His Brother’s Keeper : John Force Has Hired Cruz Pedregon’s Younger Brother, Tony, as a Funny Car Stalking Horse, but Cruz Is Still Faster With Record Run

Winning a record five National Hot Rod Assn. funny car championships hasn’t kept John Force from worrying about increased competition and advancing age.

In a move to combat both concerns, the talkative Yorba Linda veteran decided to form a two-car team this year, the better to develop space-age technology for his 5,000-horsepower Pontiac Firebird replica and establish the groundwork for the day he retires as a racer to become a team owner.

For a second driver he choose Tony Pedregon, the younger brother of Force’s fiercest funny car rival, Cruz Pedregon.

“In the ‘90s, Cruz is the only guy to knock me out of the box,” Force said.

Cruz, driving for Larry Minor, won the NHRA funny car championship in 1992. Force won in 1990, ‘91, ‘93, ’94 and ’95.

“Maybe some of it rubbed off on his brother,” Force said.

Maybe some has.

In Saturday’s final round of qualifying for today’s 36th Chief Winternationals at the Pomona Fairplex, Cruz drove the quickest and fastest quarter-mile in NHRA funny car history--an elapsed time of 4.935 seconds and a top speed of 307.06 mph.

Tony Pedregon held the No. 2 qualifying spot with his Friday time of 5.105 seconds, but Force had to use his final rain-delayed run before getting into today’s 16-car elimination at 5.186, good for fifth place.

“The kid [Tony] did a good job getting last year’s car in the field,” Force said. “We were having troubles with our new car, but we just kept plugging away. Now we’ll go out after Cruz tomorrow.”

Normally, it isn’t a good idea to upstage your boss, but when Tony Pedregon, 30, did it to Force two weeks ago at Phoenix it may have solidified his position on the team.

During testing, Pedregon drove Force’s car for the first time and astonished drag racing fans--and his boss--by running a 4.996-second quarter-mile.

It was unofficial, but the time has been bettered officially by only four drivers: Cruz Pedregon, Force, Al Hofmann and Chuck Etchells.

“I knew the kid would do OK, but to do a 4.99 right out of the box, that got my attention,” Force said. “I told him to make a conservative run, shut off a little early and not do anything stupid. I was looking for something like a 5.20. I told him, ‘Tony, these cars talk to you and you’d better listen.’ ”

After an elated Pedregon took off his helmet and got out of the car, Force asked him, “Why didn’t you lift?”

Pedregon replied, “It talked to me. It said it didn’t need lifting.”

Force scratched his head, looked around at the crowd and said, “He outran the boss. I can’t fire him now.”

Cruz, two years older than Tony, drives for the team owned by former Washington Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs. He was elated at his brother’s good fortune.

“I’m excited about seeing Tony with a strong car like Force’s,” Cruz said. “I consider it a compliment to me and my family to have John choose my brother.”

And what happens when the two are side-by-side on the starting line?

“The objective is always to beat the guy in the other lane, and my brother will be no different,” Cruz said. “It it wasn’t Tony, John would have someone else in a fast car.”

It won’t happen today, unless they meet in the final round. The brothers are in opposite sides of the ladder.

They met once last year, at Topeka, Kan., when Tony drove the Team Geronimo Oldsmobile funny car for Minor.

“Cruz stomped me,” Tony recalled.

Tony Pedregon became available to Force when Minor decided not to field a team after 15 years in the NHRA.

“Larry hadn’t made up his mind yet when Force called,” Tony said. “I was surprised to hear from him. I had heard he was looking for a possible second driver, but I never thought of myself.

“When I asked Larry about it, he said to take it. He gave me my first chance in a funny car and he said he was glad to hear that Force wanted me. You know, Minor gave Cruz his first opportunity too.”

Cruz Pedregon drove four years for Minor, winning the championship in his second season.

A trend toward two-car teams prompted Force to expand his operation.

“With two cars, you get double the opportunity to test technology,” Force explained. “I’ll use Tony as the lead car all the time. I’m under pressure to always win rounds, so we’ve got the second car just to go out there and turn it loose and learn things. The cars will be set up similarly, and when he goes out [to qualify], I’ll be able to check out how the car runs. Then I can set mine up accordingly.

“It’s cost me half a million bucks in new equipment to do this. We have two cars, each with separate crews and 18-wheelers. If it doesn’t work, it will be the price of stupidity, but the way technology is with these cars, I think it’s a necessity.”

There’s another reason for Force’s expensive decision.

“I’m 46,” he said. “I’m not going to drive forever, so when it’s time to retire I want to have a team of two or three drivers already in place. I definitely want another championship before stopping and that’s why Tony is here today, to help me win No. 6.”

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Winternational Notes

Blaine Johnson of Santa Maria ran a track-record 4.665 seconds to take the No. 1 qualifying spot in top fuel. His speed of 309.17 mph was also a Winternationals record, but shy of Kenny Bernstein’s track and NHRA record 314.46 mph. Warren Johnson of Duluth, Ga., no relation to Blaine, set an event record of 7.015 seconds in pro stock. Final eliminations start today at 10:30 a.m.