Tony Pedregon won the Funny Car final with a 4.921-second elapsed time at 315.27 mph to Densham's 4.924/309.13. Ironically, he watched his brother Cruz take in the first round what Cruz declared was "the wildest ride I've ever had in my career." In the season kickoff early last month at Pomona, Calif., Cruz went to the final round but saw brother Tony's flaming fireball of a wreck in Round 1.
Cruz Pedregon fared better than his brother, for he was shaken but otherwise unhurt. Tony has shed his protective glove but still is nursing a burned right hand.
The reigning class champion said of his brother's crash, "I saw him driving the heck out of it. I was hoping it didn't catch fire, like mine did. With a high-speed accident, anything can happen. You're at the mercy of so many variables."
Cruz Pedregon said, "I was driving my rear end off. I feared for my life there for a minute. The chassis bounced around pretty good."
Cruz Pedregon wasn't the only funny car that had problems at Gainesville. Tony Bartone driving for Jim Dunn did this wheelie way down track, broke a part of the chassis and put the team out of racing for a couple of races.
Cruz's explosion blew the body off his Advance Auto Parts Impala and slingshot him across the center line in front of a slowing Ron Capps. His unplanned lane change occurred after the finish line, so he aced out Capps by .9575 of a second. (His crew prepped the iffy-looking chassis, slapped on a fresh body, and got him to the starting line in 75 minutes. Then, after a Christmas tree malfunction, Jim Head defeated him, denying him the chance to line up against his brother in the semifinals.)
Capps, meanwhile (after saying he "felt like I was Cole Trickle in 'Days of Thunder,' "), said Pedregon "did a heck of a job getting the car stopped. But that could have been disastrous."
What was a bit disastrous was Guidera's post-race interview.
The Central California motorcycle dealership owner had won just the second race of his career, after a victory in front of empty grandstands at the rain-delayed Reading race last August. And he clearly basked in the limelight.
While he was impressive in running the table as winner, top qualifier, and rider with the low E.T. and top speed, Guidera fired the first bike-class salvo, on the track and off.
During his post race winners press conference at Gainesville he said to the press referring to the Harley Davison racers.
"They're pissed-off chickens, pissed-off birds," Guidera said of the Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson team. "They're pissed off -- I'm sure of it. They're going to come out swinging a pretty heavy hammer the next couple of races. We have a great team and good power. It's going to be hard to beat us.
The Mohegan Sun/Rocklin Motorports Buell rider beat Harley-Davidson headliner Andrew Hines in the final round with a 6.949-second pass at 191.54 mph to three-time champion Hines' 6.985/189.55.
"I think our team came around a little faster than the other teams did," he said. "We turned the corner. I think a lot of these teams didn't do their homework in the off-season."
In making a statement for the male riders, who saw Karen Stoffer win the Gatornationals last March and Angelle Sampey win it the year before, Guidera challenged the female riders, who include reigning champion Matt Smith's teammate, Angie McBride.
"If I have anything to say about it," Guidera chirped, "I hope you won't see too many girls winning this year." Cautioned that he might be treading dangerous ground with that statement, he said, "Bring it on."