Just days after relieving former crew chief John Collins of his duties, two-time NHRA Funny Car world champion Cruz Pedregon announced today the signing of Jason Bunker as his new crew chief, and veteran tuner John Medlen as a consultant, for the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Bunker will be taking over as the primary crew chief on the Snap-on Dodge SRT Hellcat Funny Car, with assistance from 30-plus-year nitro veteran Medlen. Bunker and Medlen found some of their best on-track success with Paul Lee toward the end of the 2023 season.
Pedregon won the season finale in 2022 in convincing fashion, providing confidence going into the new year — but the season didn’t live up to expectations, as he went winless on the year and advanced to just two final rounds, closing the year ninth in the standings. Pedregon and Collins did qualify atop the field twice, back-to-back at Pomona and Las Vegas in the spring.
Photo courtesy NHRA/National Dragster
“I am eager, excited and motivated for this opportunity, for both myself and the entire team we are putting together here at CPR.” stated Bunker. “The competition in Funny Car is incredible right now but we feel we have a solid plan as a team to hit the ground racing in 2024.”
“I am very excited for this opportunity to have Jason and John join our Snap-on Nitro Funny Car team,” said Pedregon, a two-time Funny Car world champion. “They both have the mindset and the skills that you desire out here and will definitely be a great piece to bring our team into championship form.”
Bunker, a Northern California native, has been involved with drag racing since he was a teenager and has prior experience in Pro Modified, Nostalgia Funny Car, Top Fuel and most recently Nitro Funny Car.
“It’s like a football team” Cruz Pedregon relayed. “You have to have the right people in the right places to be able to succeed. It’s going to be a busy offseason but, we will be ready to rip in 2024.”