Hernandez gains momentum before
rains fall on Valdosta
VALDOSTA, Ga. – Something
needed to cool Josh Hernandez off. The
driver of the Tommy Lipar-owned
RacingJunk.com 1957 Chevy qualified fourth
in the Pro Extreme division at the American
Drag Racing League’s season-opening Winter
Drags in Valdosta, Ga.
Hernandez also drove his
machine to the third quickest elapsed time
in an extremely quick final qualifying
session before persistent rain showers
postponed eliminations until Sunday. By his
own admission, Hernandez had more left in
the tank for eliminations.
“Forget the race,
qualifying the RacingJunk.com entry was
tough enough,” Hernandez said. “We are
prepared for a fight like never before. When
you are getting ready for a season, an event
like this ensures you are on your ‘A’ game
right out of the box.
“We still left some on
the table during that run. Our goal was to
be aggressive enough to step up
significantly without going over the edge.
In looking back, we still had a bit left in
this old machine.”
Hernandez gained his
fourth seeding with a 3.955, 187.13. That
final session produced a field that included
fourteen 3-second qualifiers.
Earlier in the day,
Hernandez found a quick baseline with a
4.037, 165.36 that placed him in the twelfth
position. He shredded the blower belt just
three-seconds into the run. Back in the
pits, Hernandez knew that crewchief Howard
Moon was going to turn up the wick for that
final session.
“I knew we were either
going to step up or step out of the field,”
Hernandez said. “Howard has read this car
and this track so many times that I knew he
had a good gauge on what would fly and what
wouldn’t. He’s excellent at finding that
happy medium.”
ADRL officials have
designated Sunday as the rescheduled
completion for the event, but with marginal
weather forecasts, that conclusion looks
iffy at best.
