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BAYTOWN, Texas (March 30, 2008) -- An old English proverb starts, "All good things must come to an end..." and Josh Hernandez, driver of the Team Rage '68 Camaro Pro Mod, lived that reality this weekend. The Conroe, Texas-resident was hoping for his fourth consecutive win at Houston Raceway Park -- his home track, but a broken fuel line dashed his chances at the four-peat.
Hernandez qualified number one in the Jegs ProMod Challenge at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals, laying down a powerful 5.962-second, 242.50-mph marker in the last round of qualifying. Heavily favored on performance alone, the emotional push to win in front of family, sponsors and friends also drove Hernandez.
"We had the car to beat, and the race was ours to lose," Hernandez said. "We'd been running low numbers all weekend, and ending up number one and taking home the Ohio Crankshaft $1,000 low qualifier money was great. It seemed like destiny was ours again, except for that pesky fuel line."
Hernandez dispatched Harold Laird Saturday evening, 5.998/242.15 to 6.088/234.74, and felt he was on his way. When he lined up against John Russo Sunday morning to continue his path, his confidence was high.
"Russo has put down some incredible numbers in testing, and he's proven he has to be taken seriously, so I knew it was going to be a good race. Jim Oddy [crew chief] had the Camaro ready to rumble, and after we left the line I started to pull away from John. I thought it was in the bag, but at about four seconds into the run, a fuel line broke and I had to make a decision: do I push it and grenade the motor to get the win, or do I lift and hope I have enough momentum to take the stripe."
Now in his fourth year of Pro Mod drag racing and the reigning JEGS ProMod World Champion, Hernandez made a veteran's decision and lifted, saving the car to race another day.
"It was the right thing to do and it just came naturally. I really didn't think, I just moved. There will be another race, and, honestly, the thought of a fireball in my face going 230 mph just didn't appeal to me," he laughed.
Russo took the stripe more than a car's-length ahead of Hernandez, 6.084/236.46 to 6.149/192.38.
"It's disappointing, but it's racing. Really, I think that when Churchill said, 'this isn't the end, it's the end of the beginning,' it fits for us here. The season is only two races old, and we have a great car and team. We had a lot of changes over the winter, and we've been getting things worked out. Now, that beginning is over - and we're ready to move on to the rest of the season," Hernandez said.
Hernandez’ winning streak in Houston comes to an end
BAYTOWN, Texas (March 30, 2008) -- An old English proverb starts, "All good things must come to an end..." and Josh Hernandez, driver of the Team Rage '68 Camaro Pro Mod, lived that reality this weekend. The Conroe, Texas-resident was hoping for his fourth consecutive win at Houston Raceway Park -- his home track, but a broken fuel line dashed his chances at the four-peat.
Hernandez qualified number one in the Jegs ProMod Challenge at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals, laying down a powerful 5.962-second, 242.50-mph marker in the last round of qualifying. Heavily favored on performance alone, the emotional push to win in front of family, sponsors and friends also drove Hernandez.
"We had the car to beat, and the race was ours to lose," Hernandez said. "We'd been running low numbers all weekend, and ending up number one and taking home the Ohio Crankshaft $1,000 low qualifier money was great. It seemed like destiny was ours again, except for that pesky fuel line."
Hernandez dispatched Harold Laird Saturday evening, 5.998/242.15 to 6.088/234.74, and felt he was on his way. When he lined up against John Russo Sunday morning to continue his path, his confidence was high.
"Russo has put down some incredible numbers in testing, and he's proven he has to be taken seriously, so I knew it was going to be a good race. Jim Oddy [crew chief] had the Camaro ready to rumble, and after we left the line I started to pull away from John. I thought it was in the bag, but at about four seconds into the run, a fuel line broke and I had to make a decision: do I push it and grenade the motor to get the win, or do I lift and hope I have enough momentum to take the stripe."
Now in his fourth year of Pro Mod drag racing and the reigning JEGS ProMod World Champion, Hernandez made a veteran's decision and lifted, saving the car to race another day.
"It was the right thing to do and it just came naturally. I really didn't think, I just moved. There will be another race, and, honestly, the thought of a fireball in my face going 230 mph just didn't appeal to me," he laughed.
Russo took the stripe more than a car's-length ahead of Hernandez, 6.084/236.46 to 6.149/192.38.
"It's disappointing, but it's racing. Really, I think that when Churchill said, 'this isn't the end, it's the end of the beginning,' it fits for us here. The season is only two races old, and we have a great car and team. We had a lot of changes over the winter, and we've been getting things worked out. Now, that beginning is over - and we're ready to move on to the rest of the season," Hernandez said.
