Frank Pedregon
Although he was almost exclusively a local Southern California racer, nearly every fan of drag racing in the 1960s helped the legend of “Flamin Frank” Pedregon. Frank’s “Taco Taster” competition coupe (actually a fuel dragster thinly disguised with a radically chopped Fiat body) would often produce flames completely filling the rear wheel wells and surrounding the slicks in a ring of fire as the Chrysler powered coupe thundered down the strip at Lions or San Fernando. Showmanship was coming into the sport and eventually gas and other additives were used to produce spectacular “fire burnouts”. Pedregon apparently used no chemicals and often produced fire nearly the entire length of the strip. Frank was not just a showman but a hard racer on a limited budget. He built his own engines, chassis, and even the trailers they were hauled on. Fiercely proud of his Mexican ancestry, he billed himself as “The World’s Fastest Mexican” and wore t-shirts advertising “Genuine Mexican Parts”. The flames, he claimed, were caused by “just good old Mexican horsepower”. He later teamed up to drive Joe Winter’s top fuel dragster, but with Winter’s health began to fail and he eventually lost his battle with cancer, Frank lost his desire to race. Pedregon subsequently lost his life in a private plane crash but left the sport a tremendous legacy of three fine racers in their own right: Frank Jr, Cruz, and Tony Pedregon.