Oh — it’s on Baby!
In some very significant news for Canadian drag racing fans, confirmation has now come from Cayuga Dragway at Toronto Motorsports Park that Cruz and Tony Pedregon will be the star attractions for this summer’s Canadian Nitro Nationals….
The star NHRA Full Throttle circuit drivers will headline the event’s rather significant nitro program which will bring a total of eight fuel burners (4 nitro FC and 4 Top Fuel) to the event which goes down (July 1-2-3).
While the exact line-up of additional machines is still somewhat TBA, we can confirm that the fuel Funny Car of Chicagoland’s Dale Creasy Jr., and the Canadian based Top Fuel dragsters owned by Barry Paton and John LaPorte are currently on that list.
Cruz Pedergon
Last year Cayuga’s inaugural Canadian Nitro Nationals drew jam-packed record attendance. That result combined with the impact of new NHRA sanctioning for the Cayuga Dragway facility, has allowed track owner Uli Bieri to further enhance his 2011 event version.
“We at Toronto Motorsports Park are thrilled to have both Tony and Cruz Pedregon at the Nitro Nationals,” said Uli Bieri, the track owner. “This will be a match race like no other! Anyone who knows Funny Cars knows the Pedregon name. To see either one is a real treat, but to see them both is a race you don’t want to miss!”
PMRA Pro Mod cars and Jet dragsters will also be part of the 3-day feature which has all the makings of becoming the single biggest race of the year in Eastern Canada this season.
For Tony and Cruz Pedregon it will mark the first time the duo have raced in Canada side-by-side in their careers. The talented brothers each have NHRA Full Throttle World Championship rings to their credits; Cruz in 1992 & 2008 and Tony in 2003 & 2007. Both are star attraction drivers and fan favorites within the 22-event NHRA Full Throttle Championship series.
Currently Cruz Pedregon sits in 4th place in NHRA Full Throttle Championship points standings with his Snap-On Tools sponsored and Toyota-bodied car.
Tony Pedregon
Tony Pedregon, driver of the STP/Nitro Fish Chevy Impala, has had a few previous engagements racing in Canada. His last one came as driver for the John Force Racing Castrol GTX team, at St. Thomas Dragway, back in 1996.
“”This is a great opportunity for us to be able to bring our 8000 horsepower funny car to Canadian drag racing fans,” Tony said, “I’ve raced in Canada several times, and although it’s been a while it’s exciting to return.”
“I’m very excited and honored to be invited to compete in Canada,” added Cruz Pedregon. “The last time I was there was back in 1992 at Sanair, at the Grand Nationals. It’s going to be great to get back and from what I’ve heard and seen — the Canadian fans are great. I hope they’ll come out and support our Snap-On Tools Toyota and see some very exciting drag racing. Tony and I plan on putting on a great show and breaking the track records for speed and ET! Come out and cheer us on — we’ll make plenty of noise.”
Both Pedregons, who are originally from California, currently base their racing teams from Brownsburg Indiana.
For more information visit: www.tonypedregon.com & www.cruzpedregonracing.com
DragRaceCanada will have additional news updates about the Canadian Nitro Nationals in the near future.
Advance tickets (recommended!) can be purchased at:
www.torontomotorsportspark.com/dragway/2011_cnn_registration.html
Posted by: Bruce Biegler
(Bruce Biegler Photos)
