MARTIN, Mich. – Josh
Hernandez enjoyed reaching his
first IHRA Knoll Gas – Torco Pro
Modified winner’s circle so much
that he decided to visit again.
The end result was his second
national event victory in as many
races.
Hernandez, of Conroe, Texas, drove
the AMS – Rage 1968 Camaro to the
Torco IHRA Northern Nationals
title by stopping defending world
champion Mike Castellana in the
final round. He did it in
impressive fashion by qualifying
fifth and scoring low elapsed time
for every round including the
finals.
While
last year’s NHRA Pro Modified
Rookie of the Year was noted for
his driving efforts in the
victory, Hernandez testified it
was his crew that deserves the
praise in this triumph.
“The
results speak for themselves,”
Hernandez said. “We have been off
for a few weeks and to come out
here and put these kinds of
numbers on the board says a lot.
This was a team effort. It was a
hat’s off effort to an excellent
team from Dave Wood and Tommy
Lipar to Howard Moon, Mac Burnet,
Bryan Perkins and James McDunnah.
“The
only downside is that my teammate
Troy Critchley wasn’t racing us in
the final. He went out early in a
horrible crash. We pooled our
resources and everyone chipped in
and we scored the victory. You can
see what happens when you throw
that much talent into a single
project.”
It’s
no secret that IHRA Knoll Gas –
Torco Race Fuels Pro Modified
ranks as one of the toughest
series in drag racing, but in his
latest victory, some might think
Hernandez made it look like easy
pickings.
“There
was nothing special about what I
did, it was just a monkey pushing
the buttons inside,” Hernandez
said. “My team spends a lot of
waking hours wondering how to make
this thing go faster every
opportunity I get to drive. I am
fortunate to reap the benefits of
that.”
Hernandez entered eliminations as
the 5th qualified and used the
strength of his qualifying efforts
to drive around such formidable
foes as Pat Stoken, low qualifier
Mike Bell and Steve Bareman to
reach the finals against
Castellana.
Hernandez was quick to point out
that he’d like to run more of the
IHRA events this season and
beyond.
“We
have a great time when we’re
here,” Hernandez said. “If they’ll
let us in the gate, we’ll race.
We’d love to race here as much as
we can and I’m sure you will see
the AMS – RAGE car in IHRA trim
more times this season.”
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