Hernandez pulls a slingshot maneuver to the top of the field

(6-11-2005) - Josh Hernandez admittedly was too concerned with keeping the car off of the retaining wall during the final session to realize that he'd just captured his first career pole position. The Conroe, Texas-based driver for Tommy Lipar rode dangerously close to the left lane retaining wall en route to a 6.182, 228.11.

Hernandez, a rookie driver on the AMS TLR tour, was all smiles after gaining to premiere qualifying position.

"I was afraid Tommy was going to start yelling at me for getting too close to the wall on that run," Hernandez said. "Instead, there was a silence and his voice reached a high pitch as he screamed out we ran the low elapsed time. I am very excited about final eliminations.

"To be honest, I think I was practicing my Mike Ashley impersonation," Hernandez said of the defending champion's tendency to make over the edge runs without crashing.

Sliding into the second spot was the AMS-sponsored entry driven by Troy Critchley. The native Australian nailed down a 6.209, 227.27. Claiming the third spot was Shelly Payne, who produced a 6.211, 230.45.

Rounding out the sixteen-car field was Ron Muenks with an off-pace 6.531.

Zach Barklage, who finished runner-up in Bristol, and Jay Payne, two-time finalist and past point leader in 2005, also failed to make the cut.

Ashley, the three-winner in 2005 and defending series champion, was sixth.

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