Bradshaw Earns First-Career Fast Qualifier Award

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Call it coast-to-coast catastrophe for the Pedregon brothers so far this season. Tony Pedregon ricocheted off both walls Feb. 10 in the opening round of the Winternationals at Pomona, Calif.
Older brother Cruz Pedregon took what he called “the wildest ride I’ve ever had in my career” Sunday at the ACDelco Gatornationals.  
“I was driving my rear end off. I feared for my life there for a minute. The chassis bounced around pretty good,” Pedregon said following a concussion that blew the body off his Advance Auto Parts Impala.
Like his brother did in his crash that overshadowed John Force’s return from a disastrous September 2007 accident, Cruz won the round but wasn’t sure if he could continue. Rules allow a body, but not a chassis, change in the 75-minute turnaround time. The crew came through, but Jim Head denied him the chance to race his brother in the semifinals. Eventual winner Tony said, “I saw him driving the heck out of it. I was hoping it didn’t catch fire, like mine did. With a high-speed accident, anything can happen. You’re at the mercy of so many variables.”

• Top Fuel driver Alan Bradshaw wasn’t upset, but he stopped by the tower Friday to ask what he had to do to be considered for inclusion in the NHRA media guide. Maybe being No. 1 qualifier at the Gatornationals will help. The Vis Viva Energy Drink Dragster driver experienced some unnerving deja-vu, though.
At the previous race at Phoenix, Bradshaw missed the cut. “For the second race in a row, we rained-out Friday qualifying, and for the second race in a row, we were down to only two shots at making it into the field. Going to the line, I got bumped out by the cars in front of me and was not qualified on our last run — just like Phoenix.”
He reversed that outcome, though, with a 4.547-second elapsed time that held up as the quickest of the weekend.
Bradshaw won’t forget his first top-qualifier run. His Dexter Tuttle-owned dragster burst into flames just before the finish line and continued burning as the car rolled to a stop.
“We ran only 306.95 miles per hour,” Bradshaw said. “Out of nowhere the engine grenaded with no warning. I could feel the heat coming from ‘the kitchen,’ but on a run like that there was no way I was lettin’ out.”

• Crew chief Tony Shortall and crew scrambled to have the car ready Sunday, but Nicky Bonifante had owner/driver Bruce Litton’s Lucas Oil Dragster ready too. And the reigning International Hot Rod Ass’n Top Fuel champion, who was at Gainesville as a test run for the upcoming IHRA Nitro Jam opener at San Antonio, upset Bradshaw from the No. 16 position.

• Phoenix Funny Car winner Jack Beckman is an instructor for Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School, and in Sunday’s first round of eliminations, he beat the boss and drag-racing legend. But Beckman said the encounter wasn’t anything theatric.
“The interesting thing is I think the perception is that we were staring back and forth at each other and it’s kind of like one of those Hollywood-ish deals,” Beckman said. “The reality is, when you’re strapped in one of these Dodge Chargers, it’s like being in the back seat of a station wagon and the side windows are blacked out. You really can’t see much next to you. 
“It was a great race,” he said of the 4.866-second dash that let him advance past Hawley’s 4.898. “We were together from start to finish, and the analogy I give is ‘I’m a Little Leaguer, I stepped up to the major leagues, and Mickey Mantle came out of retirement and let me pitch to him.’ It’s awesome. I have all the respect in the world for Frank. I thought it was great to go up against him, win, lose or draw. Obviously I’m happy we won, and I think he’s going to be giving the rest of us full-time drivers fits the rest of the year.”

• Ashley Force helped prop the sagging John Force Racing team of Ford Mustangs at Gainesville, but even she could last only as long as the second round Sunday. It was a day each had wanted to win a Wally in honor of teammate Eric Medlen, who died here last March from injuries in a testing accident.
Her brother-in-law, Robert Hight, kept his No. 1 spot in the Funny Car standings, but the ACDelco Gatornationals marked the first time this year that he has not advanced to the final. “I said it before this weekend started and I still believe it — when we get it, I believe we’ll dominate. I see what these other guys are running out here, and we can run that dropping cylinders and backing it down. If we get it right I still believe we dominate.”
Ashley Force’s dad and boss, John Force, was 20-1 in first-round match-ups against longtime pal and former team driver Gary Densham heading into the race, but remains six round-wins away from his historic 1,000th victory during eliminations.
“There really isn’t a lot you can say about today,” Force said. “We are all leaving here alive, which is a big plus. The big positive is you learn a lot about what you shouldn’t do on days like today.”