Career Highlights:
2008: Funny Car Champion (2nd in Career); Qualified for 23 of 24 events; Advanced to 5 final rounds, 3 Race Wins, Best reaction time overall in Funny Car Driver group; Earned No. 1 Qualifier 3 times; Won US Smokeless Showdown in Indy. 2007: Had a better than .500 record on Sunday with 18 wins, 16 losses; Earned No. 1 Qualifier at Houston, his first since 2005; Advanced to 3 final rounds for second straight season; Advanced to quarters, semis, and final found at three of last four races. 2006: Earned his first win in six years dating back to Englishtown 2000;Qualified for 21 of 23 events; advanced to 3 final rounds, most since 2004 season. Career Wins: 27 Career Best Elapsed Time: 4.680 seconds Career Best Speed: 330.80 mph.

2005: Earned a pair of No. 1 qualifiers (Englishtown and Chicago 2); Set the low E.T. at two events (Englishtown and Chicago 2); Set career bests for both time and speed; Won at least two rounds at five consecutive events and six of the first eight events to open the 2005 season; Won $25,000 bonus for having closest margin of victory in Motel 6 Who Got the Light award.

2004: Earned first No. 1 qualifying position (Columbus) since 1998; Was the runner-up at consecutive events twice (Denver & Seattle; Indianapolis & Dallas); Established career-best performance numbers; Qualified No. 11 in the quickest Funny Car field in NHRA history (Pomona 2)

2003: Highest finish in the Funny Car standings since 1998; was the runner-up at Denver and Reading; established career-best time and speed.

2002: After taking a year off from racing, Pedregon assembled a team that qualified for 18 national events; Advanced to the semifinals at Indianapolis.

2001: Served as color analyst for ESPN's drag racing coverage.

2000: Raced part-time as an owner/driver, collecting one win (Englishtown).

1999: Raced part-time as an owner/driver in the Funny Car category.

1998: Earned the No. 1 qualifying spot a career-best 12 times; Won NHRA all-star race; Set national elapsed-time record three times; Runner-up in Funny Car bonus race.

1997: The first Motorsports athlete to received the "Premio De Oro," the only national award for Hispanic athletes

1996: Competing in a limited amount of races, Pedregon won one race en route to a third-place finish in the NHRA championship point standings; Finished in the top three for the fifth consecutive season.

1995: Won at Indianapolis for the third time in four years (1992, '94-95); Recorded first career four-second run, a 4.991 at Dallas; Broke the 300-mph mark for the first time with a 300.90-mph pass at Indianapolis.

1994: Was the only Funny Car driver to defeat John Force in a final round the entire season; Qualified in the top half at 15 of the 18 national events.

1992: Won the NHRA Funny Car championship -- the only Funny Car driver other than John Force to win a title in the 1990s.

1990: Won a career-best six races.

1991: Raced part-time in Top Fuel competition.

1990: Moved to Alcohol Funny Car competition.

1987: Started his NHRA career in Alcohol Dragster.

Notable: Won first drag race in 1980 behind wheel of a 1953 Kenworth truck; Raced go-karts in 1986 and was track champion at Ventura (Calif.) Raceway; Brothers Tony and Frank also compete in NHRA Funny Car category Father, Frank, raced Top Fuel dragsters in 1960s Fluent in Spanish, Cruz enjoys working with Hispanic media Enjoys doing charitable work with children Avid NFL fan, especially of Oakland Raiders. Also enjoys listening to sports talk radio.