Pedregon won’t shed any tears for Force

Monday, April 7, 2003 | 9:57 a.m.

Tony Pedregon continued to thrive while his team owner, John Force, continued to struggle.

And after his Funny Car victory in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Pedregon wasn't sympathizing with his boss.

"Never feel sorry for a guy with his own jet and don't feel sorry for a guy with 12 championships because it just doesn't work," Pedregon joked.

Pedregon, who has two wins this season and leads the Funny Car points standings by 25 over teammate Gary Densham, has finished second to Force in the championship four times since 1996.

Force, who has won 12 NHRA Funny Car championships and a record 10 in a row, suffered his third first-round loss in four races Sunday and is 11th in points.

"What can I say?" Force said after losing to Pedregon. "We're still struggling but it's still early in the season. We'll figure it out, though."

Pedregon wouldn't disagree with that.

"It's so early in the year that I know John's going to recover -- I just don't want to be the guy in the other lane when he does because I think somebody's going to pay for this," Pedregon said.

"But he's going to make it through this and that's why it's important for us to try to take care of business when he's not able to."

Ashley Force advanced to the sixth round in Super Comp, where she lost to Guy Aguayo. Force, 20, is John Force's daughter.