Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Pedregon successful after tough decision to leave Force

Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004 | 9:53 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Tony Pedregon acknowledged that he took a gamble by leaving John Force Racing to start his own NHRA Funny Car team.

But few people are aware just how big a risk Pedregon took in leaving Force's team after winning his first NHRA Funny Car championship.

"I was really jobless for a while, to tell you the truth," Pedregon said during a break in testing last weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

At the same time he was winning eight national events and clinching his first championship, Pedregon was agonizing over whether to remain with team owner John Force or strike out on his own. Force made the decision for Pedregon by issuing him an ultimatum at the end of the season.

"During the whole process, I was very honest with John and I told him long before I made any decision that it was something I was considering," Pedregon said. "I think John thought it was a bluff until he really gave me an ultimatum and said, 'You need to make a decision' and I wasn't prepared to make a decision.

"To be fair to him, I called him and told him that if I'm going to be given an ultimatum, I won't be signing a contract. Of course, John ... maybe sometimes you get so caught up in the business aspect of it, but I kind of felt like John's response was that he would find another driver and that kind of hurt my feelings.

"Really, at that point, there was no turning back for me. I hadn't made any decision yet but because I'm an honest person, I felt that I owed it to John to tell him even when I was just thinking about it."

That was in November, when Force issued a statement saying he had released Pedregon from his contract so the driver could "pursue other options" for the 2004 season.

A month later, Pedregon announced he would partner with his brother, Cruz, under the Pedregon Racing banner and campaign a Funny Car with sponsorship from Quaker State.

Even after Quaker State stepped up and expressed an interest in sponsoring him, Pedregon said the decision did not come easily.

"It was hands down the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my career," said Pedregon, who won 27 national events in eight seasons with John Force Racing. "It was a hard decision because we had just won the championship and because (I would be leaving) good people that I had really become attached to.

"But I think once I came to terms with the fact that I built relationships with John Medlen, Eric Medlen, with John and with Bernie (Fedderly) ... I began to understand that the friendships would still be there."

Even the one he had forged with Force.

"The relationship with myself and John ... I consider him a friend and I'll always feel that way," Pedregon said, "until I have to pull up alongside of him on the racetrack. For that short period of time, we'll conduct business, we'll hate each other and then we'll get to liking each other at the end of the run."

There will be bracket racing in Super Pro, Pro and Street/Sport Compact Trophy classes beginning at 8 a.m. each day. Ticket information and a complete schedule can be found at www.lvms.com.