I thought I had a fair chance to win class at Indy,

[Tony Fagnilli]

I was really on the fence about whether I wanted to post this or not. Well, here it is.





I was at Indy and was looking forward to class because every where we've raced so far in class, I was always in the combo. I made a good run in Q1. I ran an 8.54. There were two (2) Cobra Jets running in FS/AA and they both blew the tires off at the hit in Q1(that's the important part), so I’m thinking they might be a little lost. Jeff Lane was the higher qualified of the two, so it was he and I running for the trophy. Just before the call to the lanes, Reinhart announces that the Electric Cobra Jet, which was built by Jeff Lane, was going to make a hit against the Supercharged Cobra Jet. I’m thinking, “What?” I run to the fence and see just the Supercharged Cobra Jet make a pass. So I jump on my scooter, head to the lanes and see the Electric Cobra Jet sitting in the lanes. I ask one of the Ford guys “Who made that pass in the Supercharged Cobra Jet?” He tells me that Tony Pedregon was going to make an exhibition run against Tasca driving the Electric Cobra Jet, and that Pedregon needed some seat time. Of course, the Supercharged Cobra Jet went right down the track.

Five minutes later, they call cars to the lanes for Class. I walk up to Jeff Lane and he says “Sorry for being late, I had to cool this car down because Tony Pedregon just made a hit in it”. WTF? I'm PISSED. Lane runs an 8.54 to my 8.56 and has me by 3 on the tree. Now, I’m even more pissed. I talked to the Division Director and he actually told me that, "He told the higher ups that it wasn’t a good idea for that car to go down the track when it was still in competition."

So I finally find the guy who authorized this “time trial”, Tim White. He is the engineer for the NHRA. When I questioned White about how dumb his decision was, he told me that they didn’t get a time slip and that they pulled the SD card from the Racepak. White told me, “They got no data from the run, so it didn’t benefit them”. Are you kidding me? The car only had to go to the 60 foot to see how it would launch. I couldn’t believe it. For an engineer, he sure did make a stupid call.

Now here’s the thing. I honestly believe that Lane connived the whole thing. I think he needed a time trial, went to NHRA and said “Pedregon needs a hit in this car”. I asked White, “Who approached you with this whole “Pedregon needs a hit in this car” thing? He replied “I can’t tell you that”. His reply tells me two things:

• White knew he messed up, and,
• Someone did approach him and asked for another hit.

If Lane hadn’t blown the tires off in Q1, I would not have cared one bit. But, I think that extra hit on the track was unfair and it was wrong. What's the coincidence that Pedregon made a hit LITERALLY minutes before the class call?

After I stewed for a couple of days, I went and found Lane at his trailer. I told him that I was going to make a post about him and that it was going to be derogatory. I told him that I thought he connived the entire thing. I also asked him, “If Pedregon would have blown the tires off, would he have made a change to the car?" Of course he would have? But, his response was laughable. It was a yes or no question, but he said that car would never blow the tires off. LOL. Well it did in Q1, didn’t it? Of course he would have made a change. I then had some choice words for him and he told me to leave his pit. I had some more words for the tool, then I left.


Now, in no way am I stating that if the car didn't get a time trial that my outcome in class would have been any different. What I'm saying is that Lane got an advantage over me and I think it was a ****ty move.


Is NHRA to blame? Yes 100% They let this happen. But was it NHRA's idea? NO 100%


So that was my class experience at Indy this year. Great, wasn't it?