When the NHRA teams arrive in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area they often don’t go directly to zMAX Dragway, but instead head to the NASCAR shops located nearby for a different experience.
Two-time NHRA Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon and his team were invited by Roger Penske to tour the Team Penske Racing facility in Mooresville, North Carolina.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Pedregon said it was “an incredible experience to see the operation up close and connect with one of the most respected names in motorsports.” Both teams share a Snap-on partnership and Pedregon posted “we’re looking forward to more great opportunities for collaboration in the future.”
Austin Prock, the 2024 NHRA Funny Car champion, and his team did more than take a Hendrick Motorsports tour. They actually learned the intricacies of a NASCAR Cup pit stop that’s normally less than 10 seconds.
“It was awesome!” Prock said with a smile. “We all got a chance to learn how to run the jack and yard (yank) the tires off. Then they threw me in the seat, got smoked in the pit box and peeled out. Did a couple of pit stops with their training teams.”
Prock’s crew was then given an opportunity to try a pit stop.
“That was an experience that not very many people get to do,” Prock said. “I’m not a morning person but waking up at 6:30 this morning (Thursday) for that was definitely worth it. I smoked it in the pit box a couple of times, and I blew past it a couple of times.
“It was great they offered that to myself and then to have my guys come out and learn that side of motorsports was really cool. It’s crazy what goes into that, how they hold the (air) gun, how they pull the wheel off. Everything is methodically planned out for speed. My guys were a little rusty, but for having 20 minutes on the job, I was pretty impressed. They changed just the right sides in about 10 seconds.”
Prock drives for John Force Racing, which has sponsorship from Hendrickcars.com.