the world, when you get a crew chief or a crew who wants to test something, but they're not sure if the change made the change or if it was a random act of them not knowing what happened. It's out there a lot. Then you’ve got to throw a driver into that equation. The driver can't stage the car consistent, put the car where it needs to be. Very hard for them to figure out if their tune-up's working at all.
THE MODERATOR: Tony, you talked about Charlotte. We've seen some incredible speeds there, times and speeds, both at the fall race and the spring race. What is it about that track where we're seeing such good performance numbers out of Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock?
TONY SCHUMACHER: The last race we ran 330 miles an hour, the conditions were just perfect. That's simply put. You can't run speeds like that. We haven't previous to that; we haven't since then, if I recall. It was just amazing air. When you have killer air — I love explaining to the youth of America because they're starting to work on their cars for the first time — when you have air, if you picture a shoebox full of Ping-Pong balls, each one is a molecule of oxygen. If it's hot out, they get antsy and move around. If it's cool, they snuggle. If there's more air, you can add more fuel and make a car go fast. Making a Top Fuel car go fast means massive air and massive fuel volume. The more you can make on it, the more horsepower you're going to make. We had the combination there with the air, the water grains were correct, the air density was correct, the atmospheric pressure was correct, we were going fast. Then you better have a good racetrack. If you're going to try to run 8,000 or 10,000 horsepower down the track, the material that Bruton Smith, in this case, uses on that racetrack better be good. Now you have too much power, and you don't have enough track to sustain the horsepower hitting it. We just had the right combination, and we went fast, and I guarantee we're going to go fast then.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Tony. That will conclude our portion with you today. We will see you in Charlotte.
TONY SCHUMACHER: Sounds great.
THE MODERATOR: Next up we have current points leader in Funny Car and driver of the Traxxas Ford Mustang Courtney Force. She holds the lead on the strength of one win at the season opener in Pomona and a runner-up finish at the recently completed race in Las Vegas. First of all, Courtney, thank you very much for joining us this afternoon.
COURTNEY FORCE: Sure. Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: Courtney, in your second season of Funny Car racing, is this where you thought you would see yourself, leading the points four races deep in the season?
COURTNEY FORCE: No, not really. It's still pretty surreal to me. I mean, just the fact I have the opportunity to race a 300-mile-per-hour car, have such amazing sponsors backing me, I'm very appreciative, I'm very lucky. I'm still learning as a driver. Only 13 or 14 (points) in the points lead right now. I think it's great. We've done it twice this season so far. It's only the fourth race in. But to say we've already picked up a win in Pomona, taking the points lead back in Vegas, going to the final round, I'm very proud of my team and what we've accomplished so far this season. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how we progress and hopefully continue the success throughout the year.
THE MODERATOR: You talked about your second season. By no stretch are these cars easy to drive. But is it getting easier each time down the track? Are things slowing down within the car for you?
COURTNEY FORCE: Yeah, definitely. I mean, my dad [John Force] always told me the more and more seat time you get, the better you're going to be at driving. The more passes I get to make down the track, I'm definitely learning something new every time. I don't think that will ever go away. I still make mistakes as a driver, but I try to do the best I can to fix it immediately on the next pass because you don't want to lose a run for your team when they put a great race car for you.
I do the best I can driving this car, and I'm very fortunate that I have such an amazing group of guys working on my race car. They're very good at their job. I have Ron Douglas and Dan Hood that do an amazing job tuning my car. We were I think one of the most consistent cars out there last season. I think we've done a good job so far this year to kind of continue that rhythm.
So I'm definitely looking forward to it, but more and more seat time, I think the better and the easier it will get. But, you know what, I learn something new every time. So I’ve just got to keep making passes, and hopefully I'll improve.
Q: Courtney, starting out at the beginning of the season, you had the luxury of bringing momentum to the next race. Do you believe in momentum? What does winning and good results do for you and your team?
COURTNEY FORCE: Well, it's definitely a feel-good thing for a driver and a team, you know, when you start out at the first race of the season, and you're leaving there with the trophy and the points lead. It's definitely a good feeling. But when we went into Phoenix, it didn't really continue the rhythm like we had hoped. I think I went out first round there. I mean, it's always good to have rhythm. But every track is different. You have to tune it different. You have to learn how to drive on the tracks different. I just think that you hope that the rhythm continues, but I think it's more of the positive attitude and going into the next race with your head held high, just trying to do better than the next time.
Q: The good results you get, does that put a little extra bounce in your step with your team?
COURTNEY FORCE: Yeah, it definitely does. Once we get a win, we all kind of look at each other, high-five, congratulate each other on the success of the weekend. I always say, it starts all over next weekend. We could be No. 1 qualifier in Pomona, next race not even get qualified. It's different at every event. You never know what to expect. You don't want to go out there thinking you're the best because it's not going to get you anywhere. You have to start from the bottom and work just as hard at every race.
Q: Courtney, can you explain the difference between yourself now and what you saw in yourself last year as you went through being a rookie?
COURTNEY FORCE: Well, last year I was really focused on just the basics of driving. You're still just trying to get down the routine of everything in the car and not screw up, just to be able to remember all the things you have to do at the starting line, the Christmas tree, how to keep your car straight, trying to back up, do the burnout. It's all those little things you're learning about in the first year. I've noticed it's come a little more naturally the second time around this year. I was looking back, it was kind of funny, I kind of took notes at every event last year. Every single round, I was writing down on my computer, in a notebook, what the pass felt like, what the car was doing, what I was feeling, what was going through my head. It kind of made me laugh when I looked back at it. I was like, “Why did I write this down? It wouldn't help me at all.” It was funny how I wrote down all these details, and it comes a lot more naturally now.
I definitely thought that was cool to look back at and realize that I have come a long way since last year, and I've definitely learned a lot more just through all the seat time, the passes, just working with my team. It's great to have a group of guys that are honest with you and can tell you if you screw up a little bit; they can tell you how to fix it. Yeah, I mean, I think I've improved a little bit as a driver, but I've definitely learned a lot.
Q: Courtney, you had a really, really good year your freshman year, winning rookie of the year, winning some races. We've seen it time and time again in the history of NHRA where in your sophomore year, you stumble a little bit. You've come out swinging for the fences and have hit some homers. What kind of confidence does that give you going into the rest of the season?
COURTNEY FORCE: Everyone started telling me about the sophomore slump. I don't know why, but I didn't know about it. Then I started kind of thinking about it. It was getting in my head after doing all these interviews, everyone is going, “Going into your second year, you think you're going to have a sophomore slump?” Wait, I didn't know about that. I hope not. It felt good to get a win right off the bat at the first race. You know what, it's not just me as a driver, it's really my team behind me. They do such a great job keeping the car consistent. Ron Douglas knows how to tune this car in a lot of different conditions. I'm very lucky as a driver. If you have a consistent car, you can learn a lot more, make more passes, learn as a driver. It's definitely a good feeling to come out and be in the points lead only the fourth race in. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season. I really am trying to push hard to not say, “We had a good year last year, just not try as hard this year.” I'm definitely working twice as hard because I think we've got a good team, I think we have a lot of potential. I'm excited for this season. I mean, so far, we've done great. We've made it to a final round just this last weekend in Vegas. Although there might be a few races you stumble a little bit, but as long as you can kind of pick yourselves up, work even harder the next time, I think we'll be OK.
Q: There was something you said that brought to me, all of this time that you spend, you've also had an extra situation in that you seem to do a lot of help with your sister (Brittany, Top Fuel rookie). How does that work with you? Do you think it makes you feel better also as a Funny Car driver?
COURTNEY FORCE: Well, it's definitely a lot of fun to have my sister out here. Last season, it was all about driving out to the track with my dad and him teaching me everything from the morning till the nighttime. I mean, he was just going on and on with advice. It was a little overwhelming in my first season. But Dad means well.
It's kind of cool to have my sister out here, although she's in a different category, she's in a Top Fuel dragster, and I'm in the Funny Car. It's still kind of cool she's been able to come to me for advice, and I've been able to talk to her. I try not to shove it down her throat and throw a bunch of advice at her because I know how overwhelming it can be the first year out. You don't need to hear someone telling you about all the little things to make it a perfect run; you just want to get it down there. It's been kind of cool. She's come to me for advice, asked me for different ways of staging. I go to my dad still about advice for pedaling. It's kind of cool we all get to work together as a family. Even though Dad drives us a little crazy sometimes, he still makes it fun out there. I think that's kind of the coolest part. The three of us get to be out there racing. My mom and my sister Ashley are always out there supporting us.
THE MODERATOR: Courtney, talk about going into Charlotte, the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. It's such a sensory overload for the fans, extreme thing to see, incredible sight to see. What is it like for you as a driver, and what is your mindset going into this event?
COURTNEY FORCE: I'm excited. Obviously, the Four-Wide is one of the very unique tracks on the circuit. It's the only one that's obviously four lanes of drivers competing and about 40,000 horsepower at one time. It's a little bit overwhelming for a driver. I was definitely new to it. I keep talking to Brittany about it going in. So I'm a little nervous for her. There's so much excitement. There's so much horsepower. It's so much louder at this racetrack with four lanes.
I'm excited going into it. I love that it's unique. I love that it's different. It definitely makes it cool for the fans, and it definitely is fun to put on a great show for them. I'm excited. Bruton Smith built “the Bellagio of drag strips” out here. It's always a fun track. Although it's going to be nerve-wracking because there's so much going on, so many other cars, lanes to focus on, the Christmas tree to really kind of relearn at this track, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a challenge, but that's what I like about it.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Courtney. Through the years, we've seen the Force vs. Pedregon, such great battles out there on the track with Cruz (Pedregon), Tony (Pedregon) and John (Force), and now Courtney getting in on it. Courtney, for you, you were on the losing side of it. Do you think it was kind of neat for the fans to see a Cruz Pedregon/Force battle with a newer member of the Force clan?
COURTNEY FORCE: Yeah, definitely. It's always fun getting to race the Pedregons. I grew up watching my dad race them. I'm sure it was as exciting for them as well as the fans. The fans always love a good drag race. I think Cruz and my dad always put on a good race. It's fun to watch. It's cool to be a part of it. I raced Cruz a few times before. He kicked my butt two weeks ago. But you know what, it's always fun racing him. It's just exciting. I mean, no matter who's in the other lane, it's going to be a good drag race. It's always fun racing the Pedregons.
THE MODERATOR: Cruz, your thoughts on that?
CRUZ PEDREGON: Like she says, they asked me, “How do you feel about racing Courtney?” I'm thinking, “Man, I'm racing John Force there because the team he's put together.” I know he's trained her well, and she drives like a veteran. She stages just like she's been doing it for years.
When I race her, I'm not thinking of some cute little 20-something-year-old, I'm thinking I better stage properly or if I do something wrong because I'll get John over there trying to engage in some kind of little scrap there.
But it's always fun, like she says. I’ve got to hand it to them, they put both Courtney and Ashley, when she came onboard a few years ago, in good cars. She's not only fun to race, also a John Force family member, but they drive good cars. When you race them, you better have it together because, like I say, they're driving great cars.
THE MODERATOR: Courtney, I think that will conclude our portion with you. Thank you very much for joining us today. We will see you in Charlotte.
COURTNEY FORCE: All right. Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: Now we will get started with Cruz. Cruz is coming off the event in Las Vegas, which saw him race to his 31st career Funny Car victory and first of the season. He is third in the points, which is the highest in points he's been since the 2011 season. Cruz, for those of you that don't know, is not only the driver but listed as the crew chief of the car and along with his crew is deeply involved with the tuning of this car. Cruz, how special was that win not only for you, but for your entire crew with the way you guys are doing it this season?
CRUZ PEDREGON: You know, it's strange because I look back at the excitement level I still have here. It's Thursday. My guys had to drive, what, 2,000 miles; they're still all excited.
I would say emotionally and everything like that, this probably ranks among the top in my career because it's early in the season. It was a huge win, like you said, early in the season. It was a challenging racetrack, 120-degree track temperature. We were consistent. We really haven't shown that consistency on Sunday. We've always been kind of a really good qualifying car, but then we would fade away. I figured one of the challenges going into this season was to work on that consistency. We did it in Vegas on Sunday. So I was just so happy for the team. The short turnaround time, everybody answered the bell, did their job. It was just awesome.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions for Cruz Pedregon.
Q: How hard was it for you to concentrate as a driver after not being able to back up the car in the final round?
CRUZ PEDREGON: Well, it was very hard because it's all I thought about. It actually flashed through my mind, “What a way to end the day.” We had such a good day going. I wouldn't say I was any favorite going into that round. Courtney was running so well, she had lane choice.
I couldn't put it in reverse. Man, I was disappointed. I was already conceding, we lost. I thought for sure there's no way these guys are going to be able to push this car back in time to stage without holding up Courtney. Last thing I want to do is hold her up. She deserves it. As they started pushing the car back, I said, “Wait a minute, we're getting close.” I had all those thoughts going through my head. Then we got behind the line. Wait a minute, I look over, they're still like back there doing their thing with the body up. That's when I knew I better get it together here because it's showtime, let's get it on and forget about all this other stuff. It was difficult. But then I took a couple deep breaths, and after that, it was a regular race for me.
Q: Cruz, you had a special situation because you have experience as a driver, experience as a broadcaster. What are your first memories about growing up in motorsports, your first recollections as a kid?
CRUZ PEDREGON: My first recollection as a kid was going to the races and watching my dad race, watching him put on this crazy space-looking suit and put on the helmet with all the equipment. Those are my first recollections. It was an unbelievable feeling. Even as a kid, I was probably 2, 3 years old; it all started there. I didn't know I liked it so much. But I grew up with those feelings and those images. So, yeah, I always think back to those times.
Q: As far as going from the car to the booth and back to the car, can you talk about what skills and traits and attributes you needed to get you through both those things? Completely different applications in a lot of ways.
CRUZ PEDREGON: Well, you know, I'll tell you something interesting. I found that it takes the same concentration level to speak as it does to climb in a car and drive it. I was thinking, “Shoot, this is no problem. All I have to do is talk about a sport I love.” When you go live, you have to concentrate. So we use relatively the same, I don't know, skill. Concentration is concentration no matter what. You have to put together some sentences that are somewhat concise. You can't say everything you want to say. You have to choose your spots. There's a certain amount of concentration. I found a lot of it parallel with driving. Just to see it from a distance, I actually needed a little break I think just to kind of put things in perspective. I got to see a bunch of other teams. I don't know, I can't put my finger on it, but I think it did me good to take a break, regroup, and I came back a year later and started racing again. I didn't really care (indiscernible) at the time. I thought, I am going to really miss a year. Luckily for me, there have been plenty of years to make up for the year that I lost.
Q: What exactly is it that you're doing this season compared to last year that has you in third place in the championship and in a great position to fight for the title?
CRUZ PEDREGON: You know, we just put it together. I think it was just a matter of time. In 2011, we had a great car, not a great car, a good car. And then in 2012, I decided, you know, I needed to gather up a better engine combination. I want to run fast, like 320 like some of the other cars; I could do it without hurting the engine. I hired Lee Beard, who came onboard and brought over some different thoughts. We changed the camshaft, the fuel system. I knew it would take a while to pick up that new setup to match it with my clutch combination. So it's almost like we took 2012, I don't want to call it a test year, but we didn't really come on till the end of 2012. I would say what we've done is we've improved our engine program, already a great clutch program, and now you're seeing the results of that here. I think we're going to keep sharp, keep working. But I think you will now see the best we have. I'm looking forward to the rest of this season. I think, you know, I'm confident that we're going to be in at least every race, not to say we're going to win every race, that's hard to do, but I think we're going to have something to say about who wins the races from here on out.
Q: Cruz, what are your thoughts going into the Four-Wide Nationals? It's something that I think race fans need to see and need to experience just the sheer horsepower. What is it like for you as a driver going into that event?
CRUZ PEDREGON: It's exciting. Here are my emotions in years one, two and three. I think this is our fourth year going there, if I'm not mistaken. First year, didn't know what to expect. Unknown enthusiasm, unknown excitement. It was the wow factor. Second year, I was on the fence. I'm thinking, “Man, is this going to be something we're going to do all the time.” I was on the fence. Third year, I loved it. I loved it last year. We went to the final. We were in the final four. We lost to Robert Hight by not even half a car length. I noticed the enthusiasm was back.
I think they've honed in the schedule, how to turn the cars around. I think the fans are kind of getting it. I would say this is the peak of excitement going there the fourth time. Hey, it's exciting, 'cause like Courtney was saying earlier, you can't focus on one opponent. You're going, “Wait a minute, there's this guy. Hold on a second, I got to race that guy, too?” You start thinking a little bit. When you get up there, there's just another tree to look at, just making sure everybody is staged. After that, it's a regular race again. So it's exciting. If I wasn't racing in it, I'd love to get up there in the top part of the grandstand about half-track and watch it because I think it would be pretty cool.
THE MODERATOR: I don't think we have any further questions. Cruz, thank you very much for your time this afternoon. Thank you, members of the media, for joining us today. We will hopefully see you all in Charlotte April 19-21 for the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
CRUZ PEDREGON: Thank you very much, guys.
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