Hernandez Blasts to Provisional No. 2 in St. Louis

Madison, Ill. (June 23, 2005) – In spite of the heat of the day, Pro Modified driver, Joshua Hernandez, rocketed to the provisional No. 2 qualifying position in the Tommy Lipar Racing Dr. Moon’s Rage ’57 Chevy. Hernandez recorded a 6.223 second, 225.97 mile per hour pass on his second qualifying attempt, only being passed by Jay Payne’s blistering 6.14 second effort.

“That was a tough run,” said Hernandez, referring to the way the car shook and tired to move around the track. “It took everything I had to keep it in the groove and stay straight.

“It might have looked good from the stands, but I really had to hold on tight,” he said.

“Howard [Moon, crew chief] told me while I was in the lanes that we were shooting for the teens and to hang on – and it was definitely a ride. He and Tommy [Lipar, team owner] had everything so dialed in, it was a blast!” Hernandez said.

In his first qualifying attempt, Hernandez shook the tires so hard he literally broke the rear end apart. “After that first run,” he said, “I knew we were going to give it everything we had to get in the show. The heat didn’t help at all – at one point I think the track temperature was almost 140 degrees!

“After a lot of sweat and hard work, the guys got things put back together and proved, once again, that they are the very best around,” he said.

Hernandez will make one more qualifying pass at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at Gateway International Raceway as part of the TLR/AMS Pro Mod Challenge. The first round of eliminations is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., and the balance of eliminations on Sunday.

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