Who’ll Thrust NHRA Into Future? Cruz Pedregon Has An Idea

|Thoughts Racing (Wade Productions)|

This article originally appeared January 11, 2022, on www.CompetitionPlus.com

All photos courtesy of Competition Plus

By Susan Wade

Immediately following Helio Castroneves’ historic fourth Indianapolis 500 victory last May, Jimmie Johnson said that the wildly popular, energetic Brazilian is the person who will push the sport forward.

Personality-wise, Castroneves undoubtedly checks all the boxes. It’s debatable whether the NTT IndyCar Series should bank on a driver who’s zooming in on his 47th birthday – especially with so many talented young shoes. The series has Colton Herta and Rinus VeeKay at age 21, Pato O’Ward at 22, Santino Ferrucci at 23, reigning champion Alex Palou and R.C. Enerson at 24, and Oliver Askew and Pietro Fittipaldi at 25. Older but still-young are 29-year-old Scott McLaughlin, 30-year-olds Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist, and 31-year-olds Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson.

The NHRA Top Fuel class, by contrast, has just three drivers aged 28 and under (Krista Baldwin, who’s 28; Justin Ashley, who just turned 27; and returning driver Austin Prock, 26). Bobby Bode, still 19, is the youngest Funny Car driver – 12 years younger than the next-youngest, Jonnie Lindberg. Pro Stock has a handful of young chargers: Mason McGaha, 20; brothers Cristian Cuadra and Fernando Cuadra Jr., 22 and 26, respectively; and rookie-in-waiting Camrie Caruso, 23. Already Aaron Stanfield, 26, and Vincent Nobile, 30, are seasoned veterans.

New team owner Krista Baldwin and her grandfather, Chris Karamesines, bridge the generation gap as they work together on what used to be his Top Fuel operation.
New team owner Krista Baldwin and her grandfather, Chris Karamesines, bridge the generation gap as they work together on what used to be his Top Fuel operation.

Top Fuel’s Leah Pruett Stewart, who at age 33 is one of the younger racers in the class, said Jimmie Johnson could be right about Castroneves but that she knows who isn’t the“face of the future” in drag racing.

“Jimmie was totally right-on with Helio – personality, persona, enthusiasm, charisma, and all that that Helio naturally has,” she said. “Here’s the thing: I don’t Helio set out to be that person. He set out to win that race, and naturally that comes out. If the goal is to be that person – you don’t become a thruster of a series without the foundation of what it takes to get there.

“So for me, if it’s a byproduct of me winning the U.S. Nationals, winning my first Top Fuel championship, and it happens to thrust the NHRA or create some type of new movement or power a movement, absolutely I think it would be great. But by no means is my goal to be a powerhouse mover or a thrust for anything in particular, because that’s not my personality,” Stewart said.

“I think I’m very rooted in the discipline of the sport,” she said. “The things that capture my attention and drive me forward are not the limelight type of aspects of the sport. There are a lot more charismatic people in this industry than me that I think would be better fitted for that, but we all have to get there the same way – and that’s being successful in the sport. That’s what I’m focused on. That’s what excites me more, thinking about winning and being who I want to be in the sport, rather than being a mover and shaker and thruster. Whether that’s selfish, that’s where I’m at.”

One longtime racer and observer of trends is two-time Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon. Knowing the landscape and how it has changed since he broke into the pro ranks in 1991, he has looked back at Kenny Bernstein as a business model to pinpoint his choice as NHRA’s key to attracting new business and new fans.

Speaking of Bernstein, Pedregon said he admired the way Bernstein got his finances lined up before embarking on a drag-racing career – a move that laid a solid foundation for himself but also one that changed the face of the sport in the process.

“That guy had it figured out: ‘Hey, man, I need to forget about the gossip and all the bull—- that goes with it, like who left on who.’ He was like, ‘I’m going to get the financing.’ That was probably the young Josh Hart, fast forward 40 years.”

Hart has made an impression on NHRA fans and colleagues in just one year with the way he quietly has brought a handful of businesses to the sport for the first time.

But Pedregon said he also sees another Top Fuel driver as the model for the future: Justin Ashley.

Justin Ashley, one of the youngest NHRA Top Fuel racers, leads the way in social-media savvy and has a clear understanding of the business aspect of racing.
Justin Ashley, one of the youngest NHRA Top Fuel racers, leads the way in social-media savvy and has a clear understanding of the business aspect of racing.

“He’s the whole package,” Pedregon said.

“The guy who’s got the right idea, to me, because he’s got the business sense figured out, is Justin Ashley. And Josh Hart. They’re the right kind of guys.”

Josh Hart (left) and Justin Ashley, two the NHRA's new, smart, hard-working drivers, share a relaxed moment at the recent PRI Show at Indianapolis.
Josh Hart (left) and Justin Ashley, two the NHRA’s new, smart, hard-working drivers, share a relaxed moment at the recent PRI Show at Indianapolis.

He said, “The days of being able to cut a light and be the hot-shot driver because of his abilities are gone. It’s unfortunate, because I’m an old-school guy. The guy that understands the business side of it – and if he can do that other part of it, that’s even better – I admire that. Those guys are going to be here [long-term]. That’s what’s going to help the sport grow.

“You have to have that mindset. You have to be outgoing. You have to have a personality. You can’t be some dry schmuck. I hate to say it,” he said. “You can’t be a malcontent. You’ve got to shuck and jive. You’ve got to know how to talk to people. And you’ve got to sell. Companies are going to want to get behind people who can sell their products. So I would say personality is your biggest attribute.”