FERNANDO CUADRA JR.
drag racing in Mexico, competing in Sportsman
categories and each holding their own.
At the conclusion of 2018, a trio of Cuadras
stood on the stage celebrating their respective
success. David and Fernando Jr. were in cham-
pionship battles throughout the season, and it
was Cristian who earned the Mexican 1/4 Mile
Championship in Super Street. Fernando Jr. fin-
ished No. 2 in Pro Competition, a class like NHRA
Top Sportsman.
Their father does not yet have a championship,
but he has made it clear that he isn’t here to mess
around. “I’m learning every time I go down the
track,” Fernando Sr. states. “I am patient. I want
to learn and get better.”
The elder Cuadra is kind and generous, but he
is also competitive and marked by a tenacious
spirit that his sons have observed and likely ab-
sorbed over the course of their lives. In 2003,
Fernando Sr. did not qualify for any of the eight
events he entered, and in 2004, he was dedi-
cated to a full season that nearly again failed to
produce results.
Before the fall race in Las Vegas 2004, though,
Fernando Sr. got hold of a Frank Iaconio engine.
Not only did he qualify
FATHER KNOWS BEST
for the event – his 30th
Fernando Cuadra Sr.
in NHRA competition
(top) campaigns a
– but he also scored his
KB Racing-powered
first-ever round win
Pro Stock Chevrolet
over a red-lighting
Camaro. Fernando
Mike Edwards.
Sr. (center) peruses
Amped up for the sec- the log book that he
ond round, Fernando Sr. compiled in 2003 and
2004. He used his
knew he had something
notes to tune Fernando
for the guy in the other
lane, but he couldn’t re- Jr. (bottom) during Pro
Stock licensing passes
sist adding a little fuel to
in Phoenix.
the fire. He and veteran
driver Allen Johnson
squared off in a 72-second staging duel that re-
sulted in a .026-second reaction time for Johnson
and a .107 for Fernando Sr. His opponent won
their match on a holeshot, 6.865 at 200.56 to
6.848 at 200.23, but it was a day that would re-
main always in the up-and-coming driver’s mind.
Fernando Sr. finished that year in Pomona with
a near-miss of another round win; he forfeited
the match to Ron Krisher by just .007-second.
That taste of competitive power lingered for
Fernando Sr., and in his return to Pro Stock in
2018, he aligned himself with eight-time NHRA
Pro Stock champions KB Racing. Summit Racing
campaigners Greg Anderson and Jason Line lead
the team, with leasing customers Bo Butner, Der-
ic Kramer, and Cuadra rounding out the stable.
“They have helped me, and they are first-class,”
says Fernando Sr. “It worked out very well that
we came together. I had a promise with my sons,
if we had a chance to recuperate the business and
everything goes well, and also they go to college,
I will start racing with them.
“They started in 2017 racing in Monterrey, Mexi-
co, (in) Top Sportsman. They had a very successful
season in ex-Pro Stock cars from Mike Edwards,
102 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Allen Johnson and Jason Line. The agreement
was, if they do well and are good kids, they will
continue into Pro Stock. KB Racing gave me the
opportunity to be here, and voila. Here we go.”
Driving a Pontiac GXP formerly owned by Ed-
wards, Fernando Jr. had his first opportunity to
step up to the Pro Stock plate when he completed
his licensing at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports
Park in Phoenix prior to the 2019 NHRA season.
He had licensed in Top Sportsman mid-2018,
but when he made his first hit in the Pro Stock
car, he knew he was going to have his work cut
out for him.
“I made my license runs for Top Sportsman
with a Powerglide,” says Fernando Jr. “So this was
something different. I had never tried a clutch
pedal, and it was trying to grab my foot. It was
hard for me to do it the first pass, but it was a
real nice experience to focus on the shifting and
going straight. It was a good feeling.”
Although the GXP he licensed in is equipped
with carburetors rather than today’s Pro Stock
Issue 144