Frank Pedregon made big news when he piloted his newly-sponsored Toyo Tires Stratus to the No. 3 qualifying berth and then the final round of Funny Car at the prestigious 51st annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, but if all of his plans come to fruition, fans haven’t seen anything yet from the eldest of the famed Pedregon brothers.
Part of the clue of Pedregon’s upcoming big news, and the only one he would allow NHRA.com to reveal at this time, may have been evident to eagle-eyed and well-educated race watchers at Indianapolis Raceway Park who may have spied a new addition to his team.
Proudly muscled into her black Frank Pedregon Racing t-shirt, once French manicured nails now replaced by shorter, grease-filled versions, former sport compact world champion Lisa Kubo is hard at work, earning her nitro stripes under Pedregon’s tutelage. Her goal and his? A second team Funny Car for her. His plan beyond that? Possibly Top Fueler with rising African American star J.R. Todd behind the wheel. The time frame? Sooner than you might think.
“Basically, Lisa’s in training with me as the driver of a possible second car,” Pedregon confirmed. “This is all part of the diversity program I’m creating that will all mesh and gel with another announcement I’ll be making in the near future. I have so many deals in the works right now.”
Talented sport compact ace
Pedregon hopes to include Kubo and others drivers in part of a large-scale diversity project.
Some might question Pedregon’s choice of a protégé, as Kubo is not widely known outside the sport compact world she ruled for years, but her eager attitude, savvy media presence, and untapped potential caught Pedregon’s eye.
A nine-time NHRA national event winner and three-time world champion in various racing series, Kubo has put all of that glory behind her for now and is nothing but humble in her new role as student.
She admits that throughout her sport compact heyday, husband Gary – regarded as “the Austin Coil of sport compact racing by his peers” – and crew handled all of the mechanic responsibilities. Although she drove exceptionally well -- proving incapable of being rattled or out-gamed on the starting line and capable of handling the volatile 1,200-hoorsepower front-drive machines at speed – in typical self-deprecating Kubo fashion, she rolls her eyes and laughs when asked to list her duties back then. “I put my firesuit, shoes, and helmet on by myself; that was it. Here, they tell me to drain the fuel and I’m like, ‘That requires some sort of tool, I take it?’ There’s a lot to learn.”
Not that she hasn’t shown some natural ability behind the wheel of a Funny Car. She was a star student in April when she attended the Alcohol Funny Car course at the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School in Gainesville [full story], even though the supercharged flopper was a far-cry from her violent 190-mph front-wheel-drive Saturn Ion, the car with which she became the holder of the sport’s first seven-second front-wheel-drive time slip.
Granted, most of today’s nitro pilots don’t do a lot of mechanical heavy lifting either, which is why Kubo’s not under the dripping bottom end pulling rod bearings. Instead he’s got her packing parachutes and mixing fuel, and so far, she’s taken to her new duties adeptly.
Making headway
Kubo’s debut on the team was good timing for her, though Pedregon will be the first to tell her that it’s not always high-fives and final rounds.
Although an accomplished winner in his own right – he’s a past U.S. Nationals and Big Bud Shootout champion – Pedregon readily admits he hasn’t had the success of his younger brothers, Cruz, the ’92 world champ, and Tony, the ‘03 season champ, but that his time at the top is coming.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he admitted. “Nothing against them but they’ve always had a Larry Minor or a John Force behind them; I think they should have won more championships than they did. I’ve always had to do it with … I’m not going to say lesser stuff, but it was compared to what they had and less technology.
“I never wanted to be a car owner,” he adds. “I just wanted to be a driver who shows up at the track with his helmet and a briefcase, but this fell into my lap. I woke up Jan. 2 and decided I was going to borrow some money and buy a car. Two weeks later we were at Pomona with a car and ran good there, then fell on our face. I fired that whole group and
Making good for new sponsor
He almost quit after Bristol when he was knocked out of the top 10 – losing the event-to-event pre-race bonuses paid to Top 10 drivers – but hung tough and eventually convinced Toyo Tires, new sponsor of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event at Maple Grove Raceway, to back him for that event.
But he wasn’t done yet.
“Toyo only wanted to do the one race, their race in Reading,” he said. “I tried to talk them into doing Indy, too. I really wanted Toyo to be represented at our biggest race but they really didn’t have the budget for two races this first time around, so I did it for hotel and airfare money – probably no more than $10,000.
“I like to think they got their money’s worth,” he said with a big grin.
Gregg Vandermark, Senior Marketing Manager of Motorsports and Events for Toyo Tire (U.S.A.) Corporation, said in a company press release, “Pedregon’s exciting weekend represents a benchmark for Toyo Tires. This was the first time our company has sponsored a Funny Car in this elite sport, while this historic first outing resulted in a near win overall. We knew Pedregon had the package to make it to the finals.”
While Pedregon won’t yet let the full cat out of the bag, a major forthcoming announcement for him will take him places – and introduce him to people – that his brothers have not gone, nor discuss sponsorship deals.
“All of that is coming,” he promised. “Probably within the next two weeks. It’s going to be very exciting for Frank Pedregon Racing and for the NHRA.
“For now, let’s just say that we did what we came to Indy to do. We ran good and got some exposure for Toyo, and set the stage.”
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