{"id":102943,"date":"2026-01-30T20:44:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/cole-pesz-captures-40000-cinderella-win-at-u-s-street-nationals\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T20:44:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:44:04","slug":"cole-pesz-captures-40000-cinderella-win-at-u-s-street-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/cole-pesz-captures-40000-cinderella-win-at-u-s-street-nationals\/","title":{"rendered":"Cole Pesz Captures $40,000 \u201cCinderella\u201d Win at U.S. Street Nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"

In what was undoubtedly the greatest example of perseverance at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission, Cole Pesz went from the doctor\u2019s office to the winner\u2019s circle at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Just a few days after crashing the screw-blown \u201818 Corvette owned by Mark Gobert during pre-race testing, Pesz navigated five grueling rounds in the $40,000-to-win True 10.5 class at the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service.<\/p>\n

What began as a devastating setback early in the week quickly turned into a full-scale thrash, as Pesz and his crew \u2013 along with members of other race teams \u2013 worked tirelessly to rebuild the car in time for competition. Despite limited runs and lingering physical pain, Pesz ran through a gauntlet of some of the toughest names in small-tire racing to secure the win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is truly a Cinderella story,\u201d said Pesz. \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable, to be honest with you. I\u2019ve been in a lot worse positions in my life than crashing a race car. It\u2019s the story of my life. I\u2019ve always gotten over the peak.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victory was especially meaningful for Pesz, who was still dealing with the loss of his grandmother last September \u2013 a moment he noted marked the last time he\u2019d stood in the winner\u2019s circle prior to Bradenton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came out here at Snowbirds last month and I thought I was going to get it done, but we hung the throttle and\u2026there\u2019s always some little thing,\u201d Pesz said. \u201cThen we get here and it wasn\u2019t so little \u2013 it was a big thing. But when we got back and evaluated the car, it wasn\u2019t as bad as it looked. The car was built very well. Our whole team came together, looked at each other and said, \u2018We got this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to fixing the car, Pesz also had to be medically cleared in order to compete. While he believed he was okay physically, Pesz was grateful for the concern shown by event officials in putting his health and safety first, and was willing to do whatever was necessary to get back in the driver\u2019s seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really have a switch that turns off,\u201d Pesz admitted. \u201cSometimes that\u2019s a good thing and sometimes it\u2019s a really bad thing.\u00a0I respect Wes [Buck] saying, \u2018Hey man, you need to go to the ER and make sure you don\u2019t have a concussion. You need to get checked out.\u2019\u00a0That\u2019s why I love this family \u2013 they\u2019re looking out for me when I\u2019m not looking out for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Luke Nieuwhof photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pesz\u2019s path to victory during eliminations was anything but easy, drawing a stacked lineup of competitors including Scott Taylor, Ryan Hendrickson, Kye Kelley, Ryan Martin, and Brandon Sandlian in the Junkyard Studebaker. Pesz consistently ran in the high 3.90 to low 4.00 range all weekend, culminating with a 3.980-second pass at 204.76 mph in the finals against Sandlian, who went 4.132, but was -.087 red on the tree.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to be in this position is crazy,\u201d said Pesz. \u201cWe didn\u2019t get any ducks.\u00a0We didn\u2019t see a purpose in trying to break the record in the final round \u2013 we just left it alone and did our job. He went red, but I still wanted to see what it was going to run because we only have maybe 11 passes at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The win was the result of a massive team effort, with Pesz quick to acknowledge all the companies who have supported him \u2013 PJS Racing Engines, FuelTech EFI, M&M Transmission, Menscer Motorsports, Strange Engineering, Stroud Safety, Nitrous Outlet, Quick Performance, and Wiles Driveshafts \u2013 as well as all the individuals who stepped up during the hectic rebuild.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would not have happened without Mark Woodruff loaning me his wheels, Cameron Johnson Race Cars getting us a wishbone in time, and Patrick Miller literally bending my headers back out with a jack and a torch for 10 hours rewelding it all,\u201d Pesz said. \u201cEveryone here just thrashing on this thing, and Brandon Pesz \u2013 the best motherf***er on the planet, I don\u2019t care what anybody says. We\u2019re gonna go home and fine-tune it, but I genuinely believe we have one of the fastest cars out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victory also marked a major milestone for Pesz, as it was his first win with car owner Mark Gobert. Standing in the winner\u2019s circle, Pesz gave Gobert the special True 10.5 winner\u2019s diamond chain to show his appreciation for the opportunity, even after the adversity they faced during the week.<\/p>\n

\u201cMark is the real deal, and now he\u2019s got some bling around his neck too\u201d said Pesz. \u201cThe way he treats people is unbelievable.\u00a0I have the greatest owner. He and his wife, Ren\u00e9 \u2013 they believe in me. They trust me. This is 100% their win. It\u2019s their win just as much as it is mine. They\u2019re the backbone behind this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chris Simmons photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Pesz was ecstatic about the $40k and event trophy that went along with it, he admitted the win carried a deeper message that he wants to use his platform to share \u2013 a message of perseverance, gratitude, and faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole week was about not giving up,\u201d Pesz said. \u201cWhether we lost first round or won the race, it didn\u2019t matter. It\u2019s about proving a point to the younger kids out there that feel like giving up on themselves, or the men and women who feel the same way.\u00a0I want to encourage you to continue to push through adversity. It\u2019s not gonna go away \u2013 the adversity will always be there. It\u2019s part of life. You\u2019re gonna go through peaks and valleys, trials and tribulations. I just encourage everybody to try to find God and go for everything you want in life. I\u2019m truly nothing without the people God has put my life. I\u2019m extremely grateful for that. I wouldn\u2019t be able to do this without my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With momentum on his side, Pesz is already looking ahead to defending his True 10.5 title Feb. 26-28 at the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, the final race of the 2025\/26 DI Winter Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how we\u2019re starting off 2026,\u201d said Pesz. \u201cI knew there were going to be trials and tribulations, but hey, it is what it is. I have the greatest team in the world behind me, and I can\u2019t wait for what\u2019s to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published on January 30, 2026. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post Cole Pesz Captures $40,000 \u201cCinderella\u201d Win at U.S. Street Nationals<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In what was undoubtedly the greatest example of perseverance at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission, Cole Pesz went from the doctor\u2019s office to the winner\u2019s circle at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Just a few days after crashing the screw-blown \u201818 Corvette owned by Mark Gobert during pre-race testing, Pesz navigated five grueling rounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}