Kris,
Thanks for the quick response. I saw in the thread about Pacific Raceways that you were able to have Kelly H. host your PDF file(s) and wonder if she could do it for this article too. Hope so.
Later....
Sometimes, I want to throw this computer on SR 167.
One more time.
By KRIS HILL
Ground-rattling, ear-shattering nitromethane fueled drag racing cars are coming to Pacific Raceways, and anyone living within 10 miles of the track will hear it and feel it.
Residents of Covington and Maple Valley may also notice some additional traffic in the area during the weekend of July 21-23.
The negative impacts should be minimal, though, and ultimately the thousands of drag racing fans attending the Shuck’s Auto Supply National Hot Rod Association’s Nationals event could be good for nearby cities.
Covington City Manager Andy Dempsey said the drag races have an effect on the city during the weekend the NHRA comes to town.
“Yes, the event does bring a fair amount of traffic to the Covington area, but the congestion is generally limited to the immediate vicinity of the track and the interchange serving the track southwest of downtown Covington,” Dempsey said. “Traffic in downtown Covington does increase some, but not really noticeable to most people. We certainly appreciate the additional shoppers it brings to our downtown for the duration of the event.”
Drag racing is an increasingly popular sport. Pacific Raceways track spokesman Charlie Kester said the event locally continues to grow, which is in line with national trends.
“The NHRA runs 23 races each year and they average 100,000 spectators per three day race,” Kester said in an e-mail. “Pacific Raceways had a 10 percent increase over the previous year in 2004 and we had a 20 percent increase in 2005 over 2004. This is reflective of motor sports being the fastest growing sport in the world.”
And that growth here is good for the sport, according to brothers Cruz and Tony Pedregon. The pair both drive Chevy Monte Carlo nitro funny cars and the brothers co-own Pedregon Racing.
Both are looking forward to coming to Pacific Raceways, which is just one exit west of downtown Covington on State Route 18, later this month.
“It’s a great market for us, for starters,” Tony Pedregon said.
NHRA drag racing is the no. 2 motor sport, trailing behind the wildly popular NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
“The one thing they (NASCAR) don’t do is they don’t race up in that market,” Tony Pedregon said. “That has a lot of appeal to our sponsors. At the facility, it just seems like we get a big draw ... from close to the border up in Canada. We draw from Oregon, Idaho, Montana.”
Cruz Pedregon spent quite a bit of time at Pacific Raceways, back when it was known at Seattle International Raceways, racing in the Sportsman series events in a top alcohol dragster.
“What’s cool about that race and kind of special, you could say, that was my first real racing up in the Northwest,” Cruz Pedregon said. “I’ve always liked the trees and it’s always cool (temperatures). And it’s really the only race in the entire area.”
Cruz is looking forward to this trip because it’s one of the few tracks he hasn’t won at in the top fuel or funny car classes.
The Pedregon brothers are also pleased with the improvements made to the facility by the Fiorito family, which owns and operates Pacific Raceways.
“Seattle is an important market and a market we all like racing at,” Cruz said. “We like to see the sport grow and we like to see facilities improve for the fans.”
The track, in particular, is a much kinder surface than it had been in the past.
“The main thing was getting the surface (improved). That’s the bottom line, the racing surface,” Cruz said.
The race here is the second of three events known as the Western Swing, and for Tony, it’s a chance to spend some quality time with his family.
“A vacation is when they (his wife and children) go on the Western Swing with me,” Tony said. “We don’t have much time off and our time off in December is spent working on the car. So, when we go up to Seattle, I’ll take them to the Space Needle.”
And though he’s not a coffee drinker, when Tony is in Seattle, he’ll definitely get a cup of Starbucks or Dutch Brothers, the other brand he said he likes.
Tony has a 6-year-old daughter and a 3-month-old son. Driving and managing a drag race team takes much of his time. The season starts in February and runs through mid-November.
Cruz said it’s also hard to get away from driving, but like his brother, he does what he can to squeeze in family time during the year.
Family is important. That’s why he races with his brother.
And it’s also an important part of drag racing, both among racers as well as among fans.
Head out to a drag race and it is not what one would assume a motor sport event would be like. Sure, there are guys there drinking beer and enjoying the sheer power of the cars — they can generate 7,000 horsepower and go from 0 to 300 miles per hour in about 4 seconds.
But, there are also moms and dads, children of all ages, some carried in a parent’s arms, others pushed in a stroller.
And in the pits, there are many a second-generation driver, like both the Pedregons are, with parents working as crew chiefs, team owners, or driving their own cars. The list of families involved in drag racing is too long to even start.
And the family aspect of the sport is one reason it appeals both to racers and to fans.
“My mom and sisters come to the west coast Pomona race,” Cruz said. “In other sports, you can’t have family in the pit, in the locker room. Drag racing lends itself to that.
“The race fan wants to bring his wife and kids, they can come out there, walk through the pit, get an autograph. It’s more of an up close, personal thing than any other sport.”
And families of fans can see something familiar at the track.
“People can relate to myself and Cruz because we’re brothers,” Tony said. “The family tie is that we enjoy doing things together. We’re a lot alike in some ways, but the most important thing is we can meet half-way, conduct our business. But, we push each other just like we did when we were kids.”
While the ground-rattling, ear-shattering thunder of those cars is a major draw, the entertainment value of it, the fact families can enjoy it together and relate to the racers is what keeps them coming back.
“I had a kid who walked up to me ... I took a picture with him when he was 10 years old,” Tony said. “I’ve got that guy as a fan for life.”