Austin Prock: 'I felt pretty confident going that we were going to have the car to beat'
Paul Lee: 'It’s going to be great just to see our friends and the fans'
Jack Beckman: 'I don’t know if anyone wants to get back more than me'
Tim Wilkerson: 'I don’t think they’re ready for my attitude. It’s gonna be fun'
Kenny Delco: 'We were fast, we qualified fourth at Pomona and Phoenix'
Steve Torrence: 'You’ve got to come out and swing for every one of ’em'
Cristian Cuadra: 'I think I’m doing well, but I have a lot of room to improve'
Tommy Johnson Jr.: 'I’ve not wanted to win a championship more than this year'
Brittany Force: 'We’re ready for all this to be over so we get back to what we love'
Robert Hight: 'I can’t wait to get back and try to defend our championship'
Alex Laughlin: 'All we have to do is shove the car back in the trailer, and we are ready to go racing'
Shawn Langdon: 'I’m trying to stay as fresh as I can so we can be ready to go'
Chris McGaha: 'We’ve come up with some new ideas and we’ve beaten on some things'
J.R. Todd: 'I have all the confidence that we will be in contention when it counts'
Clay Millican: 'I can’t wait to stomp on that loud pedal ... it’s been way too long'
Bob Tasca III: 'Trust me, this Motorcraft car is going to have its day in the sun'
Antron Brown: 'I’ve been doing everything I can; I’m gonna come back hungry and ready'
Jason Line: 'It doesn’t matter what track we start with, the cars will all be ready to go when we get the call'
Fernando Cuadra Jr: 'We’re applying many of the things we learned from the first two races'
John Force: 'I’ll be ready. I know the car. I could drive it with my eyes closed'
Rahn Tobler maps out plans and goals for the NAPA Auto Parts Funny Car team
Leah Pruett: 'This is not the time to test or play; it’s time to run with what we know'
Ron Capps: 'It’s going to feel crazy the first time any of us steps on the gas for the first time'
Doug Kalitta: 'We’re all just really hungry and ready to make it happen'
Bo Butner: 'I feel like when we all come back racing we’ll be stronger than ever!'
Jeg Coughlin Jr: 'It’s time to go. Every round will be as important as the last'
Matt Hartford: 'We have a car that can run for the championship—bar none'
Alexis DeJoria: 'I just hope that everybody makes it back to the track safely'
Justin Ashley: 'Having a break like this really puts things in perspective'
Erica Enders: 'Our great start proves the organization’s hard work is paying off'
Fernando Cuadra Jr: 'We’re applying many of the things we learned from the first two races'
FERNANDO CUADRA JR.| Cuadra Racing Mustang
Current points position: Tied for 9th | Best season e.t. to date: 6.611
Early-season report card: We are seeing the birth of a new Pro Stock effort that is working to build a three-car team to campaign in the NHRA. Using engines from Nick Ferri, chassis from Jerry Haas, and a new race shop that is under construction in North Carolina, the Cuadras are readying their Mustangs for a future Pro Stock championship run.
Looking back: “Coming into this season we were a little cautious. Last year we were under the cover of KB Racing, and this year we were completely our own, running our own stuff, with our own crew chief. We were a little worried. The only achievement we wanted to was to get at least one car qualified in each of the races. So the first race came through and Cristian and I both qualified. Then I got a round win against [Deric] Kramer, so we were like, ‘Oh, this is even more than our expectations.’ So we were really amazed by that. Then at the Phoenix race we were assuming that Pomona was luck. But Cristian and I both qualified again, and Cristian went through first round, so we were even more surprised with the outcome that the season was having for us. So it was a great success. We of course committed a lot of mistakes ourselves as drivers, and the team had trouble getting the car ready for the next round, servicing the clutch and everything. We knew we were going to have to learn to work as a team with new members on it.”
Looking ahead: “This break in racing was a blessing for us. It gave us time to work on the cars and the team to come back stronger. We’ve worked on our organization and are applying many of the things we learned from the first two races. Our team spent two straight weeks working on the engines, every single day. They were dynoing new parts; cylinder heads, manifolds, cams, pistons, new everything — I mean completely redesigning our engine, and the results have been pretty good. The power gains are better than we expected, so the only part we are missing is to take them to the racetrack to test them.”
Shop talk: “Last week we went to Jerry Haas’ shop to work on my dad’s new Mustang. We are planning to have the three of us at the races this year. We are working on getting all of the trailers and the equipment ready to go testing before the first NHRA race. We bought a new set of shock systems from Adam Lambert, and we installed them. They required a lot of wiring, and this process has allowed us to find a lot of weak links in our system, and update our cars with the new equipment people offer.”
The final word: “The goal is to come back to racing with all three cars; it just depends on when that first race is. If it’s the last weekend in July, we should have the third Mustang ready. We’ve built six new engines so each car will have a complete spare.”