NORWALK, Ohio (AP) — Cruz Pedregon raced to his first Funny Car victory in more than three years Sunday, beating points leader Bob Tasca III in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
The 57-year-old Pedregon edged Tasca in the final with a 3.958-second run at 324.75 mph in a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat for the two-time series champion’s 37th career victory.
“It’s not why I drag race, but this will keep me drag racing,” Pedregon said. “It’s a good team and I felt like I was kind of holding my team back a little, but I dug deep. You work your way into winning again and these guys taught me to be in that winning mode. It feels good to be back at it.”
Steve Torrence won in Top Fuel, Erica Enders in Pro Stock and Matt Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Points leader Torrence raced to his fourth victory of the season and 44th overall, beating Brittany Force in the final with a 3.736 at 313.88.
Enders had a 6.606 at 205.44 in a Chevrolet Camaro to beat Greg Anderson. She has two victories this year and 31 overall.
Points leader Smith broke the track time record against Steve Johnson in the final, running a 6.782 at 200.56 on an EBR. He has two victories this season and 28 overall.