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MADISON,
Ill./VALDOSTA,
Ga. – Josh
Hernandez
won an
unprecedented
two events
in two
different
drag racing
series in
two states
in one
weekend,
continuing
his
dominance of
the Pro
Modified
class behind
the wheel of
his Howard
Moon-tuned
AMS/Rage
machines.
The
Houston-area
native won
his fourth
straight AMS
Staff
Leasing win
in Madison,
Ill. and the
rain-delayed
ADRL 2006
World Final
crown in
Valdosta,
Ga. this
weekend,
accomplishing
a feat
similar to
the
unsuccessful
attempt by
circle-track
standout
Tony Stewart
in 1999 when
he raced the
Indianapolis
500 and the
Coca-Cola
600 in one
day.
“I’m still
in shock I
think,”
Hernandez
said after
winning the
AMS Pro Mod
final in
Madison.
“The
magnitude of
what has
happened
this
weekend, the
hours and
hours, the
miles and
stress our
entire team
has faced –
from Dave
Wood and
Tommy Lipar
all the way
to my
teammate
Troy [Critchley]
and Howard
[Moon, crew
chief] and
the boys,
this has
been an
amazing
accomplishment
for all of
them.
“It’s a
testament to
what we’ve
spent so
much time
building
over the
past couple
of years.
These guys
were face
with having
to pull off
a miracle,
and they
really did
it,” he
said.
When faced
with the
conflicting
events, the
team’s
original
plan was to
use the two
qualifying
attempts at
the AMS
Challenge
event to get
firmly into
the field,
fly to
Georgia on
Saturday to
contest the
rain-delayed
ADRL World
Championship
match as
well as the
Georgia
Drags, and
then fly
back to
Illinois to
complete the
AMS event.
When rainy
conditions
stole the
second round
of
qualifying
from the AMS/Rage
team,
leaving
Hernandez
holding onto
an off-pace
6.191 pass
for tenuous
a No. 2
qualifying
position,
the team was
forced to
make
difficult
decisions
regarding
where to
race on
Saturday.
“No one
wanted to
voice the
question we
were asking
ourselves
when we got
on the plane
that night:
were we
making the
right
decision?”
Hernandez
explained.
“When we
landed in
Georgia, we
were slapped
in the face
by the
90-degree
muggy air,
and I think
the reality
of what we
were doing
kicked in,”
he said.
In the heat
of the day
in front of
record-breaking
crowds of
more than
25,000
people at
South
Georgia
Motorpark,
Hernandez
finished
what he had
started more
than seven
months
earlier at
the ADRL
getwork.com
World
Finals,
winning his
very first
ADRL trophy
by blasting
to a 3.92
pass (in
eighth-mile
competition).
To top it
off, he
grabbed the
No.2
qualifying
spot in the
Camp
Motorsport
Georgia
Drags, only
to go out in
the first
round of
eliminations.
“It’s hard
not to be
greedy and
want to win
it all,” he
said at the
time, “but I
know that
there’s a
reason for
everything,
and we
really
wanted to
get that
World Final
trophy. The
other would
have been
icing, but
just wasn’t
meant to
be.”
Safely back
on the
ground in
Illinois at
around 10
p.m.
Saturday
evening,
Hernandez
and the crew
were able to
focus on the
other task
at hand –
winning the
AMS Pro Mod
Challenge to
keep his
streak
going.
Methodically
working his
way through
the ladder
Sunday
morning,
Hernandez
faced off
against Mike
Janis in a
great
side-by-side
drag race,
taking the
stripe 6.007
to Janis’
6.078. Next,
the 2005 AMS
Rookie of
the Year
faced off
against the
2006 AMS
rookie of
the Year,
and had to
use a
blistering
.010
reaction
time to
steal the
holeshot win
from the
quicker car
of Matt
Hagan --
6.273/217.35
(0.128 rt)
6.213/236.80.
“That was a
close one,”
he said as
he hustled
to service
the car in
short order.
Luck of the
ladder
paired
Hernandez
next with
his teammate
Troy
Critchley,
and knowing
the
powerhouse
capabilities
of the
Australian
Jackhammer
’70
Barracuda,
he knew he
would have
his hands
full.
“Troy and I
never like
to race each
other, one
because
we’re
teammates,
but two,
because we
know what’s
under the
hoods and
what the
possibilities
are. There’s
no other
Howard Moon
Power out
there, so,
when we face
each other,
we know
we’re facing
the very
best – and
that gets us
on our
game,” he
said.
As it turned
out,
Critchley
fell victim
to the
unpredictable
lanes at
Gateway
International
Raceway, and
Hernandez
moved into
the finals
with a
6.133/235.02
to his
teammate’s
tire-smoking
9.158/124.80.
Paired
against
Canadian
Tony
Pontieri in
the final
round, the
crew has
less than 30
minutes to
freshen the
motor and
get back to
the starting
line. The
AMS/Rage
crew got the
car to the
line, but
Pontieri was
unable to
make the
call, and
Hernandez
ended the
day shutting
off the
Camaro and
coasting to
an
anti-climactic
uncontested
win.
“Hey, it’s
drag racing,
and I know
how those
guys must be
feeling.
They worked
just as hard
as we did to
get to the
finals, and
I was
looking
forward to
racing Tony
[Pontieri],
but, I’ll
take the win
– as I know
he would
have, too.
“What an
incredible
weekend.
Three races
in two
different
states in
less than 24
hours and
I'm getting
back on the
plane with
two winning
trophies.
I've never
seen this
bunch of
guys work so
hard for so
long to
achieve the
incredible,
the
impossible.
The heat,
the rain,
the stress,
the travel
and the
sleep
deprivation
failed to
get in the
way of these
men on a
mission.
“I don’t
know how we
will top it
– I don’t
know if we
will even
try, but I
can say that
I’m really
looking
forward to
Bristol:
right after
I sleep for
a week,”
Hernandez
said.
Hernandez
and the
entire AMS/Rage
team head
next to
Bristol,
Tenn. for
the O'Reilly
NHRA Thunder
Valley
Nationals at
Bristol
Dragway, May
18-20.
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