Tony Pedregon named drag racing analyst for 2016 FOX NHRA television team
Saturday, October 31, 2015



NHRA and FOX Sports officials have announced that two-time Funny Car world champion Tony Pedregon will provide the analysis and color commentary for FOX Sports’ television coverage of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

Pedregon, a 43-time winner on the NHRA circuit, has driving experience in several NHRA categories, including Funny Car, Top Fuel and Top Alcohol Dragster.

“All of us at NHRA are thrilled that Tony Pedregon will be joining our FOX Sports broadcast team next season as our expert analyst in the broadcast booth,” said NHRA President Peter Clifford. “As a two-time NHRA Funny Car world champion, a team owner and a top competitor for more than two decades, Tony brings an in-depth knowledge of NHRA and its teams and drivers. As one of the most respected and personable competitors in our sport, we think Tony will connect with our existing fans and with new viewers.”

Pedregon, the youngest son of late NHRA driver Flamin’ Frank Pedregon, and one of three Pedregon brothers who have carried on the family tradition of competing in NHRA, including two-time world champ Cruz and oldest brother Frank Jr., has also been a great friend of the media during his driving career, giving impactful and insightful interviews and is always at ease on camera. As a team owner since 2004 he has an intimate knowledge of exactly what it takes to field a competitive entry in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

“Tony brings a lifetime of experience to the telecast,” said Ken Adelson, NHRA vice president of broadcasting & digital content. “We know he’ll be a great asset to the NHRA broadcasts. We’re looking forward to the future and building a team that will deliver great content to our viewers.”

Said Frank Wilson, FOX Sports VP of Event and Studio Production: “Introducing Tony to the booth allows us to have the insights of a two-time NHRA champion from a multi-generational family of racers.”

Pedregon has been racing in the Mello Yello Series since 1992. His first official race was in a Top Fuel dragster for team owner Larry Minor. He joined John Force Racing as driver of the team’s second Funny Car in 1996 and he won the Auto Club Road to the Future Award that season. He won his first Funny Car championship with Force in 2003. The next season he ventured out to start his own team. In 2007 he raced to his second world championship title and first in Funny Car during NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship era.

“I’m excited to become a part of something so big that will transition our sport and take us to new levels,” Pedregon said. “My time in the seat as an owner and driver is something I will always look back on with pride. The accomplishments were achieved through hard work and surrounding myself with good people and great sponsors. Now I look forward to the next chapter in my career, having the good fortune to work with NHRA and FOX Sports.”

Starting in 2016 the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will be televised by FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with four events airing on the FOX national broadcast network during each season of the long-term agreement, providing the world's fastest motorsport with live coverage of a majority of its events. FS1 will provide coverage of Friday and Saturday qualifying and Sunday eliminations for each NHRA Mello Yello Series event, with a minimum of 16 Sunday eliminations shows to be presented in a live coverage format, and the remainder shown either in weekend afternoon or primetime time slots. Four of those live elimination shows will air on the FOX national broadcast network. The 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season opens with the Circle K NHRA Winternationals, Feb. 11-14 from historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California.

I think I'd rather have Paul Paige.

Gag!

x2

mike dunn will be missed. mybe thay think this will help with viewership ?????????? leve it nhra to make the tv packge worse then is was

Cant stand him or his brother.I wont be watching.

Tony is an ASS!

I was trying to be nice but you hit the nail on the head

DVR makes any of them tolerable.

I really don't care.... although I'll miss the Mike Dunn "now that's a drag race" drinking game.

Somebody has to say it. Drag racing on TV, as done by ESPN over the last however many years, sucks (sucked?). I stopped watching years ago. Same lousy interviews, commercials, people gabbing, just awful. If I had never been to the track and saw that, I wouldn't care if I EVER went to a drag race.

The live stream shows that Motor Mania does of the PDRA and some of the other events are great. I have them on all day when I'm in the shop and there's one on. Track announcer feed, great camera work, really great audio, next best thing to being there.

HEY NHRA!! ARE YOU LISTENING??? I doubt it.

Tony Ped instead of Dunn? Can you say BONEHEAD decision??

Tony probably needs the money and is working cheaper than Dunn...lol.

I can see Paul and Tony in the booth for a few events.Then MTV will bring back Celebrity Death Match.Im taking Paul ftw.LOL

Better choice would have been Brian Lohnes(bangshift.com fame) who has announced at most of the NHRA events the last 2 years.Brian is quite the historian who can capture an audience.

Saw on the Bullet that the NHRA could be backpeddling on letting Dunn go. I hope so.

no more ESPN I am assuming? Maybe Mike Dunn will get back into a car once again.

One has to wonder what is NHRA thinking. IMO Mike Dunn was one of the few things that was right with the TV coverage. Who wants to stay up till 3:00 am to watch qualifying? Now we'll show it through the week on primetime with an azz as the commentator. I'll pass it's it's mostly chebbies anyway. TIme to move on !

It's a 'diversity' promotion, that's it. Look forward to a lot of crying about the advantages that Team Force and DSR have.

I guess if something goes wrong with his broadcast he can blame paul page or the crew, he routinely throws his race team under the semi, he'll need to find a new scapegoat.

It's all scripted just like a reality show, not one person could blurt out all those stats from their memory. It's the crew who you don't see that look up interesting things that they talk about during the show. It wouldn't matter if Fred Flintstone or Bart Simpson was the host.