Hernandez breaks ‘Dr. Moon’s Bristol Curse’ with victory in Thunder Valley
BRISTOL, Tenn. (July 8, 2007) -- Josh Hernandez returned to his winning ways in AMS Pro Mod competition, taking home the AMS Eagle trophy at the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. - his fifth win of his dominating season.
Behind the wheel of his Dr. Moon's Rage '68 Camaro, Hernandez once again earned his way to the winner's circle, this time from the No. 3 qualifying spot, fighting his way through competitors Rick Stivers, Tony Pontieri, Scott Ray and Raymond Commisso.
"This win was for Howard Moon," explained Hernandez. "For so many years, Howard has been coming here to Bristol Dragway and has never been able to score a win. Call it the Bristol curse or whatever - it's finally over, and Howard really deserves the win."
Moon, who hails from Clinton, Tennessee, calls this track home, but has yet to have success navigating its quarter-mile.
Moon said, "Every time we'd come here, I'd always have something go wrong and I'd just leave shaking my head.
"Josh really dodged a couple of bullets today, and did a great job of driving. Like he said, the curse is finally over," Moon said from the winner’s circle.
In the first round of eliminations, Hernandez was handed a round-win by veteran Rick Stivers who left the starting line before the tree was activated. Hernandez' Tommy Lipar Racing-sponsored Camaro broke a blower belt just off the line and coasted through the win light.
In round two, Hernandez faced powerful Canadian Tony Pontieri, who was looking even the score. With a psychic reaction time of .017 seconds, Hernandez stole a holeshot win over the ‘57 Chevy Bel Air, forcing him to wait for another day. The time sheet showed Pontieri with a quicker 6.190/234.66 to his 6.211/233.88, but the race was determined at the starting line with Hernandez' taking the advantage out of the gate by more than six hundredths, .017 to .073 seconds reaction time.
"Tony is such a great driver and his car had been incredibly consistent in the past two races, I knew I'd have to be on my game to get past him," Hernandez said.
In the finals, Raymond Commisso and his '67 Camaro had lane choice over Hernandez, and took the preferred right lane. The race was over at the hit of the throttle, however, as Commisso struck the tires and could only watch as the Texan claimed another AMS Eagle and increased his points lead over the pack.
Now six races through the ten-race season, Hernandez has dominated the entire AMS season, winning five and amassing a more than 1100-point lead over Commisso, his closest competitor. Hernandez also grabbed the most points in the ProCare Rx Pro Mod Clash, holding on to first place by 70 points over Doug Palmer.
The team now takes an almost two-month summer break, racing next at the NHRA Mac Tools US Nationals, August 29 thru September 3.
