Cruz Pedregon's 1992 championship season
This week, NHRA reporter Lewis Bloom looks back to the 1992 Funny Car championship season of Cruz Pedregon. After John Force had won back-to-back championships in 1990 and 1991, along came rookie Funny Car driver Pedregon in Larry Minor’s McDonalds-sponsored Funny Car.
Pedregon, who had raced in Top Fuel the previous season, won five consecutive races to secure his first of two Funny Car Championships. His last two wins of the streak came with victories over Force, including a classic final round in Dallas, our next stop on tour.
The string began with a win in Brainerd over Mark Oswald, and followed with wins in Indy over Del Worsham, Maple Grove over Al Hofmann, Topeka over Force and, finally, the culmination of the streak at the Motorplex, once again over Force.
Pedregon, who started every race no lower than second, would win another championship in 2008, once again thanks to a consecutive string of race wins, scoring at the last three races of the year with the help of then-crew chief Rahn Tobler.